A Swedish invasion.
Soilwork cause arguments in the death metal world. At the beginning of their careers, their style of melodic death metal was brutal and unrelenting, however they have evolved in to a catchy, commercial metal outfit which earns the phrase 'sell out' from fans of their early works. Personally I think after six albums, a band has earned the right to spread their wings a little. I don't think Soilwork care however, concentrating their set on the last three albums, which must have been a good choice as the vast majority seemed to know the songs off by heart.
Vocalist Speed was in good voice with his gruff shouting, clean singing technique. They're a far cry from the nu-metal stylings, of which they've been accused of, simply because they're just too fast and heavy. As a band they didn't look like a normal unit, coming across as six mates getting together for rehearsals rather than performing at a show. This attitude was soon dispelled after they performed the excellent 'Figure Number Five' proving that it isn't about style, but I think they could have made more of an effort. Bass player Ola Frink is as mad as a brush, his six foot plus, faded Motley Crue t-shirt wearing frame jigged and camped his way through their whole set. He could easily have come across as an annoying prat but the crowd loved it, simply because it was so obvious that he was enjoying himself.
Guitarists Wichers and Frenning thrashed and soloed well, managing to duplicate their studio performances with precision. 'Nerve's' rhythm heavy riffing sounded powerful and caused another mosh pit to burst into life but it was 'Overload' with its catchy spacey keyboard hook that was the song of the set. They closed with this to a rapturous cheer, earning a lot of respect, especially from this reviewer who didn't envy their job of following strapping young lad. They succeeded admirably.