Soulfly performs a nostalgic, heavy-hitting show for Oklahoma City on the tail end of their tour accompanied by 200 Stab Wounds.
Whiskey Nights, formerly known as Western Nights, is not your typical venue for a metal show. Whiskey Nights is a 21+ venue that has the vibe of a honky-tonk with a big open dance floor, several tabletops, a wrap-around bar, and pool tables. The venue offers ample room for a crowd to gather with a stage elevated about four feet off the ground, providing a great view from any spot in the venue. Though the western-themed bar wasn’t your typical heavy metal venue, it certainly sent a perfect “Welcome to Oklahoma” message to the touring acts.
Direct support for the mighty Soulfly is 200 Stab wounds. 200 Stab Wounds are a death metal band from Cleveland, Ohio. Members include Steve Buhl on guitar and vocals, Lance Buckley on guitar, Ezra Cook on bass, and Owen Pooley on drums. They started their set with three brutal songs: “Paths to Carnage,” “Skin Milk,” and “Tow Rope Around the Throat” from their album Slave to the Scalpel, released in November of 2021. Following these three songs, Steve Buhl addresses a crowd of moshing fans and expresses that this is the band’s last night on the tour with Soulfly. He encourages the crowd to get moving and get rowdy, to show one last hoorah for the touring act. The crowd cheers as they continue their set with “Body in the Basement” from their EP Piles of Festering Decomposition released in 2020.
200 Stab Wounds rips through their set with grotesque, gut-wrenching vocals and riffs that are bone-shakingly heavy. Steve addresses the crowd a final time, “We have one more song. We don’t know when we will be back, but we will be back!” Their last song is “Phallic Filth.” 200 Stab Wounds left the audience in a state of shock from a jaw-dropping performance.
Though they have only been around since 2019, they are gaining respect in the death metal scene at a rapid pace. This show was their last night on the tour with Soulfly, but they will be continuing their travels and joining Obituary at the end of March and Cannibal Corpse in June.
The audience, now drenched in sweat and with grins from ear to ear, gathers toward the front, anxiously awaiting Soulfly. Fans try to get a look at the setlist in hopes to see what they will be playing. The audience talks amongst themselves of their favorite albums from the band’s impressive run, dating back to their first self-titled album Soulfly in 1998.The lights dim and the crowd cheers “SOULFLY!” Jungle noises, tribal chants, and eerie wails sound over the PA system. Everyone moves in closer. “Back to the Primitive” begins to play and the audience screams in approval. The band continues with “No Hope = No Fear” and “Rise of the Fallen.”
Soulfly is joined on this tour with Fear Factory’s Dino Cazares on guitar. Max Cavalera, Soulfly’s vocalist, first called Dino to fill in during 1998 at the first D-Low Fest, which was a festival held in memory of Max’s stepson. Dino’s crunch guitar combined with Soulfly makes for a heavier sound than before. During the entire performance, Mike Leon on bass notably runs across the stage with a huge smile across his face. On drums, Max’s son Zyon Cavalera performs with considerable power and precision.
Soulfly proceeds to play “Summoning” and “Seek ‘N’ Strike.” Steve and Owen from 200 Stab Wounds now join Soulfly on stage with Owen filling in on drums and Steve strapped with Max’s guitar. They cover Cannibal Corpse’s “Stripped, Raped, and Strangled” as well as Hatebreed’s “Last Breath.” Steve and Owen exit stage. Soulfly finishes their set with two more songs. The lights go out, Soulfly exits the stage, and you hear Max over the PA, “If you want for Soulfly, you have to scream for it!” The crowd excitedly chants for an encore, to which the band happily obliges. They encore with “Jumpdaf**kup”, which incites the biggest mosh pit of the evening. The band does their final bow.
Soulfly performs songs ranging from their earliest album from ’98, all the way to their most recent album, providing nostalgia for fans that have been with them since the beginning, as well as reaching fans that have recently discovered Soulfly through newer albums. It is an unforgettable night.
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