Soulfly, Static-X: From Primitive to Futuristic

Mega-tours such as the Ozzfest and Family Values have helped bring heavier music to the forefront in rock, but those super-sized showcases don’t always allow aggressive bands to shine.

After several hours of pummeling noise, it’s often hard to distinguish each group’s strengths and nuances.

Thankfully, this wasn’t the case with Ozzfest alums Static-X and Soulfly on Friday at the Hollywood Palladium.

Brazil’s Soulfly and LA-based Static-X showed range Friday, sonically and thematically, perhaps more than any other two bands of this ilk could. The former, led by Max Cavalera (formerly of Sepultura) offered an intensely rhythmic, raw sound and almost tribal quality that seemed to possess the crowd from the moment the group began its set with the fittingly titled “Back to the Primitive.”

Static-X went for a more futuristic vibe, with electronic loops and samples providing the foundation for its manic instrumentation. The industrial-looking set created the perfect otherworldly backdrop for the freaky-haired quartet’s Ministry-like cyber-grooves and cartoonish personas.

Selections from its debut album, “Wisconsin Death Trip,” were potent and meticulous, but the material from its latest, “Machine,” showed off its brutal techno-terror rock best--especially the title track and the gloomy drone of the album’s standout tune “Cold.”

Both bands put in strong performances heightened by guest appearances from members of the ferocious Fear Factory, who meshed well with the organic and synthetic inclinations of each, and confirmed that whether it’s driven by primal or digital undercurrents, modern metal’s common thread seems to be a relentless rage that never goes away.