Labeled as 'The Scum of the Earth Tour', hardcore/crossover legends Throwdown, along with Swedish metal sensations Soilwork, and War of Ages (Through the Eyes of the Dead cancelled at this particular show) made their way to New York City at the Blender Theater for a night of mosh friendly mayhem. Sea of Tranquility's Hayley Brooke brings us her coverage of the night's events.

Getting to the Blender a little later than I expected, War of Ages, who had apparently gone on at 7 on the dot, were just finishing up by the time I walked into the venue. The decent sized, and very varied crowd seemed to be in the mood for some serious music tonight. Lots of hardcore fans, obviously there to see veterans Throwdown, were hanging around, but you could tell that there was also a strong showing for Soilwork fans, who have played NYC many times in previous years but always draw a considerable crowd. A few months back the guys from Sweden played a show at The Hammerstein Ballroom with Lamb of God and Killswitch Engage, but because of a huge delay in getting people inside the place, I wound up missing most of Soilwork's set. Thankfully this time around that would not be the case. In case you haven't heard, the band has a fairly recent CD out called Sworn to the Great Divide (check out the killer reviews here on this site from Pete Pardo and Ken Pierce), which is another strong continuation of the great metal music these guys have been crankin' out for years now. With the large presence of lead singer Bjorn "Speed" Strid standing at center stage, the band played a tight set of more recent favorites as well as a healthy dose from the new CD. Their set went quickly, with Speed occasionally firing up the crowd in between songs, but I wish it was longer.Nevertheless, the band was great as always. Interesting thing was that a good amount of people left after their set or moved up to the bleacher seats, obviously not too interested in staying around for Throwdown or hanging out in the pit area.

The Soilwork setlist looked something like this:

Sworn to a Great Divide
As We Speak
One With the Flies
Bastard Chain
Exile
Rejection Role
As the Sleeper Awakes
Stabbing the Drama
Follow the Hollow
The Pittsburgh Syndrome
Nerve

Throwdown came on to what was probably a smaller crowd than they hoped for, but still gave it their all with a set that pleased the loyal fans. The band mixes traditional styled hardcore with a bit of Pantera-ish metal, vocalist Dave Peters often sounding quite a bit like Phil Anselmo back in the early days when Pantera first hit. Some of the tunes the band played were "High Roller", "Day of the Dog", "Weight of the World", and "Vendetta", but singer Peters seemed to be trying real hard to fire the crowd up when it seemed that, other than those in the pit area, the energy level of the audience wasn't quite where the band wanted it to be. They certainly kept the momentum going, and delivered a very strong set.

As a Soilwork fan, I can easily say that the majority of the people were here to see them, so perhaps it all boils down to New York being more of a Soilwork town than a Throwdown town. Regardless, it was a good night of metal that helped break the week up a little.

Hayley Brooke