By Andrew Bansal
November 2nd 2015, The Whisky-A-Go-Go, West Hollywood CA: Longstanding Swedish melodic death metal group Soilwork followed up their massive 2013 double LP ‘The Living Infinite’ with the release of their tenth studio album ‘The Ride Majestic’ via Nuclear Blast Records in August 2015, and after supporting Soulfly on a North American tour, they ended with a run of headline dates of their own, with support acts Shattered Sun and Earthside. For the last show of this run, Soilwork arrived at the Whisky-A-Go-Go in West Hollywood last Monday November 2nd, and fans that either missed their show with Soulfly at the Fonda a mere 31 days prior, or were disappointed by the short set Soilwork played at that gig, turned up here at the Whisky to be treated to a full 16-song set.
But before that, touring opening act Earthside, an instrumental progressive metal quartet based out of New Haven, CT, played at 9:30, and put on an impressive performance with some delightfully clean and melodic prog jams. It seemed like they would have been a more ideal fit for the Fates Warning show that took place on the same stage the previous night, but Earthside did succeed in appealing to the Soilwork fanbase and were greeted with loud cheers when one of their members finally took the microphone to thank the crowd after the end of the set. The US East Coast has certainly served up some tremendous prog bands over the past three decades, and Earthside are worthy newcomers to continue retaining the legacy.
Next up was Shattered Sun, a six-piece metal band from Alice, Texas. They played a great set when opening for Testament and Exodus at the House Of Blues earlier this year, and their performance here was even more stellar, as frontman Marcos Leal took the stage with a powerful voice and towering personality, and with the help of his band mates, earned the respect and attention of the entire audience. The band’s music boasts great singing as well as harsh vocals, excellent guitar riffs and harmonies, a solid rhythm section, and most importantly, compelling transitional patterns between varying segments. All of it combined with that Texas blue-collar grit, Shattered Sun are doing everything right and touring with the right bands.
And promptly at 11 PM, Soilwork hit the stage to present a hefty dosage of tunes off of ‘The Ride Majestic’ and ‘The Living Infinite’, as well as selections from the rest of their 20-year career. Believe it or not, this was my first time seeing Soilwork, and I could not have imagined a better first live Soilwork experience as this band put on the kind of performance that would turn fans into fanboys and haters into fans. The band went through some turmoil before ‘The Living Infinite’, but now seem as solid and settled as ever, and on stage they were led with much passion and power by Björn ‘Speed’ Strid. Delivering vocals on these 16 songs, with such rapid transitions between clean melodic singing and heavy growling, Strid had a task-and-a-half on his shoulders but he handled it magnificently and emerged triumphant to front this thoroughly enjoyable Soilwork show.
While it was not a sellout at the Whisky, the turnout wasn’t light either, and more crucially, the fans that did turn up were very vocal in support of Soilwork, indulging in mosh pits that were constant and fast-paced, as seen from the balcony. Those in attendance that couldn’t make it to the Soulfly/Soilwork show at the Fonda were grateful to be here instead, because this had to have been, by all means, a far better Soilwork concert experience.
They played 11 songs and walked off the stage, but came back for a wholehearted five-song encore, saving the tunes ‘Rise Above The Sentiment’ and ‘Spectrum Of Eternity’, in my opinion their two best songs till date, till the very end to bring an epic close to the evening. Soilwork fans walked out of the Whisky with smiles of satisfaction. “See you in the Spring!” were Strid’s parting words to the crowd, and the stage is already set for Soilwork’s return to Los Angeles, hopefully with the right bands and with a set that’s comparable to this one in length.
Set List:
01. The Ride Majestic
02. Nerve
03. Bastard Chain
04. The Crestfallen
05. Death in General
06. Alight in the Aftermath
07. Tongue
08. Follow the Hollow
09. Petrichor in Sulphur
10. Enemies in Fidelity
11. Stabbing the Drama
Encore:
12. Let This River Flow
13. Parasite Blues
14. Rejection Role
15. Rise Above the Sentiment
16. Spectrum of Eternity
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