The first week of December was one brutal snowstorm after another, and on Dec. 5, the snow was making the highways so treacherous for the bands on the Decimation of the Nation Tour, it even caused Cannibal Corpse, who were co-headlining with Hatebreed, to arrive so late to MacEwan Hall that Hate Eternal was already on stage. Due to that same weather, we at Pitch Black were unable to capture Hate Eternal on camera, but we were lucky enough to catch the last part of their set. Even though they were the first band up, the death metal trio from St. Petersburg, Fla. had enticed the growing crowd right up to the barrier. The only disappointment with this set was that such a well-established band had the earliest start time and shortest set.

The audience was as diverse as the bands on this tour. Progressive death metallers Born of Osiris from Chicago, Ill. were well received and the charismatic metalcore act Unearth was entertaining and energetic as usual.

Cannibal brought their pure brutality to the stage and the venue was now packed with fans. However if anyone had been at the April 13 show you might have felt a bit of déjà vu. While the audience always knows what song is coming up next when frontman Corpsegrinder puts out certain dedications, this set was a little too familiar. But those staple songs in the set such as “F**ked With A Knife” and “Hammer Smash Face” do get the crowd going.

Hatebreed ended off the night playing to a thinned out crowd. While a lot of people had left after Cannibal Corpse, the remaining audience was taken in by Hatebreed’s energy. Frontman Jamey Jasta related the story behind their cover of “Ghsots of War.” Slayer had been the only band out of 40 at a show in Japan that stepped up to the plate to lend Hatebreed some gear when their guitars were lost. The band played quite a few songs from their latest self-titled album released back in October, and the crowd loved the mix of the old and new material.