Soulfly naming their latest album, Ritual could not have been a more appropriate title. Everytime Soulfly comes to NYC it is like a Ritual in itself. Everytime Soulfly comes to NYC, regardless if they are playing older material, newer material or who they tour with, it is always a brutal experience that will leave any metal-head sore, but still happy. A quick recap of the times Max Cavalera set foot on stage at Gramecy Theater, we got Return to Roots, hearing one of the most legendary 90s albums in its entirety, then we get Nailbomb’s Point Blank in its entirety, which has that great underground, experimental noise side to it, then we get Soulfly returning to more current material on their epic tour with death metal legends, Nile, and now we get a classic Soulfly show with older material, as well as hearing some new material from their bad ass album, Ritual. While having an epic setlist, we get an awesome tour package to support.

Up first, we get Chaoseum opening the tour, and boy, did they start things off an a great note. Their style of music wasn’t something I was expecting to hear at a Soulfly show being that most of their tours would feature classic death metal sounding bands. Chaoseum is a band that cannot be defined by one genre. They had death metal, black metal, epic metal and some symphonic metal behind their sound that definitely took a lot of Soulfly fans by surprise. This is a band that had the heaviness and rawness that would appeal to fans of Soulfly, but also had a sound of their own that made them stand out in their own right. This is a band that can tour with Fleshgod Apocalypse, but maybe even tour with a band like Epic, With Temptation or Lacuna Coil. This is definitely an opener that wont be forgotten and I look forward to seeing what they come up with next.

Next we have Incite. This is when shit really hit the fan. Incite is one of those bands that can spawn any type of moshpit from a traditional Wall of Death, Circle-Pit, to the most vicious of crowd killers. With their new album, Built to Destroy out, having an 11 song-killing spree of a record, many fans of heavy music were eagerly awaiting the brutality of their set. Instantly they started on the stage and did not slow down one bit. With some of the most uncompromising death metal vocals, shredding guitar solos and pure aggression demonstrated during their set, Incite is a band that brings a new level of aggression behind heavy music. This band can tour with Soulfly, Cannibal Corpse, Behemoth and after seeing the intense crowd-killing, even Whitechappel, Chelsea Grin or Suicide Silence.

Up next, we get Canadian death metal legends, Kataklysm. Doing a quick recap back to the summer of 2018, Kataklysm did their release show for Meditations at St Vitus the same exact day Slayer was doing their farewell show just across the river, yet Kataklysm still packed the house. Now with Meditations over half a year old, there are even more people on board and their performance demonstrated that full force. With a variety of new stuff off their latest record, to some old school classics for the underground fans, Kataklysm was not only able to show an essence of perfection behind their set, but also were able to create an atmosphere and environment behind their performance. When you see Kataklysm play, you are not just at a concert, you are in a different world. Kataklysm creates a raw essence of emotion and brutality behind their set that can spawn the feels of anyone in the audience, as well as a moshpit that ends up being a fight for survival. In the end, Kataklysm will not fail in capturing the imaginations of any concert-goer.

Last but not least, we get Soulfly. There is no need to go into detail on how intense their show is because at this point, most metalheads should have a clear idea. In the end, their show was absolutely brutal as all hell. Soulfly is one of those bands where you never know what to expect in their set. This setlist had the perfect bridge between old school Soulfly classics such as Eye for an Eye, to brand new songs off Ritual. Regardless of what was played, the audience was totally intact the whole night. Regardless of what was played, fans in the end they were happy to hear the aggressive vocals of Max, the shredding guitars of Marc Rizzo and so much more.

Fact of the matter is, when you attend a Soulfly show, you are in for more than a concert experience. You might be limping away, but it is the pain from the pit you will be feeling that will remind you that you had an awesome time.

Thanks as always to Jonathan Arevalo for some kick ass photos! Hope your camera and face is okay from the dozens of crowdsurfers that night!

Photos by Jonathan Arevalo

https://jarevalo.portfoliobox.net