Upon arrival at Trees in Dallas, it was evident that both the bands and the event staff were excited to welcome the return of live music to their venue.  One could feel the excitement build as the empty space came alive with bands loading in gear, sound checks were completed and fans started filtering in.

The two openers, both from Dallas, were local favorites familiar to the crowd as evidenced by them coming to life during their sets. Breathe Atomic is an experimental Hardcore five piece band and Lowgear is a high energy five piece Metal band.  I was back at the merch booth area helping, so I was not able to see them perform, however, I could absolutely feel the energy of the evening shifting into a higher gear setting the stage for what was to come.

Next to take stage were the Suicide Puppets, a six piece Industrial Metal band from Harrisburg, PA.  Their direct support half hour set featured many of their heavy hitting favorites such as ‘Man In Black’, ‘6 Sex 6’, and ‘Your Love My Hate’. The small stage couldn’t contain their energy, so guitarist Steven Suicide made his way to the edge of the stage within arm’s reach of those up front, literally bringing the music right to them. 

The Suicide Puppets also brought their new single ‘Chelle Shock’ with them on tour which features Twisty Suicide’s growling vocal style telling the story of a failed relationship rounded out by rhythm section drummer Veritas Suicide and bassist Jonny Suicide. Their set finished with ‘Still Bleeding’, another intense fan favorite in which each of the three guitarists, Tattuicide, Steven Suicide and Donnie Von Gailinger feed off each other until the song explodes. Based on the enthusiastic applause and visitors to the merch booth, its clear that the Suicide Puppets have created a new following in Dallas.

After all this buildup, it was time for headliner Soulfly to take command of the stage which is exactly how frontman and founding member Max Cavalera presents himself.  They start off their set with ‘Eye For An Eye’ and the crowd is immediately swept into an hour and a half of carefully selected pieces across the band’s vast catalog.  One song after the next, the energy builds as does the size of the mosh pit.  

Cavalera leads the charge of this musical assault and is joined by Fear Factory  guitarist Dino Cazares, Mike Leon on bass and his son Zyon Cavalera on the drums.  Together, they deliver a powerful set that includes many Soulfly and Sepultura fan favorites as well as a new song ‘Filth Upon Filth’ which they intend to release on a new album coming in 2022. Having Cazares join them on this tour brought a new sound to their familiar songs which worked extremely well.  The fans respond right on cue when Cavalera looks for it which continues throughout the entire set. ‘Back To The Primitive’ finished them out before a brief break and its lyrics are as timely now as they were years ago when it was written.

For an encore, they performed a Fear Factory favorite – “Replica” and closed with ‘Jumpdafuckup’ which Cavalera led the crowd in jumping. To see the entire venue moving together as one is truly powerful indeed. He put us on notice that they will be back in 2022 with a new album and tour and we will be ready.  

 

Suicide Puppets setlist:

Man In Black

6 Sex 6

Chelle Shock

Blacker Days

Your Love My Hate

Still Bleeding

 

Soulfly setlist:

Eye For An Eye

No Hope=No Fear

Downstroy

Bleed

Refuse/Resist

Dead Behind The Eyes

Blood Fire War Hate

Fire

NB Wasting Away

Filth Upon Filth

Arise/Dead Embryonic Cells

Back To The Primitive

 

Encore:

Fear Factory Jam 

Jumpdafuckup

 

WORDS AND PHOTOS BY KIM HANSEN