After having released a monstrous double-album earlier this year – The Living Infinite, melodic death metal heroes Soilwork returned down under for a headline Australian tour, winding things up in isolated little Perth.
Patrons of the Rosemount Hotel were enjoying their Sunday session drinks until a sea of black shirts and long-matted hair acquired the venue.
Prescient, technical metalers from Perth eagerly got stuck into their set about twenty minutes early. Fortunately though, a few grabbed some drinks to witness an impressive forty five minutes worth of instrumental talent.
The band showcased tracks off their EP, The Polynomial Framework, whilst reminding the crowd that having no vocalist is no accident. To some extent, a vocalist would have taken away from the instrumental focus which interchangeably resonated deeply in percussion and guitars – but at other times, the musical atmosphere would have felt more complete with some growling roars to match the technical and eerie riffs.
The well-rehearsed Perth band demonstrated a mighty aesthetic as a group and definitely grabbed the attention of early show-comers with head banging and intermittent applause throughout the set.
In the dimly lit room, Soilwork came on stage right on time to a full-crowd at the Rosemount Hotel. As the intro to ‘This Momentary Bliss’ began, The Swedish metallic atmosphere was already present as the crowd transformed into a bunch of flailing limbs and erected metal horns.
The bald vocalist Bjorn ‘Speed’ Strid (who seemed over seven feet tall) wore a denim sleeveless jacket ready to tear Perth a new one. Strid needed no warming up as his growl burst through the venue. The riffs were perfectly on key and the musical harmony was well-appreciated by the crowd.
The melodic death metal legends continued into classics like ‘Overload’ and ‘Weapon of Vanity’ which is what punters wanted to hear from their back catalogue. This is when the mosh pit really broke out with a passionate circle pit perpetuating in the centre.
With all members of the band on their A-game, it was Sven Karlsson on keyboard which stood out through the night. Its instrumental tone was emphasised, providing perfection to the band’s set.
Soilwork revisited tracks from their prior album The Panic Broadcast which were fairly well received but it really was the classics from Stabbing the Drama which stole the show. This included ‘Nerve’, containing an especially unique intro on keys that the crowd knew exactly what was to come.
To hear this song live was something special for Soilwork fans. Strid pumped out the lyrics with such expression and emotion that it was perceived as more than going through the motions of a show.
Another crowd pleaser was ‘Tongue’, an absolute stand-out on The Living Infinite which juxtaposed the death elements of the Sweds with their immensely melodic chorus. Punters expressed themselves, pushing and shoving to the bliss of the show.
Before their brilliant encore, Strid expressed many thanks to all of the assisting staff touring with the band, concluding with an honest and humorous expression of anxiety to be heading to China for the very first time to tour.
Soilwork closed their set with ‘Stabbing the Drama’ – another obvious favourite. The crowd went wild one last time as the band performed it with the same energy of
