Live Reviews : Soilwork, Aversions Crown & Orpheus Omega @ 170 Russell, Melbourne 16/02/2016

Words: Jonathon Besanko

Images: Mark Hoffmann

This is a show I’d been looking forward to since I first received confirmation I’d be covering it. I won’t lie, however. I wasn’t as familiar with Soilwork‘s back catalogue as say a band like Dark Tranquillity, but I didn’t let that stop me either. In the lead up to tonight I spent a good deal of time familiarising myself better with their music, and getting a better understanding of their style and what has allowed them to endure for as long as they have. Whilst I won’t spoil the details of their performance in this opening paragraph, what I will say is that the studio albums do not do them justice. Soilwork are one of those rare few bands that excel and perform best in a live setting, playing to their own strengths and to the wholesome atmosphere of the crowd before them. They completely blew away all expectations for me. But more to that later.

Orpheus Omega

Opening tonight at 8pm were local Melbourne favourites of mine, Orpheus Omega. Now, despite that, this will not be a biased review going forth. Just one telling of their performance on the night, which thankfully was still a good one! It’s a Tuesday night and a little bit nippy outside, but that didn’t deter the crowds from coming in tonight in sizeable numbers. The Melbourne based melodic death metal act were guaranteed a surefire hit considering their musical connection to that of Soilwork. At least, so I thought. But in actuality, I felt their crowd response tonight was a little lacking, sadly. I was up the front where it was buzzing (especially among a select few fans who literally did not stop their neck-snapping pace, headbanging through Orpheus’ entire setlist), but I still had enough of a clear view around the rest of 170 Russell to get an idea of how the band were being received. While people were certainly into it, and there was a still quite a strong response from the crowd after each song, there unusually wasn’t quite the level of pit activity or crowd interaction from the back that I’ve seen during the other times I’ve caught this band live. Whether it was perhaps because it was so early in the working week, I’m uncertain, but at the least, it wasn’t Orpheus Omega’s doing either; as live and musically speaking, they were tight.

The lights saturated Orpheus Omega with iridescent flavours, and the band tore through their setlist; playing to select tracks off their latest album, ‘Partum Vita Mortem’, as well as old crowd favourites from their earlier two records like “De6enerate”. Speaking of that particular song, this one really showcased the ever-growing vocal talents of bassist Nathan Mesiti; with his harsh vocals, in particular. There was such raw strength to them every time he chimed in on backing vocals, and it only served to heighten the efforts of lead vocalist/guitarist Chris Themelco. Points to Ben Roberts of Hollow World too for very entertainingly joining in on vocals here, and further to the guys in the pit who stomped in a circle around Nathan during “Sealed In Fate”.

Orpheus Omega are like a tall-standing bastion. Their efforts as a band are fortified in the strength and malleability they continue to display onstage in terms of camaraderie, musical gusto, and just downright charm that they exude.

Aversions Crown

Before Brisbane’s Aversions Crown took to the stage, during the interval we were exposed to a very unusual and odd playlist that felt wholly out of place at a Soilwork gig. To the point where I couldn’t tell if the guy running the sound desk was just taking the piss. Not kidding, a selection of songs comprising the likes of Wu-Tang Clan, what sounded like Nicki Minaj or something similar at one stage, and the bloody “Hey Ya!” song all played very loudly over the speakers. Not exactly material to get you pumped at a melodic death metal show. But then suddenly, in an explosion of blast beasts and screeching, roared vocals, Aversions Crown filled the stage.

Now I’ll admit, I’m not really a big deathcore fan, but for what it is, Aversions Crown excel at their chosen genre. Their music feels big, atmospheric and chunky at every turn, and that is pretty fun to watch and listen to. They also earned a pretty good following at the front, with a solid row of enthusiastic headbangers joining them. In terms of the music too, each element was clearly audible and they never fell into the trap of losing their guitars or vocals to the blast beasts and breakdowns. Every part was well balanced and they utilised the venue to great effect. Aversions Crown had one of the best tones of the night. You could feel their music almost everywhere around you and I mean that in the best way. Once again, props to that light guy too! Each step was timed perfectly, and there was even some rather cool and unique lighting for this band too, hosting a splash of blues and purples. I’m not sure whether this was an intentional stylistic choice or merely happy coincidence, but it nevertheless seemed a nice nod to the violet beast depicted on the cover art for Aversions Crown’s last album, ‘Tyrant’.

That being said, not everyone gravitated towards the deathcore style of their music. A number of people standing around me looked confused or unimpressed. I even saw a few people leave the pit shortly after they began. As much as I can respect Aversions Crown and what they were going for, I’m just not sure this was really the right setting or environment for them. If it were a band such as Thy Art Is Murder, then yes, definitely, but as to Soilwork, the fanbase seeing this band are quite far removed. And thus, the response was fairly uneven.

I do have to give credit to Aversions Crown’s lead vocalist Mark Poida, however, who alongside being intense vocally was also one of the more humble frontmen I have seen (and surprisingly soft-spoken when not growling to his hearts’ content), especially on the intro to their new song “Erebus”. As he said a few times, Aversions Crown were just there to have a good time and for the crowd to have one with them. That attitude is something I always love seeing at metal shows. Their drummer too, Jayden Mason, my word, this guy was the highlight of their set for me. He crushed it like no one’s business. One of the most technically proficient and interesting drummers I’ve seen. Their drumming was never dull or tired when he was onstage.

Soilwork

The time had come for the main act of the evening, Sweden’s mighty Soilwork. The Swedes came out with a massive bang as “The Ride Majestic” swam in calmly over the audience and then burst into heavy, melodic mastery. One of the earliest points of note is Soilwork’s pit tonight. It opened on the first song, and then from the second and third onwards – “Nerve”, “Bastard Chain” – it just erupted and didn’t stop for the rest of the evening. It’s testament to the power and charisma of Soilwork as a band that despite it being so early in the week, this evening brought in some of the most energetic, rowdy, and enthusiastic crowds of any show I’ve been to in the past.

Lead vocalist Björn “Speed” Strid went on to announce, and I paraphrase, “You guys ready for some of that Swedish metal?!” Speaking then of the ‘The Ride Majestic’ album, he noted, “I believe we charted pretty high in Australia, so thank you guys!” before the band then led into “Alight in the Aftermath”. It was shown to me time and time again that Strid is one of the most talented, humble, and charismatic frontmen I have seen. He constantly engaged with the audience, encouraging everyone to get involved and to push harder. Whenever guitarists Sylvain Coudret or David Andersson sped into one of their many impressive and emotional solos, Strid would also immediately focus the attention onto them, while headbanging along to their music. Soilwork have existed as a band since 1995 and have experienced many lineup changes in that time, yet this evening showed to me how inclusive and strong their bond is on stage despite all that. Throughout their whole set, Soilwork genuinely appeared to enjoy themselves. There was character and there was camaraderie. There have only really ever been a few times out of all the live bands I’ve seen over the years where I’ve had to remind myself to take notes because of how much I was enjoying the show, or how invested I was in the band’s performance. Soilwork did that for me tonight. Not only did this band bring a level of experience, worldliness (and by that I mean how well they could engage with anyone no matter where they came from), and presence to their performance, but so too did they appear to have that spark where you could tell how much they do this only for the music and their fans more than anything else. It is one of those things that seems basic to all musicians, but only a select few honestly live by it. I firmly believe Soilwork are one of those groups. I can’t stress enough how much they utterly blew me away tonight, and nor can I stress how musically sound and tight they were either.

Everything came together tonight in the best way possible and given how many wide-grinning, rapturous people I shared gasps and smiles with around me, I don’t think I was the only one who felt this either. Melbourne was the last stop on Soilwork’s Australian tour before they next hit up New Zealand, and the Swedish metallers brought it home. They have convinced me why it is they have the fanbase they do and why they have been able to do this for as long as they have. And all the evidence you could need is in their live shows. A great night.

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