Hundreds of Edmonton's wayward metal souls descended on the Starlite Room Friday, as Swedish metallers, Soilwork headlined a torrential lineup of bands on their North American tour.Leading off the attack against the crowd was Finnish outfit, Swallow the Sun. Utilizing melodic, doom, and death metal elements this group was stylistically like a shot of Jack Daniels with a Vicodin chaser, it had just the right amount of sting but left you still pretty placid and calm. They seemed an odd fit for the line up but were nonetheless entertaining, having the feel, melody, and vocal style you come to expect from scandinavian groups like them. Lead vocalist, Mikko Kotamäki's screams were swallowed up by the overwhelming sound of his band, leaving little that was discernable or audible. Beyond this minor shortfall, the six piece still comes together well, with deep, penetrating, bass lines and guitar riffs that fostered synchronized headbanging, the sight of which strikes you as something you would see if Heavy Metal had its own mosques.
Following the performance of Swallow the Sun, Californian thrash metal pentacle Warbringer roared with fury onto the stage, despite the fact that behind the scenes they were all still battling a severe case of bronchitis, (especially front man John Kevill) and a back injury suffered by one of the guitarists. I never would have been able to tell at all based on their show, these thrash warriors delivered an onslaught of punishing screams, and Slayer-esque melodies mixed with an attitude and sound akin to the thrash metal coming out of California in the 80's.
On stage the five piece really come alive, whipping up a frenzy not only in and amongst themselves but in the crowd itself, lead vocalist John Kevill, demonstrates this mid-set as he skillfully stirs the crowd into a circular moshpit like he were stirring a cauldron of testosterone driven angst. Their songs display catchy hooks that draw you in with relative ease and kept up the momentum from start to finish.
The fans now at a rolling boil, lusted for more, longing for the next band to take the stage and keep this shred-fest going. While perhaps not meeting those expectations right away, Darkane, the third group in the night's lineup, started off well with some of their more melodic tracks. It wasn't long though before these metal magi brought it back home with more thrash infused songs, casting riffs and thumps from guitar and drum that should split your skull wide open. Even with the absence of one of their own guitarist who was called away to Sweden abruptly, Darkane still succeeds in tremendous solos with open notes that ring out and fill every chasm and crevice of the brain. Crowd favourite "Rape of Mankind" stirred up the frothing assembly just before the end of the set, finally culminating in one more song, where new addition and lead man Jens Broman left the exhilarated gathering before him to the mercy of a shredding thrash guitar firing squad.
The crowd bristled with excitement as the anticipated headliners Soilwork were next to hit the Starlite Room's stage. The return of Peter Wichers on guitar after his 2005 departure from the group is a great bonus, as most would say that Soilwork wouldn't be the same without his influence. The curtain remained drawn, for what seemed like an eternity, finally parted as a back track of "Baba O'Riley aka Teenage Wastleand" by The Who, summoned the beginning of Soilwork's performance. Cutting no corners the group immediately tapped into the ferocious sound that this band is known for. Incorporating the classic Gothenburg sound with their own musical influences, these Helsingborg swedes never let up, making moshing a necessity. Front man Bjorn "Speed" Strid adopts a Pantera-like twang to his singing but used more range, switching between melodic, guttural growl, and screaming vocal stylings.
The set list was as diverse as it was fast paced, with old songs making appearances as well as new ones like "20 More Miles" which was voted onto the tour's track list by way of a fan poll posted on Soilwork's main website. The encore did not disappoint whatsoever as it featured the 2002 single "As We Speak" and a modified Edmonton version of "The Pittsburgh Syndrome" in which lead vocalist Speed Strid changed Pittsburgh to Edmonton for our shows purposes. Eventhough their set almost lasted an hour and a half; you couldn't believe it was over; it went by so fast, as most pleasurable experiences do.
The city of Edmonton was once again graced with a great metal show, one in which sold out completely, which means more than likely we will be seeing more acts of this caliber roll through. With any luck one of those acts will once again be Soilwork, so that way those who missed out Friday can truly see what the "Edmonton Syndrome" is all about.
For more info on all of the bands that played Friday, try these links below.
agreed with most everything you've said. One thing i wish you would have touched upon is the horrible sound in the starlight. The sound has seemed to get worse and worse every show I've went to. when Strid would transition to singing rather than his trademark scream the soundman would take maybe a few seconds to adjust, so we'd miss parts of the chorus. the musicianship of this show was amazing, but the sound should be touched upon so that maybe starlight will realize this and a) get a better set up or b) a better sound man. show=bliss, sound=miss.
ReplyDeletethanks for the post
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