Soulfly left their mark on a packed Electric Factory audience Saturday night in one of the last stops of their current tour.
Following a year and a half of gigs in support of their sophomore album, Primitive, the heavy metal standouts held nothing back, despite being relegated to the supporting role for the headlining act, Static-X.
Opening their hour-long set with “Back To The Primitive” — an ominous, slamming tune that has become Soulfly’s constant kick-off number over the last two years — the band then proceeded to tear through a performance that was nearly impossible to keep track of, due to its fast pace.
Teasing the crowd with the hardcore guitar beginning beats of “Jumpdafuckup,” the foursome broke into the intense “Bring It” and later followed up with the menacing “Boom.”
Impressed with the devoted fans slamming into each other and tearing up the pits, frontman Max Cavalera and mates gave the loyal Philadelphia Soulfly tribe a treat of new and old material for the remainder of the set.
The primal rhythms and vocals on “Refuse/Resist” and “Roots Bloody Roots” that Cavalera made famous in his tenure with Sepultura were given a breath of new life. New tracks, “Last of The Mohicans” and “Downstroy,” were embraced by a crowd thankful for a preview of new material from the band’s soon-to-be-released third album.
With plenty of angry bands in today’s music scene, it takes more than just an angry singer, thrashing guitarist and a pounding bass player to draw a crowd’s attention. But for Soulfly, their tribal rhythms and percussive sounds only prove to further enrich these qualities. It is that passionately thumping cultural sound that distinguishes them from any other death-metal-influenced rock bands on the market.
And judging by the mass-exodus of fans after their set concluded, it seemed that their passion appeased the crowd and overshadowed the headliners.
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