By Andrew Bansal
November 7th 2013, The Viper Room, West Hollywood CA: On the back of their ninth studio release ‘Savages’ via Nuclear Blast Records, Max Cavalera-led Soulfly embarked upon a North American headline tour with support from Havok and Lody Kong, and brought the tour to a close with the final show at the Viper Room in West Hollywood last night. Savages is a strong album, perhaps more guitar-oriented than most of the previous Soulfly records, and it was going to be interesting to see how these songs fit into the set list in a live setting. But with a venue as small as the Viper Room and a ticket price of a whopping $35, I was a bit skeptical about this show, wondering whether the turnout would be good enough, and whether this venue would handle the craziness that could ensue when bands like Soulfly and Havok take the stage.
The first band Lody Kong began the evening at 8:45 PM with a 25-minute set. This is a band fronted by Max Cavalera’s sons Igor Jr on guitar/vocals and Zyon on drums. I remember seeing Igor and Zyon one time in the past when their first band Mold Breaker opened for Cavalera Conspiracy at the House of Blues and they weren’t too impressive at that show. But Lody Kong was a lot different and they did a much better job at capturing the room and its crowd, albeit thin at this point of the evening. The small size of the room and the stage gave the audience an opportunity to watch drummer Zyon from close quarters, and based on his performance last night it’s safe to say he’s talented on his instrument. I thought this band provided a good warm-up for the two acts to follow and played some easily accessible groove-based thrash metal. These youngsters put on a highly energetic show, and if I can point out any flaws, it would be the guitar sound, which could and should easily be more prominent in the mix. Other than that, I was pleasantly surprised by Lody Kong’s set.
Visit Lody Kong on the web at:
facebook.com/pimp.juice.28
Next up were Denver thrash flagbearers Havok, who had actually just played the Whisky down the street almost exactly two months ago. In all honesty, it was a bit strange to see them come from a headlining show at the Whisky to be main support at the Viper Room, but if anything, the smaller size of the room made their show come across with an even greater level of intensity than that Whisky show. They absolutely annihilated this crowd with their brand of furious, in-your-face thrash, and mosh pits broke out at full pace during the set. Havok started out all guns blazing and never relented, but the set really got its biggest thrust when Max Cavalera jumped up on stage to do guest vocals for the song ‘Give Me Liberty… Or Give Me Death’. It was the perfectly chosen song to bring Max up for, because I do think it’s the best tune on the new album ‘Unnatural Selection’, and one with chorus vocals suitable for Max to lend his touch to. This room went completely mad as soon as Max went up on that stage, and the same vibe was carried over to the rest of Havok’s set.
Frontman David Sanchez not only nailed down all his guitar parts and vocals to perfection but also did a fantastic job at introducing some of the songs with appropriate monologues. He was ably supported by his band mates Reece Scruggs on guitar, Michael Leon on bass and Pete Webber on the drums. This band is going from strength to strength at the moment, and there’s no stopping them. It’s quite impossible to not enjoy a live Havok performance, and last night was no different in that regard.
Havok interview coming soon
Visit Havok on the web at:
HavokBand.com
facebook.com/HavokOfficial
twitter.com/HavokThrash
Tour Set List:
Covering Fire
Point of No Return
Give Me Liberty…or Give Me Death (with Max Cavalera)
I Am the State
Fatal Intervention
D.O.A.
Afterburner
Time Is Up
Havok ended their set at 10:20 and the venue started to get really packed at this point, so much so that the Viper Room security staff was not letting people re-enter from the back door (which actually looks like the front door from street view). I was doubting the turnout mainly due to the ticket price, but it was good to see that the Soulfly/Max Cavalera/Sepultura fans still turned up and packed out this place to its capacity. Soulfly began their set at 11, and this jam-packed room was absolutely ready for it. The set was greeted with multiple circle pits, the fans gladly sung along to the lyrics and raised their voices whenever Max demanded them to. I had never this Soulfly lineup with Tony Campos on bass and Zyon Cavalera on drums alongside the old guard of Max Cavalera and Marc Rizzo on lead guitar, and it’s perhaps fair to say they brought their A game to this stage. Tony Campos also lent an LA hispanic touch to the band with some Spanish vocals, which went down rather well with the Spanish-speaking members in the audience and heightened the decibel level inside this place further.
The set was an extremely solid mix of old Soulfly material, Sepultura songs and the most compelling tunes off of ‘Savages’ including ‘Bloodshed’, ‘Cannibal Holocaust’ and ‘Master Of Savagery’. Marc Rizzo was ripping it up on that guitar, and the dude has got to be one of the most underrated guitarists in metal. As expected, the older material got the crowd bouncing. That’s what they paid their money to see, and the band didn’t disappoint them even one bit. I have to say, despite the fact that I enjoy Savages as a studio album, I simply wasn’t sure whether Soulfly still have it in them to put on a good show and hold an audience, but they blew away all my doubts with this performance. All is well in the Soulfly camp, that’s for sure.
Related – Interview: Max Cavalera Talks About New Soulfly Album ‘Savages’ (Audio)
Visit Soulfly on the web at:
Soulfly.com
facebook.com/SoulflyOfficial
twitter.com/theSoulflyTribe
Tentative set list (this will be updated if I find the exact set list from last night):
1. Bloodshed
2. Cannibal Holocaust
3. Back to the Primitive
4. Downstroy
5. Seek ‘N’ Strike
6. I and I
7. Master of Savagery
8. Refuse/Resist (Sepultura cover)
9. Territory (Sepultura cover)
10.Wasting Away (Nailbomb cover)
11.Arise / Dead Embryonic Cells (Sepultura cover)
12.Plata o Plomo
13.El Comegente
14.No
15.14.Rise of the Fallen
16.Roots Bloody Roots (Sepultura cover)
17.Eye for an Eye