Live Review: Max & Iggor Cavalera, Skindred

Max & Iggor Cavalera stopped by Adelaide as they tour the world to celebrate the 20th anniversary of Roots.

The career-defining album changed the face of heavy music with its unique and ingenious incorporation of traditional percussive rhythms and collaborations with the native South American Xavante tribe.

Welsh heavy rockers Skindred impressed with an hour-long set. The band works well together, and their live sound is stellar. Arya Goggin's snare drum is fierce and his sense of rhythm is strong. Michael Fry's guitar tones sound full and his riffs are inventive and satisfying. Bassist Daniel Pugsley juggles bass duties with programming samples, while front man Benji Webbe is a charismatic beam of sunshine, mixing creative stage banter with metal, hip hop and reggae vocal styles.

From the opening notes of Roots Bloody Roots Max and Iggor Cavalera meant business. The iconic hook combined bucketfuls of groove, heaviness and anger, immediately setting off all the crazy skinheads in the audience. Marc Rizzo and Tony Campos complete the live band and adequately reinterpreted the parts of the Cavalera's ex-bandmates. Iggor is still playing those blast beats and rapid fills with finesse and accuracy. Max has matured along with his lyrical delivery but he still has that wide-eyed youthful energy when addressing a crowd. The intro to the song Attitude was faithfully recreated with the traditional Brazilian berimbau and the anthemic chorus of Cut-Throat led to enthusiastic audience chants. The material stands strong today, and trumps many outfits decades their junior. Ratamahatta encapsulated the manic craziness of Brazil's favelas, this song is unique as the lyrics are comprised almost entirely of Brazillian slang.

The Roots album was tough from start to finish; with no better proof than tracks Straighthate, Spit and Dusted. Later track Itsari saw the string-slingers leave the stage and the spotlight turned on Iggor, with Max later returning to pound a massive floor tom alongside him. Ending the Roots set Rizzo and Campos did not return to the stage straight away, the two brothers performed a medley of their old school thrash material and sent early Sepultura fans into a frenzy. After covering Celtic Frost's Procreation (Of The Wicked) and Motorhead's Ace Of Spades (freaking awesome), the set ended on Roots Bloody Roots played again for good measure.