Soilwork returned to Australia this past week in support of their latest album “Verkligheten”. It’s been a few years since we last saw them but Sydney came in droves to catch the Swedish metal act bring the goods.
Late opening doors at the Manning meant that Flaming Wrekage started playing to a mostly empty, then rapidly filling room. They took to the task of playing while most of the crowd was still filing in with relish though, Thunderous rhythms and tasty harmony guitar solos overlaid with the vocals of an angry bear with a sore throat, they set a good standard for the other bands to follow.
Desecrator came next, and their Old School Thrash lifted things to another level. Riley Strong, rocking a tremendous ‘Full Metal Skullet’ has a great line in crowd banter, although I’m still not sure what point he was trying to make with the Veal / Parmigiana bit. I always enjoy seeing a metal front man obviously enjoying himself rather that just yelling at the crowd. And Desecrator, on the back of the relentless double-kick, and their blazing wall of guitars, certainly had plenty of friends enjoying themselves too.
To say that Soilwork were highly anticipated is a massive understatement.
The postponement of the February tour has only heightened expectation of the crowd. The intro to the new album Verkligheten brings them onto the stage, and into new song ‘Arrival’, singer Björn Strid shifting effortlessly between grinding death metal verses & the soaring choruses, while the band also shifted gears with ease. This is a formula that Soilwork have fine-tuned over their 20 odd years, and tonight they have it nailed. In a set fairly heavy with new songs, the real highlights came toward the end in Bastard Chain & The Ride Majestic. A false start on brand new single Feverish brought the main set to a close. The Manning crowd weren’t letting the Swedes leave early, and we got ‘Stabbing The Drama’ & ‘Stålfågel’ to close.
Overall it was a very slick, tight & professional set delivered by the Helsingborg exports, I was left with the impression that this is what Death Metal looks like when it moves into the mainstream, and Sydney were welcoming them with open arms.
Biggs
PHOTO GALLERY
Photos by Adam Sivewright
Soilwork
Desecrator & Flaming Wrekage
