aaamusic | On 15, May 2012

London, 29th April

Vreid come on in pitch darkness so it’s really hard to see them as they play the first few numbers in their set. They splurge through the material like they can’t really be bothered to be there, but it still sounds pretty good. They don’t really command the stage and there isn’t much interaction so makes you think why you bothered to turn up early to see them. I really like the album they produced called ‘I Krig’ so tonight’s performance is a personal disappointment to me.

Insomnium sound like a complicated guitar riff version of Dark Tranquillity a band that I have never been so keen on myself. They have some really interesting sounds and they are on form, but you can’t really remember what they play five minute later which is not a good sign to me. They do have some menacing vocals and some clan vocals driven into you like a sledge hammer. They are ok as a support band but I wouldn’t go out of my way to see them.

Paradise Lost are here tonight as tragic idols of the Goth scene and tonight gig is a varied set of old and new material. They open with oldie ‘Desolate’ which gets the crowd going and then mix it up with ‘Widow’ and amazingly ‘Erased’ which has grown in stature since when it was first released. They have a lot of songs that have just been getting better and better over the years and Nick’s vocals sound better than they ever have, and to the pleasure of the fans they even play ‘As I Die’ which a lot of fans have been waiting to hear for a long time and ‘Symbol of Life’ which just blows me away tonight. Also songs from the new album impress like title track ‘Tragic Idol’ before they close with the normal One Second and Say just Words of the same album. The thing is even thou the sound is great and the music sounds amazing I wouldn’t say this is the best performance by the band. Their live legs seem to be faltering but it is the last show on the tour but musically it is brilliant.

Paradise Lost – Setlist
—————————
Desolate
Honestly in Death
Widow
Erased
Forever Failure
Soul Courageous
In this we Dwell
Praise lamented Shade
Pity the Sadness
As I Die
Symbol of Life
Tragic Idol
The Enemy
——————-
One Second
Fear of impending Hell
Faith divides Us
Say just Words

Daniel Cairns