Soilwork/ Double Dragon
Live On Light Square
Saturday 17 May


It is a cold, wet, miserable Saturday night. A night that I imagine would be commonplace in the Swedish city of Gothenburg, birthplace of the distinctive brand of melodic death metal for which tonight's headliners Soilwork are renowned.

But first to Adelaide's own Double Dragon, who have scored the support slot for the entirety of Soilwork's Australian tour. And it's well deserved too, as their performance tonight proves. It must be nearly twelve months since I have seen Double Dragon live and I am hugely impressed at how far they have come in that time. They have really honed their performance and their songwriting, exemplified by the new songs from their forthcoming album 'Devastator' (due in July). Their fiercely aggressive modern metal, highlighted by some razor sharp riffage and solos, is greeted with great enthusiasm by the good-sized crowd. Garrulous front man Lee has a great voice for this style of metal. A fantastic start to proceedings from a band for whom bigger and better things surely lie ahead.

It has been four years since Soilwork were last in Australia, and the crowd welcomes them as returning heroes as they take the stage. Kicking off with the title track to their current album 'Sworn To A Great Divide' they soon have the pit seething. Soilwork are a band with a knack for coming up with great hooks and melodies. In the live environment this remains evident but is complemented by a crushing intensity and heaviness that has occasionally been lacking on their studio albums, particularly 2003's 'Figure Number Five'. Tonight Rejection Role and Overload are given a fresh lease of life and sound absolutely massive.

The set is drawn from across their seven-album career, with a focus on their last three albums. Indeed we are reminded just how many great tunes Soilwork have. The songs from the latest album also certainly stand up alongside the earlier material. Exile and As The Sleeper Awakes in particular are highlights, along with storming renditions of Stabbing The Drama and One With The Flies.

At times constrained by the small stage, energetic singer Speed constantly exhorts the crowd, not that they need much encouragement. The distinctive twin guitar interplay has lost nothing with the recent departure of Ola Frenning, David Anderson now joining Daniel Antonsson to provide some ripping solos. Drummer Dirk Verbeuren and bassist Ola Flink meanwhile keep driving the band's thick grooves, overlayed by Sven Karlsson's keyboards. Less prominent in the live setting, the keys nevertheless remain another vital ingredient of the Soilwork sound.

Far from the brooding atmospherics that I for one half-expected, Soilwork deliver a rousing, energetic and immensely powerful performance which leaves the near capacity crowd in raptures. An encore culminating with Nerve brings to an end a great evening of metal, and one that I'm sure made the punters happy that they braved the elements and ventured out tonight.

James McKenzie

Pic: Tara Cannell