Cannibal Corpse had previously been accused of blasphemy, with Dimitry Tsorionov, head of Russia's God's Will movement calling for the tour to be scrapped.

According to the St. Petersburg Times, fans began throwing bottles at police, leading to the arrests. Police say those detained were charged either with disorderly conduct or being drunk in public - offences that can lead to fines and up to 15 days in prison.

It was the third gig to be cancelled on the band's Russian tour, following previous difficulties in Ufa and Moscow - although their shows in Krasnodar, Samara, Chelyabinsk and Yekaterinburg went ahead without any problems.