Morbid Angel and Soulfly 2/14/05 Bossanova in Portland, OR
By Robin Steeley
Upon arriving at the venue, I was surprised to find that there wasn’t half as many people there as I thought there would be; I guess being that it is Monday, and Valentines day, that only the most hardcore of fans is here tonight.
Morbid Angel opens the night and plays a long set of their classic thrash death style much to the delight of the audience. Before two songs were finished, a huge pit had started at the middle of the room and was quickly working its way back to where we were. The crowd chants “Mor-Bid Ang-el” over and over again enticing the guys to play all their best known hits. I think it’s cool that for once, there isn’t five bands to get through just to see what you came for, the only bands are Morbid and Soulfly and that meant longer sets and a chance to really get into the show.
The band itself is tied together with metal strands streaming from furious guitar work and a punishing percussion drawn painfully out of one of the biggest kits I have ever seen, it was surrounded by a metal structure that could barely contain it all. The guitars are heavy, fast and layered together with that old familiar bass line. It’s all drawn in and brought together by the growling vocals and throat tearing screams as they emit their classic death sound, each song a seemingly violent tirade, inciting the pit into testosterone driven madness. It’s been many years since I have seen Morbid Angel and they were more then worth the wait.
Soulfly is up next after a lengthy set change, and I can’t wait for the music to begin. I am a longtime fan of both Sepultura and Soulfly but I have never had the chance to see Max live in his current incarnation and believe me I was ready for the mayhem to begin. The room finally goes dark and the house music disappears and the show starts with a dark tinged tribal intro, Max appears onstage and heads right into “Prophecy” off their latest release. In a flurry of rapid-fire double bass and power metal chords Soulfly turns the pit into a frenzy, bodies writhing and surfing, flying up in the air just to land back on top of the crowd. They run through a set full of all their greatest hits as well as some of the more obscure ones.
As always, the cornerstones of the Soulfly sound are the brutal tribal laden drum lines and the distinctive voice of Max Cavalera. They have an unmatched primitive sound that sets them apart from other metal bands, new and old alike. I waited forever to see them, and in the end, I wasn’t disappointed.
Tonight’s Set List
Intro
Prophecy
Seek
Livin Sacrifice
No Hope
Downstroy
Jump.Bring it
Bleed Tree
Defeat you
Mars
Joe Intro Refuse
Execution Style
LOTM
Arise. DEC
Symptom. Sabbath
Nailbomb. Sum
Porrada. Drums
Tribe
I and I
Roots. Attitude fast
Intro. Primitive
No
Prophet
Eye
