There’s not much to say about US death metal trailblazer Cannibal Corpse that hasn’t been said before. After all, the group has been splitting eardrums across the globe for the best part of two decades with its unmistakably violent collision of scooped, staccato riffing and double-kick-driven snare blasts.

Yet, despite years of dedicated touring, the creators of the world’s most deliciously offensive album covers have somewhat ignored Australia, visiting only once or twice before, and not for many years. Such a lengthy absence ensured the faithful were out in force, not scared off by the Tuesday night billing, nor the alarmingly-common occurrence this year for promoters to charge upwards of $70 for what is essentially a small club gig that would’ve commanded about half that just a few years ago.

Local sludgecore stalwart The Day Everything Became Nothing was an unusual choice of support, and it seemed even the band may have been confused. Judging by the samely, lacklustre set they presented, questions have to be asked whether the group’s one trick might’ve run its course after a handful of releases that promised a lot but delivered less.

Warming things up, Cannibal Corpse took the stage in front of a backdrop that showed projected flames licking at a row of wooden window frames that gave the impression we were all inside a burning house.

Notwithstanding a brief stage malfunction in which the curtain raised and lowered itself a few times before finally being yanked it into place by a roadie, the band rapidly blasted through a couple of cuts from latest album Evisceration Plague before pleasing the mob with Unleashing the Bloodthirsty. It set the tone for the night – the crowd responding loudest and most enthusiastically for the classics – and the band was under no illusion as to what was required, peppering the set with cuts from Vile, The Bleeding, Tomb of the Mutilated, Gallery of Suicide, The Wretched Spawn and Eaten Back to Life.

Amidst it all was George “Corpsegrinder” Fisher, the band’s enigmatic hulkish vocalist who bucked, banged, air-drummed and screamed his way through the entire set, remarkably showing few signs of throat fatigue by encore Hammer Smashed Face. Fisher dominates Cannibal Corpse’s stage presence, not only because of his immense girth and height, but also because he is markedly more animated than the rest of the band, and draws the attention of the audience to where it needs to be: centre-stage. That said, when you’re flanked by a veritable death-metal supergroup in Rob Barrett, Pat O’Brien, Alex Webster and Paul Mazurkiewicz, who were vice-like tight, lightning fast and as pro as one would expect from a full-time touring act, it makes it a lot easier to stand there and spin your head.

Ultimately, while the Corpse presented few surprises, they offered the clinical, reliable display everyone was hoping for. Considering it may be the final time the band heads down under, they may have done just enough to keep the fires burning in the hearts of old-school metalheads for a while longer yet.