SOULFLY, Hornsman Coyote, Incite, Senser, Subscribe, Artery
15.03.2009,В 'Universiada' hall,В Sofia, BulgariaВ 

words by Steffan Yordanov, photos:В  begemot

It’s not a secret any more that Soulfly have invested a lot of their heart and soul into Bulgarian audience for the last 7 years and that is why the band’s fourth coming sold out 'Universiada' hall to 2000 people. When you go to a gig of the-most-often-coming-in-Bulgaria-world-class-A-band, there’s no thrill of the unexpected, but there’s something else-the thrill of meeting an old mate of yours.

Yesterday, on 15th of March 2009 Max Cavalera & Co. Reminded us the basic rules of the game we all play. This time they were helped by 4 allies, so the night turned out to be a great festival event instead of an ordinary concert.В 

My personal disorganization had fatal consequences to my desire to see the first support act Artery and although I don’t dare to say I’m good at getting peoples’ impressions by their faces, most of them seemed quite satisfied with the performance.

Still lots of punters were hanging outside, while the Hungarians Subscribe were trying to bring sense to their name-virtually unknown to the Bulgarian crowd. And they were good, especially while doing those brilliant clean vocal duets. Honestly, this slightly Incubus-like style, so typical for the beginning of the century, is not my cup of tea. The crowd seemed to enjoy the band though and even if there weren’t any signs of love from the first sight, Subscribe were met with adequate hospitality.

Senser were the rum birds of the event. First of all, many of us could hardly remember them and second, we didn’t even know they still existed. Judging by their stage performance, this is not a full-speed touring band. They lack the routine and the stage chemistry. Add the blurring sound of the instruments and the loud voices and you will get the picture quite well. All the songs sounded the same.

Nevertheless, about 20 punters were constantly organizing small circle pits in front of the stage and slowly but surely the infection spread through the crowd, so at the end, when Senser executed their hits 'The Age Of Panic' and 'State Of Mind', the band enjoyed full-contact reaction from the crowd.

Cavalera’s family connection is the obvious reason for Incite’s support slot right before Soulfly. We have seen this scenario before and there’s no doubt we will see it again and again. Not that Incite is a weak band, but they constantly dance on the verge of mediocrity. Brutal enough to become darlings of the Bulgarian metal heads, Incite obviously found many new friends that night and were escorted by a constant loud noise until the very end of their set.

Shortly after 10.30 PM the PA started booming the martial Soulfly’s introduction accompanied with rhythmically applauded slogan 'Blood, Fire, War, Hate'. This deadly combination can surely send you shivers. Max Cavalera with a terrorist balaclava on his head emerged from the smoke curtain only a few seconds later (but after all the others from the band of course) and suddenly brought this typical dark, apocalyptic and somewhat anarchistic aura, better known from the original Sepultura times.

Beyond any doubt nowadays it’s running in Cavalera’s blood and is quite present in CC and Soulfly. But bygone is bygone and tonight it’s obvious that the 4th Soulfly crusade in Bulgaria aims to flat and batter the human resource in 'Universiada' hall.

Max & Co. executed astonishingly arse-splitting set starting with 'Doom' going on with 'Prophecy' and 'Tribe' through Sepultura classics 'Refuse/Resist' and 'Troops Of Doom' up to the desert psychedelia of 'Moses'. You can’t retell such a concert, especially when stage is constantly visited by additional players like Hornsman Coyote from Serbia /'Moses'/, Ritchie Cavalera /'Unleash'/ and a fan, chosen by Max to participate in a spontaneous drum session.

Soulfly marked the historical existence of Nailbomb with 'Wasting Away', and finally waved goodbye with the old testament battle hymn 'Eye For An Eye'. This is how the meeting I was talking about in the beginning finished. One can’t go from a gig like that with tears in his eyes, but fully satisfied, positively exhausted and relieved from the fact that he wasn’t ignored, but respected and valued. In other words, when he walks off, he feels like a fan.

GALLERY