Soulfly / Academy / Manchester

A trip up over the moors t’North West, to catch something that promises to be real special. Having reviously seen Sepultura and Cavalera, I was real excited to see the mighty Max deliver a double header of metal, in the form of Nailbomb and Soulfly.

But first up is a set from a ‘local’ UK band, in the form of Birmingham’s Exorcism. Funnily enough I only saw them a few weeks ago at the Asylum supporting Crypta. Formed in 2023 they deliver a set of death-thrash metal, mixing old school death metal vocals with some intense and powerful thrash riffs. They dropped their debut EP “Spectral Aggression” in 2025.

If the point of a support act is to wind the atmosphere and the crowd up, ready for the onslaught of the headliners, then Exorcism did their job perfectly ! The guitars were heavy the drums fast and brutal and the vocals, course and raw – they certainly don’t mess around ! There’s no fluff here, it’s just all business from the off and by the time they close their set with a cover of Exodus’s Bonded By Blood the atmosphere has changed dramatically…. Hot and sweaty and ready for the main course !

Setlist (partial)

Lobotomiser

Bonded by Blood (Exodus cover)

Our first dose of Max, come sin the form of Nailbomb, a band he created in 1993 with Alex Newport from Fudge Tunnel, as a side project whilst still in Sepultura. Playing a style of industrial metal, fusing elements of thrash, rust punk and sludge metal they released one album “Point Blank” in 1994. In total, they only performed between 1993 and 1995, and Max resurrected the band again in 2024 but this time without Alex.

Nailbomb is quite quite different to both Sepultura and Soulfly. Gone are the Brazilian and world music tones, and they’re replaced by extreme industrial noise ! There’s an aggression to Nailbomb, something dangerous. Indeed, looking round the Academy, I’m struck by the fact there is a whole lot more Nailbomb merch than Soulfly. This is something that Manchester fans have been looking forward to for a while !

Max Cavalera is joined by his son Igor Amadeus Cavalera (guitar) and Jackie Cruz (bass) along with three members of US grindcore band Pig Destroyer, Travis Stone (guitar), Alex Cha (samples), and Adam Jarvis (drums).

If you thought Exorcism was heavy, things just turned up to 11. Nailbomb are abrasive and confrontational in style, belting out loud industrial mayhem. Alex Cha on the sample machines is a demon live, giving Cannibal Corpse’s Corpsegringer a run for his money !

It’s intense, industrial noise packed with pounding rhythms and course guitars creating a soundscape of epic proportions. Think Fear Factory, Combichrist and Slaughter to Prevail all stirred together !

And the crowd certainly responded. Max and Co were waving them forwards, and wave after wave of surfer made their way over, and into the pit. Just wave after wave, adding to the intensity of the performance. Alex’s neck still swinging round dramatically !

The best way to describe Nailbomb is – uncompromising. It’s full on, from start to finish, never missing a beat. Tracks like 24 Hour Bullshit, Blind and Lost and World of Shit deliver the intensity the crowd have clearly been craving.

I love Sepultura, and Soulfly, but there is something about Nailbomb…. It’s so different, its visceral in the extreme, hitting a nerve you didn’t know you needed hitting lol.

45 minutes of intensity, energy and power unlike anything else, and something I’m proud to have experienced first hand.

Setlist

Wasting Away

Vai Toma No Cú

24 Hour Bullshit

Guerrillas

Blind and Lost

Sum of Your Achievements

Cockroaches

World of Shit

Shit Piñata

Religious Cancer

Sick Life

If Nailbomb is the extreme side of Max Cavalera’s personality, then Soulfly is his groove metal, tribal side. Having left Sepultura, Max set up Soulfly in 1997 with his brother. Their sound in some ways mirrors Sepultura and has a distinct Brazilian tribal and world music influence. To date, Soulfly have released thirteen albums from their 1998 self-titled debut to 2025’s “Chama”.

A change of outfits, Max returns to the stage in bright yellow Brazillian t-shirt with the stage set up with fake rain forest foliage. If Nailbomb was harsh industrial intensity, then Soulfly are now about to deliver some rhythm ! The tracks are packed with grooves, hooks and melodies designed to move you. There is a relaxed, almost looseness to the sound, from the tribal and world music influences.

The dynamic of the room changed considerably too. Max, as always is waving the crowd on, but this time, there is almost no surfers. Don’t get me wrong, it wasn’t flat or poorly received, but instead of the intensity and rawness of Nailbomb, Soulfly’s hooks and groove instead make you want to move and dance, and so a pit forms and swirls around throughout the set. In some ways it feels strange that the same artist can illicit such different dynamics, and that they would work so well together on the same bill…… but they do !

The set had opened with the instantly recognisable latin influenced intro of Back to the Primitive the opening track form 2000’s “Primative” album, which then explodes into a crescendo of sound, echoey and packed with tribal drums. It’s infectious and almost hypnotic. Other highlights included Fire from their 1998 self-titled debut, I and I from 2005’s “Dark Ages” with it’s classic yet brutal riffs. The main set closes with the excellent Favela/Dystopia from last years “Chama”, the perfect way to end the set, showing they have lost none of their power and energy, the pit in full effect, swirling to the beat as heads sway at the barrier.

Returning for a short encore, there’s a short version of the Deftone’s classic Head Up followed by Jumpdafuckup, which as expected raises the bar even higher and has the crowd responding as commanded !

Finally we go right back to the beginning of it all, for the raw early sound of Eye for an Eye from their 1998 self-titled debut. Picking up where Jumpdafuckup ends, it continues the mayhem for one last time. The Academy is a sweaty mess, but no one is complaining.

An incredible night all round. For me, probably like many in attendance, the Nailbomb performance was the highlight, a set delivered with such energy and aggression, it absolutely nailed it. Soulfly were just as good, but in a different way and the change in style was a real treat to experience.

Max Cavalera may have been making metal for over 40 years, but that passion, that energy…. Is still there in bucketloads, and s something you just have to experience yourself to fully comprehend…. So get yourself to a show next time around !

Setlist

Back to the Primitive

Seek 'n' Strike

No Hope = No Fear

Prophecy

No Pain = No Power

Fire

Bring It

Tribe

I and I

Chama

Bumba