Often when a band loses some of its core members for replacements the remaining outfit is a lumbering, bland replication of itself. Not so for Sweden’s Soilwork, whom, despite losing both key guitarists within the span of the past year and a half who wrote and played on the bulk of their recorded output, are still the well-oiled killing machine they’ve always been in the live setting. Last Tuesday’s show (March 18) with Throwdown and War of Ages at the Gramercy Theater in New York City proved that even without some of their key members Soilwork are still relevant and still great, the reigning Kings (well… Princes, maybe) of Swedish metal.

Axl and I arrived about half-way through War of Ages’ set. We mostly tuned out during their generic but technically sound metalcore songs. We completely tuned out when they dedicated a song to “The Warriors out there, all the Christians,” effectively leaving us out and telling us to fuck off. At least I didn’t have to check my Star of David at the door.

Soilwork were on next; frankly I’m not sure why they weren’t headlining this show, but due to Through The Eyes of the Dead’s announcement earlier in the week that they would drop off of the tour, I think we got a couple of extra songs out of Soilwork to cover the time void, mixing songs both old and new in equal helpings. The band opened with “Sworn to a Great Divide” from the new album of the same name and then went into “One With the Flies” from Stabbing The Drama. The setlist favored material from the new album but not overwhelmingly so; from Sworn they also played “Pittsburgh Syndrome,” “As the Sleeper Awakes” and a much heavier sounding version of first single “Exile.” From Stabbing the Drama they of course played “Stabbing the Drama,” and closed out the set with “Nerve,” both of which had the audience in an absolute frenzy the likes of which I’ve rarely seen at the Gramercy. “Bastard Chain” from Predator’s Portrait was another crowd favorite, as was “Follow the Hollow” from Natural Born Chaos. They also, to my surprise (and delight), played that song whose name escapes me from Figure Number Five that goes “STILL! I won’t get what I deserve!” and then the chorus goes “A million times, before I get things RIGHT!” A quick Google search tells me that song is called “Overload.”

The band sounded fucking great, and only got better as the set progressed. Guitarist Daniel Antonsson — who wrote and recorded with the band for Sworn to a Great Divide following Peter Wichers’ departure — seemed perfectly in place. David Andersson, the replacement for the recently departed Ola Frenning, was actually Wichers’ replacement the first time I saw a Soilwork headline show (BB King’s, Fall 2006, I believe) — so he too seemed quite comfortable with the material. Dirk Verbeuren was a fucking monster behind the kid, and bassist Ola Flink is one of the more entertaining members of the band to watch on stage. Sven Karlsson’s keyboards added nuance and color to the mix. And Speed Strid…the guy is always on, and he did an impressive job riling up the crowd, not an easy task in the usual placid New York City metal market.

After Soilwork finished their set, a good portion of the long-hairs in the audience departed, leaving a mostly shaved-headed group for Throwdown. Watching a Throwdown concert is actually like watching two completely different bands. Throwdown #1 plays technical, groove-driven metal with intricate drum/guitar interplay and solos aplenty. Frontman Dave Peters came out wearing shorts and a flannel shirt, effectively completing the Anselmo / Pantera tribute that was the band’s last album Venom & Tears (but, as you’ll find out later this week from our interview with the band, they are more than happy to take these comparisons). Peters’ Anselmo-growl is stunningly accurate, and he even places his foot on the riser at just the right climactic moments. The Pantera resemblance of Throwdown #1 is really uncanny, but unlike the dozens of other Pantera clones flooding the metal market these days Throwdown actually hit the mark and do it right. If you haven’t checked out Venom & Tears yet, we highly recommend it.

Then there is Throwdown #2. Throwdown #2 is the older version of the band, a tough-guy hardcore unit that plays chugga-chugga breakdown after chugga-chugga breakdown with little variation or complexity. This version of Throwdown doesn’t interest me in the slightest, but the kids in attendance with sideways baseball caps and oversized black hoodies seemed to go apeshit over it. To each his own, I guess. As long as the band kept mixing in some of the newer stuff I was happy.

I’m still waiting for the girl we met at the show to send me the photos she was taking which looked excellent (are you out there?) — but until then, enjoy Soilwork and Throwdown‘s music and be sure to catch the Scum of the Earth tour when it rolls through your town.

-VN