Soulfly: Live Review

By guest writer Julia Neuman

March 20th 2010, Alrosa Villa, Columbus OH: The Alrosa Villa was packed on Saturday night, with people coming from all over central Ohio to see the legendary Max Cavalera and Soulfly. Soulfly is definitely a band that incorporates many different influences and draws a very diverse, interesting crowd. Talking to some people around me, I sensed that there were be a good amount of fans that had been following Max since the Sepultura days, but there was also a mix of younger kids who hadn't yet explored the world of Cavalera before Soulfly. In addition to some local warm-up acts, there were three opening bands set to play: Rotting Corpse, Incite and Prong.

The first of the travelling bands was Rotting Corpse. This band has been around since the 80s, but they only just resurfaced about six years ago with a new line-up. Their stage presence was extremely relaxed, almost too much, to the point of their show seeming like a few old men getting together to jam some Slayer-like tunes. The main problem with Rotting Corpse was that they sounded like a mediocre Slayer. I can imagine them being entertaining a couple decades ago, but now they just seem a little bit past their prime. Guitarist/vocalist Walt Trachsler even announced his age to the audience in a way that made it sound like he was a little exhausted of the whole touring lifestyle. He said "I'm getting a little old for this."

The next band, Incite, featured Max Cavalera's stepson, Richie Cavalera. Incite definitely has potential, but they are lacking in the songwriting department. Their most well known tune, "The Slaughter", got old after the first chorus was over, and their set was just repetitive with the same exact type of song being played over and over. The guitars sounded thin (although this may have been the fault of the sound mixer. Incite needs something to spark interest from listeners because their current tracks are a bit monotonous.

Next up was Prong, who delivered a solid set and got the crowd revved up for the headliner. I vividly remember "Snap Your Fingers, Snap Your Neck" as being particularly awesome; the whole crowd was jumping up and down, really into it. Singer Tommy Victor was just no frills metal. You can tell that Prong is all about delivering an entertaining set and they aren't in this business to please everyone. Either you love 'em or you hate 'em, and they don't necessarily care which way you go. I love bands like that, and they are few and far between today.

By the time Soulfly took the stage, the crowd was already heated and ready to get even rowdier. I was so pumped that they opened with "Blood Fire War Hate." Wow, what a crazy live song. With the epic intro to that song in tow, the band created quite an entrance. The heavy riff came on and even the more skeptical people standing on the sides of the room had giant smiles on their faces, banging their heads and looking around at each other with looks of satisfaction. Max Cavalera still has the ability to captivate a crowd, although he remains pretty stoic on stage nowadays. Marc Rizzo is the opposite of stoic, constantly banging his head and putting his entire body into every single riff. Immediately after the opener the band launched into "Prophecy", another one of my favorites from Soulfly. I wasn't sure if I was happy about the fact that they opened with this one-two punch, because it was so good that it made the rest of their set seem dull in comparison. There were several other highlights, however, including the Sepultura songs that were played, along with an awesome drum solo and several shining moments from Marc Rizzo. Overall, I wasn't ecstatic about Soulfly live (except for the beginning), but they definitely still put on a good metal show and have many devoted fans. I would go back to see them again in the future.

Blood Fire War Hate
Prophecy
Back To The Primitive
Seek 'N' Strike
Fire
Mars
Refuse/Resist (Sepultura cover)
Doom
L.O.T.M.
Molotov
Drum Solo / Drum Circle
Warmageddon
Frontlines
Wasting Away (Nailbomb cover)
Babylon
Lethal Injection (with Tommy Victor)
Roots Bloody Roots (Sepultura cover)
Jumpdafuckup
Eye For An Eye

Check out the bands here:
Soulfly
Prong
Incite

Add Julia at:
www.myspace.com/andmetalforall
www.twitter.com/julianeuman

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