The Other Side of Todd Aune: Soulfly, Soblivious, Thirion X: January 31, 2014

Here I am again, at The Knitting Factory, after work, at the show a bit early so I can take my time and enjoy a solid meal and tasty beverage in the nice bar attached to the concert venue. I order off their recently updated menu and enjoy a decent, but not the best burger one can get. Their previous menu was much better, not so gourmet, more traditional for bar food on an upper level of quality, if you get my drift.

I happen to engage in a conversation with a long-bearded fellow who is deep into the heavy metal/punk rock lifestyle. I always wonder how one exists walking around looking that way (shaved head, a beard about a foot long, black rimmed glasses with all denim attire and the appropriate patches/studs to complete the look/stereotype rocker). But alas, I live in such a different sheltered world, there are other norms that work just fine. Who's to judge? It's a bit out of my norm to engage with anyone at the shows unless forced but I could tell he was much like me, in respect. We both could talk about our musical favorites and concerts we've attended for hours. Music means the world to him as much as myself.

Onto the music! Thirion X is a local band that seemed to have improved a bit over the last time I saw them, but with all due respect, they present themselves like everyone else and I probably would need to hear the CD in order to write them off completely.

Soblivious, on the other hand, was a bit better! They come out and give me the impression that the lead singer is a heavy metal Sting with a bit of flair for the dramatic. It definitely makes for a better stage presence. Their music was decent and I'd look them up more verses Thirion X any day!

Soufly, my goodness, what can you say?! If Slayer music are the anthems to hell, then Soufly are the anthems to war! Song after song, the brutality of the their riffs are incredible. The guitarist always amazes me when you see them live. You almost think he has a machine gun in his hand and can whip your ass with his spinning kicks if you got too close. Max Cavalera brings the verbal assault with his cookie monster growl and if I'm not mistaken, his son was on drums thundering through the high-energy grooves. Tony Campos, from Static-X fame is now the bassist and he's such a bad ass motherfucker! The band is currently on the road promoting their recent release Savages, but you can see everyone came to hear the classics from his days in Sepultura to his ground breaking rhythms from the early days of Soulfly. The new album is fantastic and the new tunes played live where spectacular. It's one of their better albums, for sure.

If you like your ears assaulted and your pulse quickened, go see Soulfly!