SOULFLY - Live In Brisbane

Storm The Gates!

Monday 26th January 2026

Written by Tom Wilson
Photographed by: Rashid AlKamraikhi

Tonight is a hot ticket, and the Tivoli is completely sold out, with a line that snakes all the way to the door and around the corner (and that’s just for the merch!). Thrash legend Max Cavalera is bringing not one, but two of his projects to Australia, and along for the ride are nu metal crew SNOT, whose ascent was stalled after the death of their frontman Lynn Strait (and his dog Dobbs) in a car accident in 1998. Frontman Andy Knapp has been with the band for barely a year, but he fits like a glove, and the reaction to the material is strong, with the first mosh pit breaking out before the first song is over. It’s clearly hot as hell onstage tonight, and Knapp is soon shirtless, effortlessly orchestrating chaos to tracks from their album Get Some, and by the time the band walk offstage the vibe is fever pitch.

Pictured: SNOT

Pictured: SNOT

Pictured: SNOT

Pictured: SNOT

The anticipation is high for NAILBOMB, the industrial project originally done with FUDGE TUNNEL in the 90s, and as the opening sample of Wasting Away rings out on the PA, the entire Tivoli roars. Then, the burnout riff kicks in, and there is only chaos. There are six people playing NAILBOMB tonight, but strangely, Max isn’t what catches our eye the most. That honour goes to sampler Alex Cha, who Sense recently saw twisting knobs onstage with grindcore legends PIG DESTROYER. Looking like CANNIBAL CORPSE frontman George “Corpsegrinder” Fisher if he shaved the sides of his head, he is windmilling so hard you’d be forgiven for worrying that he’s going to give himself an injury.

I was looking to finally plug a hole in my band shirt collection with a print of the infamous Point Blank cover art (a black and white photo from the Vietnam war of an M16 barrel pressed against a woman’s temple), but I am surprised to see that they aren’t selling it tonight. Sensibilities might have changed since NAILBOMB released their first and only album in 1994 (performing it live only once at Dynamo Festival in the Netherlands and releasing the recording as Proud To Commit Commercial Suicide), but the music endures, and World of Shit has the whole Tivoli banging its head as we realise that the sample “hate is reality” has only become more relevant since the 90s.

Pictured: NAILBOMB

Pictured: NAILBOMB

Pictured: NAILBOMB

Pictured: NAILBOMB

It’s time for the changeover, and a familiar face from Max’s road crew, Kenny “Ken Dog” Carruth, has some fun revving the crowd up while checking the mic levels (I always get the impression that this guy is a legend). The lights go down, and Max returns onstage with SOULFLY, dropping into a slow, malevolent series of chugging riffs and getting the Tivoli to start chanting with our fists pumping up in the air, before the riff for new song Storm the Gates kicks off, and the pit turns into a warzone. Max’s son Zyon is a monster behind the kit tonight, and if that name isn’t immediately familiar to you, trust me, you’ve heard him before – that’s his in utero heartbeat at the start of SEPULTURA’s Refuse/Resist. The dude was guesting on metal albums before he was even born, and from his showing tonight, it’s clear that Cavalera talent doesn’t skip a generation.

Max Cavalera is 56, so pulling double duty tonight (after a very hot day) is a big ask. His descendants look like they’re struggling with the heat onstage, so it must be pretty brutal for Max, but the seasoned veteran powers on, and any missed vocals are quickly pounced on. The set is incredible, and it was a thrill to hear Seek ‘N’ Strike, my favourite track off their album 3. It’s not too hot for humour though, and when his long-serving guitar tech Kenny comes out to fix something, Max playfully sends him offstage with a kick up the bum. His son Richie Cavalera of INCITE joins him onstage for the stunning Bleed, and arguably does a better job than Fred Durst, the crowd swirling and crashing like an ocean. Jumpdafuckup sees the whole crowd crouch down on the floor (which is easier said than done for some of us), but it’s worth it, because the sight of the entire Tivoli leaping into the air as one is stunning. They sign off with the slow, lumbering weight of Eye For An Eye, and leave triumphant.

Pictured: SOULFLY

Pictured: SOULFLY

Pictured: SOULFLY

Pictured: SOULFLY

Last time I saw SOULFLY was at the Good Things Festival in 2022, and when on the barrier I got nailed with a full can of beer twenty seconds into the first song, leaving me bleeding from my forehead, and I can only laugh when I get whacked in the head with another can watching the same band three years later. Fortunately this one wasn’t full.

The universe has a sense of humour!

Pictured: SOULFLY

FULL GALLERY COMING SOON