On Wednesday, September 10th, Burning House hosted one of the heaviest nights of the year. The venue, already known for hosting highly relevant performances in the São Paulo underground scene, opened its doors to a rare encounter: the bands Cancer and Pestilence shared the stage on their tour The True Faces of Death , which also featured an opening act by the São Paulo group Podridão .
The Brazilians' task was to initiate the sonic ritual while the audience was still arriving. With raw riffs, devilish vocals, and unbridled energy, Podridão fulfilled their role of preparing the ground. Gradually, the venue filled up, and the power trio earned the respect of those present.
Cancer was the first international act of the night, featuring John Walker (vocals/guitar), Robert Navajas (guitar), Daniel Maganto (bass), and Gabriel Valcázar (drums). The opening set, with “Enter the Gates” and “Until They Died,” found the audience still observing, but the response grew as “Amputate” and “Into the Acid” followed. The band's commitment was evident: Walker, even with restraint in his lyrics, conveyed firmness in the riffs, while the rhythm section delivered a heaviness that filled every corner of the Burning House.
From the middle onwards, the set took on a whole new dimension. “Ballcutter” and “Garrotte” ignited the crowd, and the first mosh pit opened up on the dance floor. The energy peaked during “Hung, Drawn and Quartered” and the anthem “Death Shall Rise,” which drew a chorus from the entire venue. There was sweat, moshing, and people smiling even when exhausted. Cancer managed to prove that they still have the power to move fans of different generations, balancing the nostalgia of the classics and the brutality of their more recent material.
Next, the stage was taken over by Pestilence, led by Patrick Mameli (vocals/guitar), accompanied by Max Blok (guitar), Michiel van der Plicht (drums), and Roel Käller (bass). They opened with “Morbvs Propagationem”, “Deificvs”, and “Sempiternvs”, venturing into the depths of the death metal underworld. The band's technique was impressive, but the audience seemed to be holding back. Until about halfway through the show, the crowd was more focused on their heads than their bodies.
It was with the classics “The Process of Suffocation” and “Twisted Truth” that the night truly changed. The mosh pit opened up in the middle of the dance floor and never closed again. The heaviness of “Chronic Infection” and “Prophetic Revelations” found an immediate response: screams, raised arms, people being carried into the mosh pit. Mameli, solid, let the riffs speak for him, while Van der Plicht destroyed on the drums with great precision.
Before “Out of the Body,” Patrick said that “Jesus wasn’t happy” with the people in the back who weren’t rocking out and called for chaos. Partially heeded, he ironically said that Jesus had saved those guys from destruction, but that they still had one last chance, “Land of Tears,” for redemption. It was clear that the audience was already tired after so many hours of brutality, but nobody wanted to miss a second of those classics. Even exhausted, everyone gave in, some in the mosh pits, others simply headbanging.
In the end, it was an intense Wednesday: Podridão opened with honesty, Cancer brought British brutality, and Pestilence closed with technique and heaviness. If the audience's energy fluctuated between tiredness and fury, the bands' commitment left no doubt, making it a night of aggression worthy of being remembered by the São Paulo underground scene.
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