Hurricane Helene has been absolutely devastating the Southeast of the United States these past few days, with AP reporting yesterday that at least 64 people have been killed by the hurricane and millions are still stuck without power. The Washington Post described the Tampa region of Florida to be “the epicenter of Florida’s death toll from Helene,” with the region’s Pinellas County having the highest death toll of any county in Florida. Unfortunately, Tampa is where legendary death metal band Cannibal Corpse has been operating out of since 1990. And it seems that guitarist Erik Rutan has suffered some pretty severe property damage from the hurricane.
Yesterday, Cannibal Corpse announced that Rutan would be dropping off the band’s current tour because of hurricane damage on his home. “Due to catastrophic damage to his home from Hurricane Helene, Erik Rutan has left the tour to be present with his family at this time,” the statement read on the band’s social media accounts. “Our hearts go out to Erik and his Wife as they deal with this situation.”
Cannibal Corpse kicked off their European tour with Municipal Waste, Immolation, and Schizophrenia on September 20 in Oberhausen, Germany, and there seem to be no plans to skip any dates because of Rutan’s temporary departure. In the comments section of the Cannibal Corpse Instagram post, fans reported that the band had performed on their Birmingham, UK date as a four-piece band.
We certainly hope that Erik Rutan and his family are safe and we wish them continued safety and healing at this time as they, and many families throughout the region, recover from this catastrophic storm. In the meantime, you can catch Cannibal Corpse, presumably as a quartet, at the following dates on their European tour:
9/29/2024 Roundhouse – London, GB
10/01/2024 Halle O2 – Heidelberg, DE
10/02/2024 Grosse Freiheit 36 – Hamburg, DE
10/03/2024 Amager Bio – Copenhagen, DK
10/04/2024 Klubben – Stockholm, SE
10/05/2024 Rockefeller – Oslo, NO
10/06/2024 Tradgarn – Gothenburg, SE
10/08/2024 Astra – Berlin, DE
10/09/2024 A2 – Wroclaw, PL
10/11/2024 Barba Negra – Budapest, HU
10/12/2024 Vienna Metal Meeting – Vienna, AT
10/13/2024 Kino Siska – Ljubljana, SI
10/15/2024 Alcatraz – Milan, IT
10/17/2024 Komplex 457 – Zurich, CH
10/18/2024 Felsenkeller – Leipzig, DE
10/19/2024 Music Hall – Geiselwind, DE
10/20/2024 Batschkapp – Frankfurt, DE
