*Photography: Eric KlunkOn April 28th, enough hate and discord was released on the Baltimore Soundstage that one would believe that every anger management class in town was sent on a field trip to the SOULFLY show. Tonight's show was a lesson in brutality.
If you had a bad day at work, recently ended a relationship, or finally came to the realization that Donald Trump is actually going to be a presidential candidate, then this is the place to let your anger fly.
LODY KONG is the opener on this tour, which is a given since it features Max Cavalera's two sons, Igor and Zyon on guitar and drums respectfully. Talk about job security! The apple doesn't fall far from the tree when it comes to these guys. Their style is rooted much in the same vain as their father Max has been churning out for the last 30 years.
Next up was ABNORMALITY. A death metal outfit that features a female vocalist. I'm all for equality in music and it's refreshing to see some diversity gender wise in a market that is predominately ran by greasy Neanderthals who haven't seen a razor or scissors in the last 10 years. Their vocalist was a petite girl in her early 20s who was very easy on the eyes. But her vocal delivery did not reflect her good looks at all. Her guttural growl was right on par with all of her male contemporaries in their genre. They got a warm response from the males in the crowd for her voice and looks combined.
Michigan blue collar thrashers BATTLECROSS infiltrated the stage in a fire fight of thrash metal superiority that other current bands of their ilk only wish they could achieve. A crowd favorite of the night for sure. I think it would be safe to say that a good many fans were there just for them tonight. After they were done, concert attendees flocked back to their merch stand for photos, swag, and autographs. They drew the most fans of the night to their stand for such interactions.
SUFFOCATION was next and they had their share of loyal fans as well. Upon the end of the set, sees the SUFFOCATION loyals leaving the venue having been satisfied and not hanging around for the night's headliner. Their style…. death metal. Their look…. death metal. Their attitude…. death metal. If you go see SUFFOCATION, you will get… death metal. Nothing more nothing less. I'm sorry I can't be more reflective but there is nothing about these guys that separate themselves from their death metal peers.
And finally… SOULFLY. Zyon was pulling double duty tonight playing drums for both LODY KONG and SOULFLY. I'm assuming Zyon gets a bigger allowance than Igor because of this fact. And rightfully so. This kid is a monster on drums. He was born (and possibly groomed) for this role for sure. I've seen SOULFLY numerous times over the last 10 years. They usually play a good bit of their more current material including tracks from whatever new album they are supporting, smattered with the mandatory block of SEPULTURA songs. Tonight, however, they went back and pulled tracks from their inception and ones that I certainly haven't seen performed live in a while. Tracks such as "Eye For an Eye", "Umbabarauma", "Back to the Primitive", and "Jumpdafuckup". Very cool to hear them again.
During what is called Max's "guitar solo", (and I use that term loosely) just features Max and his guitar (not nearly turned up loud enough) going through riffs of classic BLACK SABBATH songs. Each snippet may last a minute or a little longer. This also gives Max a chance at some crowd interaction and has the crowd sing key parts of the song in question, so that was kind of fun. He also threw a few snippets of SEPULTURA songs such as "Desperate Cry" into his SABBATH medley.
SOULFLY started to wrap up their show the way they always do with
"Roots Bloody Roots". The band offered up a surprise for the fans when they invited the members of all the other bands of the night for a blazing (if not a little sloppy) version of
MOTORHEAD's "Ace of Spades". But hey… unless you are
DRAGONFORCE, no one said this brand of music had to be perfect. The heart and the attitude were there. So I believe everyone walked away tonight feeling like they released a little tension, blew off some steam, got some anger and aggression out by stomping each other in the pit. And finally getting your tribal groove on with the soothing sounds of the native tribesmen that encapsulates
SOULFLY.
Setlist:
1. We Sold Our Souls to Metal
2. Archangel
3. Blood Fire War Hate
4. Refuse/Resist
5. Sodomites
6. Prophecy
7. Seek "N" Strike
8. Arise/Dead Embryonic Cells
9. No Hope = No Fear/Umbabarauma
10. Max Guitar Solo
11. Roots Bloody Roots
12. Back to the Primitive
13. Frontlines
14. Ace of Spades
15. Jumpdafuckup 16. Eye for an Eye
