Live | Soulfly [& Diggeth] – Poppodium VOLT – Sittard [NL]

7 August 2024

On this sunny Wednesday evening, I once again went to the beautiful music venue Poppodium VOLT in Sittard, to experience an evening with Soulfly, supported by Diggeth. This show was sold out a while in advance, so both bands got to show their skills in front of a well-filled hall with an enthusiastic audience. And they were obviously in the mood for some old-fashioned Thrash/Groove Metal. 
But first it was Diggeth’s job to warm up the crowd.

SUPPORT ACT – DIGGETH

A few months ago, I also got to see this power trio, led by guitar slinger & vocalist, Harald “Big H”, at work. That was in support of The Quill. Now they are facing a more heavy-oriented audience. I must say that I am very pleasantly surprised to see how these three have adapted their set list and how they managed to emphasize the heavy and grooving songs from their repertoire. 

Fortunately, the band is also blessed by a good sound, which of course is always very helpful. The sound was just muddy! What these 3 do is almost un-Dutch. Bass player Natasja aka “Pebbles” and drummer Casper “The Chief” know how to keep the sound fat during Harald’s soloing. As I said, a very good set from Diggeth and I think quite a few people also took this band to their hearts this night.

HEADLINER – SOULFLY

After a changeover of just under half an hour, a little after 9 p.m., it’s time for the main act of the evening. This band around Max Cavalera has of course been around since 1997, founded by Max after leaving thrash legend Sepultura. In any case, Max can’t be called lazy, as he was recently on a ‘festival’ tour with his Cavalera project. Which also includes his brother Igor. Now he is on the road with Soulfly to reinforce the latest release ‘Totem’.

After a brief intro, the band steps onto the stage to perform `Back To The Primitive’ [2000] to musically open this evening. And you can say what you want, but from that moment on, pop stage VOLT was upside down. The crowd came to celebrate a thrash metal party, and Soulfly was the host of this night. Mosh pits from start to finish of the show and even a few ventured stage diving.

ZYON CAVALERA

`No Hope=No Fear’ [1998] and `Superstition’ [2022] are the next treats Soulfly has in store for the audience and they went down like a treat. The mix of young and old fans in the audience nicely shows how the music of this great in the thrash scene is also passed on from generation to generation. And speaking of generations, on drums is Zyon Cavalera. Indeed, the son of Max. Music is in this family’s blood obviously, because Zyon is truly insane to watch at work behind his drum kit. What a force of nature!!! This young man impressively lays down the GROOVE for the rest of the band.

Bassist Mike Leon and current tour guitarist Mike DeLeon both make fitting contributions to the gig, but the true fireworks really does come from the gentlemen with Cavalera as last name. Again and again, the boiling point seems to have been reached, only to be upscaled yet again. ,,Tribe” [1998], ,,Filth Upon Filth” [2022] and ,,Bleed” [1998] are some examples.

SOULFLY – THE CONCLUSION

You may therefore conclude that we are not dealing here with an orchestra that is actually jaded and wants to earn some more money. No way, this band is on fire and wants to put on a fat show for their fans and the musicians definitely enjoy it themselves. I first got to know the artist Max Cavalera live back in 1990, with his then thrash sensation Sepultura. After that I saw him a few more times at work, but I must say that the performance of Soulfly tonight in Sittard, was certainly not less than what I got to see in the early 90s. That alone is a world achievement, because just a few artists know how to maintain that level.

Top night, top performance!!! With emphasis on the 1998 debut album ‘Soulfly’.  

SETLIST SOULFLY

– Back To The Primitive
– No Hope=No Fear
– Superstition
– Downstroy
– Seek ‘n’ Strike
– Prophecy
– Bumbklaat
– Frontlines
– Tribe
– Rise Of The Fallen
– Filth Upon Filth
– Fire/Porrada
– Bumba
– Bleed

– Blood Fire War Hate
– Boom
– No
– Jumpdafuckup
– Eye For An Eye

All photos by Raymond Helebrand