Soulfly, City of Fire, Incite@ The Hi-Fi, Brisbane(07/09/2010)

Sun 12th Sep, 2010 in Gig Reviews

Although it might sound a tad harsh, it’s probably safe to say that the only reason that anyone here tonight has heard of Arizona four piece Incite is that their singer, Richie Cavalera, happens to be the step-son of one Max Cavalera – the frontman of the band who are headlining tonight’s show. With a sound that brings to mind the hammer-head stylings of Hatebreed, Incite aren’t aiming to reinvent the wheel, with powerful yet slightly clichéd half time sections littering their set. With the songs from their debut record The Slaughter aired tonight sounding somewhat all alike, Incite probably aren’t going set the metal world afire, but with an impressive amount of energy the crowd warms to the young American’s by the end of their brief showing.

Canada’s City of Fire may also be known by the HiFi’s attendees for the band members full time acts – and with Fear Factory’s Burton C. Bell and Byron Stroud on vocal and bass duties respectively, not to mention Strapping Young Lad’s Jed Simon filling in on rhythm guitar, the uninitiated punter would probably jump to the conclusion that City of Fire are another flatteningly heavy act. Well, they are heavy, but instead of blast beats and machine gun guitar riffs the band brings an eclectic mix of classic rock, stoner and grunge to the table. From the dominating opener Carve Your Name to the two note riff monster Gravity, City of Fire’s set oozes with hypnotic grooves and expansive rhythms, backed by a number of truly massive guitar sections and pounding drum patterns.

While initial mix and pitch problems hamper Bell’s trademark roar, a majority of the technical issues get ironed out quick enough, and the band puts on a spell binding forty five minute performance. With only one album of material to focus on, the quintet chucks in an impressive reworking of The Cult’s Rain, which shows off guitarist Ian White’s fantastically restrained lead breaks and Bell’s perfectly sombre vocals. It’s almost a shame to think that City Of Fire will more than likely only remain a side project, as their set tonight shows that they have the potential to make a huge dent in the hard rock scene.

After departing Sepultura some fifteen years ago, and the subsequent formation and success of Soulfly, Max Cavalera deserves his status as a metal icon. However tonight the frontman seems to struggle with keeping up his well known vocal intensity as the show draws on and his rhythm guitar work seems to be almost none existent – considering that he keeps his fretting hand wrapped around a microphone stand for a majority of the night. Fortunately Cavalera’s band mates easily make up for him, with the underrated drum powerhouse Joe Nunez almost turning his kit into splinters by the end of the set, and lead guitarist Marc Rizzo effortlessly carrying all the guitar work by himself. In fact Rizzo is probably the star of Soufly’s performance, as the diminutive axeman balances finger burning shred and off the wall melodies, all wrapped up with a huge amount of onstage energy.

Despite his less than perfect performance, Cavalera knows how the fire up the audience, calling for carnage as the band’s set moves through neck wrecking numbers such as Babylon, Back To The Primitive and the exhumed Sepultura classic Troops Of Doom. The opening Blood Fire War Hate is a true call to arms as crushing riffs and breakneck tempos causes mayhem on the dance floor. Newer tracks off their current album Omen slot in nicely with older classics, with the throbbing tempo of Rise Of The Fallen a monster in the live setting and will certainly be in the band’s setlist for years to come. Soulfly’s hardcore influences come to a head during the furious L.O.T.M and Porrada mash up, but an unexpected segue into Pantera’s anthem Walk quickly turns the mosh into a sea of jumping bodies.

With the legendary grooves of Roots Bloody Roots and Eye For An Eye closing tonight’s performance, Cavalera may not be a polished performer, but he knows how to lead his band mates and crowd through an air tight show – something that the capacity crowd here tonight will surely attest to.