On March 1st, 2023, SOILWORK & KATAKLYSM, with their friends from WILDERUN, hit Columbia Theater in Berlin on their European Tour.
WILDERUN was the first act to open the show. They are mainly an American progressive metal band on their first tour through Europe. The tracks from their 2022 release, like “Identifier” or “Passenger,” were more at home in a progressive metal lineup than this one. The melodic “Far From Where Dreams Unfurl” was also in the set and was a clear fan-favorite, according to the audience. Since SOILWORK had a shortened set, WILDERUN extended their setlist and ended their performance with “O Resolution!” after 50 minutes. Evan Anderson Berry‘s vocals were charismatic and powerful and the band’s material made us think of OPETH here and there. Technically, WILDERUN deliver high musical art. In a package with SOILWORK and KATAKLYSM, these guys felt a bit too progressive. Perhaps they should have been paired with HAKEN and BETWEEN THE BURIED AND ME instead?
The Swedish melodic death metal band SOILWORK were up next. The whole band went up the stage and Rasmus Ehrnborn announced that their lead singer Björn Strid was sick and couldn’t perform on this night. They proposed to play the set instrumentally and have the audience sing, pointing the mic to the crowd. They apologized once again and added they would be at the merch stand after the show. They opened with “Övergivenheten” from their latest album, and an outcry went through the hall. It was hard to recognize some songs without the iconic vocals, unless you were a hardcore fan, which the Berlin crowd certainly were. At the song “Stabbing the Drama,” a fan climbed up the stage dressed in a cow pajamas onesie, holding a beer and took the mic. At first, it was a little intense but then he started singing the song. He displayed good vocal abilities, but it was the positive energy that made the song special. As a hardcore fan, he was just very happy to be there, on one stage with his favorite band. The closing song was “Stålfågel” and another fan climbed the stage for this one. The man was dressed in a simple sweater and jeans but he displayed some impressive vocals. Their show was special because of this magic.
KATAKLYSM entered the stage with an absolute roar. It didn’t take even 2 minutes until all hell broke loose in the pit during the opener, “Push the Venom,” and that’s by no means an exaggeration; the Canadians already lived up to their reputation as an absolute live force during the first third of their 75-minute set. The blasts in “Guillotine” went down hard before the band’s typical groove in “Narcissist.” Although the quartet had a very motley setlist up their sleeve, which also took into account two tracks “Underneath The Scars” and “The Killshot” from the latest album, “Unconquered” (2020), but the fans fell into real euphoria when KATAKLYSM classics like “Where the Enemy Sleeps” or “In Shadows Intonate and Dust” were blasting in the venue. For the finale, they saved the epic, “Blood In Heaven.”
WILDERUN
SOILWORK
KATAKLYSM
