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Review: Lacuna Coil/Blind Channel, O2 Academy
In recent years, the Eurovision Song Contest (if not its smirking presenters) has been a little kinder to rock acts than it is to the traditional merchants of bing-bang-a-bong, who tend to slip back into obscurity as soon as their 15 minutes is up. Established bands such as Måneskin, Lordi and Australia’s mighty Voyager enjoy a brief popularity bump and then carry on much as they did before. Germany’s Lord of the Lost might have come last in 2023, but they subsequently bagged a tour with Iron Maiden. Finland’s Blind Channel operate at a slightly lower level, having come sixth in 2021 with Dark Side.
This lot describe their music as ‘violent pop’, though anyone who’s paying attention will recognise it as nu-metal with slightly alarming boy band overtones (they do a cover of a Backstreet Boys song, though your correspondent is not qualified to identify it). There are two vocalists, a drummer, bassist and guitarist – plus a fella behind the decks to make those mandatory squiggly-squiggly noises in between playing keyboards and additional drums.
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You know where you are with this stuff, since every couple of minutes we’ll be exhorted to either “Make some fuckin’ noise!” or “Jump! Jump! Jump!” Eventually, they feel the need to establish their metal credentials and turn up the guitar for a spirited cover of System of a Down’s B.Y.O.B.
They certainly give an energetic performance and seem to be enjoying the party they keep referring to, but don’t really bring anything new to it.
Veteran Milanese goth-metallers Lacuna Coil’s last two Bristol shows were at the Marble Factory and SWX. They don’t really go in for grand productions, but have kicked things up a notch or two for this bigger venue, with videos accompanying many of the songs. The facepaint budget has clearly been boosted too.
This is the last night of the tour (they played to 3,000 people at the Roundhouse in London last night), so the quintet could be forgiven for seeming somewhat worn out. But there’s absolutely no sign of that and they seem genuinely dismayed that the current run of gigs has come to an end. As usual, Cristina Scabbia’s extraordinary, soaring mezzo-soprano vocals are the main focus of attention. Three decades into the band’s career, having pioneered the genre staple ‘beauty and the beast’ style with her growling “brother from another mother” Andrea Ferro, she’s never been on better form.
Nor is there any sign of Lacuna Coil taking their collective foot off the pedal as they unveil a bunch of heavier songs from the new album that isn’t due for release until Valentine’s Day. Hosting the Shadow, which features guest vocals from Lamb of God’s Randy Blythe, is the most immediate, driving standout here with its big singlong main theme, Ferro taking the male lead with aplomb while drummer Richard Meiz pounds out a thunderous rhythm.
Hooded new guitarist Daniele Salomone proves a magnificent replacement for the departed Diego Cavallotti, playing as though he’s already been in the band for years.
All stages in the Lacuna Coil’s lengthy career are celebrated in tonight’s finely calibrated set, which takes in the cover of Depeche Mode’s Enjoy the Silence that they’ve made their own and reaches back to the breakthrough gothy Comalies album, which they recently ‘deconstructed’ and re-recorded to mark its 20th anniversary.
The likes of Entwined, Heaven’s a Lie, Tight Rope and Swamped all sound suitably refreshed and reinvigorated, and they climax with the anthemic statement of intent that is Nothing Stands in Our Way from 2014’s Broken Crown Halo, leaving a packed Academy chanting: “We fear nothing!”
All pix by Mike Evans
Read more: Metal & Prog Picks: October 2024
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