It’s been a long time coming but international shows in Perth is well and truly back! Swedish metal masters Soilwork made sure of that on Tuesday night as they kicked off their much welcomed Australia tour in support of their latest album “Övergivenheten” which has been receiving favorable reviews since it’s release. The band have also recently been going through a tough period with the tragic loss of guitarist David Andersson so the fact that they still made the trek for these shows was certainly appreciated.
Opening the show tonight was Perth’s favorite power metal act Silent Knight who also recently released a new album “Full Force” and have been doing select shows in support of it. The faster paced nature of their songs certainly took the crowd by surprise, who for many may have been their first international metal show in over 2 years (judging by many conversations overheard) but the hooks and grooves certainly kept things engaging as the crowd slowly poured in the newly renovated Magnet House (formerly Capitol theatre).
Prog giants Chaos Divine were certainly a perfect fit for tonight’s show, having a somewhat closer sound to Soilwork, especially with the later albums. The band were on point tonight, mixing brilliant combinations of melodic passages, powerful vocals and some complex riffage that drew the crowd in closer and closer as they plowed through a relatively quick set. The bar was set early as everyone eagerly awaited the Swedish rockers.
Soilwork came into Australia this week sadly also without their keyboardist Sven Karlsson who on the bright side is celebrating becoming a father for the first time. But it was all systems go as they launched into the title track of their latest album “Övergivenheten” which continues their more melodic progressive path but live it seemed to have an even bigger punch, louder, heavier and intense which fitted in seamlessly with their older more aggressive material.
Guitarist Sylvain Coudret held down the fort very well with all things considered, the twin guitar attack with Andersson obviously sorely missed but Sylvain stood his ground and provided a great performance. Some exclusive premieres were also noticed with material from the new album getting a first live play as pointed out by vocalist Bjorn Strid who sounded electrifying tonight. A quick mention on their history with Australia revealed a count of 9 previous tours to Australia, the first back in 2003 which is pretty astounding and clearly shows Australia’s love for the band.
Further highlights also included new song “Harvest Spine” and the classic “Death Divider” which closed out the main portion of their set. Of course they couldn’t leave without giving us a few more songs to close out the night, with a lot of the later material given the spotlight which made their setlist tonight quite varied rather than just relying on the classics. Soilwork really gave us something to remember tonight and a brilliant way to kick off their tour, highly recommend heading out to one of their shows this week!
Photo Credit: JV Photo & Film | Review by Andrew Massie
SOILWORK
[su_custom_gallery source=”media: 24358,24357,24356,24355,24354,24353,24352,24351,24350,24349,24348,24347,24346,24345,24344,24343,24342″ limit=”50″ link=”lightbox” width=”80″ height=”80″ title=”never”]
CHAOS DIVINE & SILENT KNIGHT
[su_custom_gallery source=”media: 24341,24340,24339,24338,24337,24336,24335,24334,24333,24332,24331,24330,24329,24328,24327,24326,24325,24324,24323,24322″ limit=”50″ link=”lightbox” width=”80″ height=”80″ title=”never”]
