SOILWORK, ONE WAY MIRROR & ANANTA
ISLINGTON ACADEMY/THE TRABENDO, PARIS - 20-22/11/08
A pleasure of preparing for a concert like this was having a ready-made excuse to listen to all of Soilwork’s back catalogue in the name of research. At one time of day, albums like “Predator’s Portrait” were never off my cd player. The newer and really old stuff is great too, and the mix of aggression and melody should be perfect for a live setting. Unfortunately for various reasons, Soilwork have always disappointed me live. Hopefully in the compact and normally sound-friendly environment of the Carling Academy in Islington, it was going to be different.
Before Soilwork though, we had two French bands. From the outset, Ananta, a 6 piece from Montpellier, pumped out adrenaline-filled thrash metal with industrial samples. The drummer set a breakneck pace meanwhile. Subtle breaks led into relentless headbanging sessions. There’s nothing like having a stiff neck to stat the night. The level of energy was just right. I found myself making an early comparison with Soilwork in respect of the style, the singer’s appearance and the sudden endings, but the Melodic Thrash did deviate in the middle towards a more Death style. Indeed the emphasis was on brutality and strong pounding riffs – ideal for a live show. As the vocalist roared on, in the background the bassist led the metal choreography in impressive fashion. This was even more impressive as I learned from a band member later that the bassist only joined Ananta a week before the tour. There was a moment of exuberant Frenchness as I saw the mixing guy taking a picture of himself, but make no mistake, Ananta are a seriously good band. They play good time melodic tribal metal, projected themselves well and got the reaction from the crowd that they deserved. A job well done.
To follow was One Way Mirror, with members of Scarve and the vocalist currently performing for Mnemic (thanks to the guy on the merch stand for filling me in on this). To the background of an impressive wall of sound, tracks like a French Thrash Rap with a bit of Metalcore. It was all wild and energetic. The singer literally went head to head with each other, but crass as this seemed, it was impossible not to move to the chunky rhythm which ran through it all. Rammstein couldn’t have done it better. By the time of “Danger Calling”, I realized I was listening to something akin to Nu Metal. Let’s call it Modern Metal to be charitable. It was certainly being delivered with enthusiasm and going down well with the younger members of the audience. I have to say this oldie was enjoying it too. Dirk, ex Scarve and now Soilwork’s drummer, was setting an imperious pace and dictating the headbanging. Meanwhile, the singer Guillaume was brilliant. He was everywhere on stage and his interaction with the crowd was friendly and engaging. His personality, excellent sense of humour and bonhomie shone through, the sort of guy you could sit in a bar and have a laugh with for hours. He promised they wouldn’t play “The Final Countdown” but they did do a cover of Frankie Goes to Hollywood’s “Relax”. This track suits the style of One Way Mirror. It’s good that that they interpreted it in their own metal style, but it did not have the seedy edge of the original, but then they’re not from Liverpool. “Deprived of Connection” had a typically thunderous headbanging riff. It was a pity that the final number “21st Century” didn’t have the catchiness of the others. Nevertheless this was a fun metal show from One Way Mirror, and it passed too quickly.
The atmosphere in the crowd got uglier as Soilwork took the stage. This, from my experience, has been an unfortunate side of Soilwork’s concerts, influenced by singer Björn “Speed” Strid’s encouragement of yobbish behaviour. Well, this aspect wasn’t so eveident tonight. “Good to see you all …. Let’s get the party started” – great! “Sworn to a Great Divide” was a fitting and punchy opener. The crowd was going wild, but the band was performing competently but not doing anything exceptional. “Exile”, “Needlefeast” and “The Bringer” are just great tracks, and the band had clearly sought to give them a live sound, which was great, but the delivery wasn’t good. Strid’s clean vocals as ever went missing. And here’s the rub – what are Soilwork trying to be? It’s hard to tell. The intended atmosphere was aggressive, but today in spite of the ever portlier Strid telling us to “destroy the place” and behaving here and there like the school bully, it wasn’t working. In any case, their music is about struggle not war, and the clean vocals if delivered well would convey an emotional charge which comes across really strongly on the albums, but not here. At the same time, the bassist was having fun. He wiggled his bum, danced a jig, made ridiculous gestures and hopped around like he needed to go to the toilet, but at least he didn’t get in everyone’s way, which I have seen him do before. Visually, Soilwork are bizarre. “Are you hanging in there?” asked Strid. Well, only just. Some of it was really great and the crowd was lifted. At times the crowd looked on and were dropping off. “One with the Flies” and “Overload” were brilliant, and the crowd was bouncing again. The set list was well chosen and ran right across the range of their material, including a powerful rendition of “The Chainheart Machine”. “As the Sleeper Awakes” was well interpreted and sounded ok, but I had the distinct impression that Strid was tired or unwell, and with the exception of periodic uplifts, the lunatic bassist was the only one conveying any real enthusiasm. It wasn’t enough. Peter Wichers got deserved recognition for his presence and virtuoso guitar-playing. Then we were introduced to “Black Star Deceiver”, not personally my favourite track, but good thrash as it was, the vocals made it almost unrecognizable. “I can’t hear you” is a metal cliché these days, and Strid managed to shout it unconvincingly, and in the circumstances with unintended irony. The crowd gave it their all but ultimately it’s up to the performers to generate the vibe and the noise, and make sure we go mental without the need to be prompted. It was only happening in patches. The band came back for an encore and got the crowd gong a bit with “Follow the Hollow”, although Strid once again proved he has no range in his voice. It’s clear that mixing growls and clean harmonies is difficult and doesn’t work unless you’re Mikael Akerfeldt whose songs in any case lend themselves better to the transition of style. I’m pleased to say that Soilwork finished on a high note. “Nerve” was put across with great intensity without losing the subtlety. Everyone enjoyed it and the room was rocking. Strid was gracious in his departing speech and whilst this isn’t an exercise in table manners, it did prove that Strid appreciated his audience. I and others left with good memories.
Unfortunately, Soilwork kept up their reputation, in my eyes at least, of never failing to disappoint live. Their recorded work is brilliant and should be perfect for live adaptation with its combination of aggression and melody. At the same time it’s difficult to get it exactly right. To their credit, they put some interpretation into their songs, and had a nice, varied set list but whilst there were uplifting moments, the delivery was patchy. I shall continue to buy their albums and remain in the hope that one day they will be able to capture the right mood live. Nevertheless it was an enjoyable evening, and all three bands deserve credit for contributing a lot of fun, some great music and good memories to take away.
Saturday 22nd November, Paris.
And so, it was onto Paris on the Saturday for round 2. Actually, nearly not as we joined the wrong queue at the splendid Parc de la Villette and almost finished going to watch Machine Head and Children of Bodom next door. A friendly local pointed us towards the Trabendo, a well set out and modern club. Around 200 turned out to see Soilwork and co, not a bad turnout given the nearby competition (and cause for extra gratitude from Strid during the show, to his credit) and the price of the tickets. At 28 Euro (25 Pounds), you pay for your metal round these parts.
As for the bands, Ananta once again demonstrated their mastery of tempo and put on another excellent display of catchy brutality. It took the Parisian crowd a while to get into it but they did eventually.
One Way Mirror surprised me. Of course it was the same show as Thursday but the incisiveness got lost in the empty spaces. Even more surprising that the singer’s humour, delivered in his native language to a home crowd (relatively speaking as Parisians tend to stand apart from the rest), seemed to fall flat other to a small hard core of the band’s supporters at the front. The intro to “Relax” was completely lost, and the original song let alone its spirit might as well have not existed, judging by the performance of the song and the reaction to it. Overall it was another good display though. Oh, and it was interesting that the guitarist didn’t tell anyone to “vas t’enculer” tonight – not good PR in front of a French audience, but OK in front of a British one? Some of us speak French you know.
Soilwork were much better than Thursday, if still lacking in consistency and cohesion. Sergeant Major Strid was back on form, alternating between bullying and cajoling and winning the crowd over with his words and presence. The clean vocals were still dodgy but at least “Black Star Deceiver” was recognizable this time. The bassist was subdued tonight and spent a lot of his time checking the amp. As usual, the stage show was average and the band failed to convert some great songs into live masterpieces, but it was much improved. The well-behaved crowd responded enthusiastically and the moshing took place to order. The delivery of “One with the Flies”, “Overload” and “Nerve” got everyone going and again, for all the weaknesses in Soilwork’s stage show, everyone left satisfied after another good evening of metal and fun.
Andrew Doherty
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