Article By: Brian Cross &  Photographs By: Diana Guay

The Palladium in Worcester, MA hosted Soilwork’s “Panic Over North America” tour on July 17^th, 2010. In the midst of extreme heat and humidity, the show featured the headlining Swedes, a host of supporting bands…and the most metal game of Duck Duck Goose you’ve ever seen. Don’t believe me? Read on…

Kicking off the evening’s festivities were the stalwart Swashbuckle. Only a pirate metal band would announce their presence by dancing around to the techno beats of Magic Hammer. You’d think this would piss off the extreme metal audience, but oh no, sir, you’d be wrong. Rather than shout with anger, the scurvy dogs in attendance started up a vicious circle pit in celebration of Swashbuckle’s eclectic choice of introductory music. The pirates from Jersey quickly launched into their set of blistering pirate-infused thrash, including the ever-popular “Walk the Plank.” High fives and stage dives were the order of the day, and of course, no Swashbuckle performance is complete without frontman Admiral NoBeard’s outlandish commentary and insults. From attendees wearing goofy pirate hats to a rather well-endowed young woman in the front row, no fan was safe from the Admiral’s searing wit.

Next up was Mutiny Within. The rising stars of metalcore put on a great show, though their drum set was miked a bit high. (This is a common issue at the Palladium’s upstairs stage.) Mutiny Within are absolutely dedicated to pushing their art to the limits, and it shows. However, the band was inadvertently the cause of the evening’s strangest event. During the set, a small group of fans decided to play Duck Duck Goose…in the middle of the pit. I kid you not. Surprisingly enough, it proved to be incredibly popular, as more and more metalheads joined in. Of course, this version of the perennial children’s game was considerably more violent, as fans running around the circle often tripped over one another, ending in catastrophic spills. All good things must come to an end, though, as a circle pit eventually formed and ended the game permanently. If this diversion pissed off the band, they certainly didn’t show it. Perhaps this will become a new staple of Mutiny Within shows? Only time will tell.

Shifting in tone considerably, we have Augury. Comparisons to Cynic and Atheist are unavoidable with this band, but that’s not a bad thing; on the contrary, it’s a compliment on their technical and progressive skill. Vocalist and guitarist Patrick Loisel looks like your friendly neighborhood accountant, but could just as easily tear your face off with death growls and shrieks as process your income tax. Augury’s eclectic mix of varying metal styles made for a unique and impressive performance, and I have a feeling they added many new fans to their following as a result.

The final opener of the night was the most criminally underrated thrash metal band of the 1980s: Death Angel. The band may have been inactive for a stretch in the 1990s, but you wouldn’t know it by watching them live. They performed with all of the seasoned experience of a band who has never stopped for a moment, playing songs from their roots to the modern era, including a new piece from the upcoming album “Relentless Retribution.” Old school thrash fans really came out en force for this one; I swear, I haven’t skullets like that since I went to a Strapping Young Lad show. There were some fashion nightmares, too, but I suppose that’s to be expected from truly dedicated fans of classic thrash. (Look, fellas, if you have a beer gut, please do the rest of us a favor and abstain from wearing skintight pleather pants and a denim vest with no shirt. Cripes, we can’t unsee that!) At any rate, Death Angel’s performance was nothing short of stunning. Death Angel may be underrated by the rock world at large, but after a single performance, you’ll understand why their fans are so devoted. If you looked closely, you could even see Admiral NoBeard rocking out in the wings, as he and Swashbuckle drummer Bootsman Collins served as audio techs for their thrash heroes.

As the temperature continued to rise, Soilwork took to the stage at the end of the night. Some early sound problems threatened to derail their performance, as a ground loop created a thunderous bass buzz that drowned out the band. (At least it wasn’t the brown note.) To Soilwork’s credit, they played right through as if nothing was wrong, and the crack team of audio techs had the issue fixed within a few moments. The nasty noise reared its head a few more times, but the techs managed to finally slay the beast, leaving Soilwork free to enthrall the crowd without further interference. Their new album “The Panic Broadcast” was only released in the US four days before this show, but most of the Soilwork fans in the crowd already knew the songs by heart. “Late for the Kill, Early for the Slaughter” was a crushing opening number, with “Two Lives Worth of Reckoning,” “Let This River Flow,” and “Deliverance is Mine” also making appearances over the course of the set. Soilwork pulled songs from their archives for the remainder of the show, most of which came from 2002’s breakthrough album “Natural Born Chaos,” including what is arguably their most well-known song, “As We Speak.”

When the club cleared out well after midnight, everyone was dehydrated and drenched with sweat, but still reveling in the sheer power of Soilwork’s performance. The tour’s just getting started, so be sure to catch “Panic Over North America” when it hits a venue near you!