By Nathan Lucking, Rock At Night London Correspondent
Venue: O2 Islington Academy, London-November 10, 2015
“What’s your perfect Tuesday?”–to ape a line from one of my favorite film. Well, I certainly think from now on it will contain symphonic metal and Vikings! The show feature a more badass backdrop I have ever seen!
Before O2 Islington was attacked by barbarians from the North, local power metal outfit EnkElination warmed up the crowd with rocky riffs and screaming solos from guitarist Shadow, complimenting perfectly with Elina’s classically trained vocals. The band put out a huge amount of energy during the set, their enjoyment infecting the modestly sized crowd gathered.
Bringing that all to its peak, debuting a track from their forthcoming second album, with a very excited co-writer up against the barriers, a catch number that evoked a lot of horns and air punch. I now look forward to checking out the rest of album when it is released.
Things I didn’t expect to see on a Tuesday in London :
- Vikings taking the stage at a gig.
- A flying pig.
- A heavily pregnant female singer belting out symphonic metal and out head banging pretty much everyone in the building.
One of these didn’t happen. Can you guess which one?
Well, onto Diabulus in Musica, a Spanish symphonic metal group supporting the Leaves’ Eyes “King of Kings” tour…Much like EnkElination brought bags of energy to the show, keyboardist Gorka Elso put heart and soul into every action, using lots of physical expression, which made it a really fun set to watch. I’m not familiar with their music but the crowd certainly was making up. For my lack of knowledge many fold, many vocal cords vibrated with song and shout, punching the air.
This is one of their last shows for a while due to the upcoming birth of lead singer Zuberoa Aznárez’s child– but they promised to return and rock again in London. This is one show to look out for in the future.
The lights dim, a battle march starts to sound, the lights come up and filing on to the stage are twenty odd Vikings, armed to the teeth with axe, sword and, shield. “This is the way to start a set,” I determined as Leaves’ Eyes slid between the battle line to triumphant shouts from the crowd. Diving straight into the heart of the matter, the band threw full force behind their set, smashing tracks from all three albums and interacting with the crowd and each other constantly creating an engaging experience for all. The better front lighting certainly improved the experience for me.
Overall, this was one Viking metal show I will soon not forget!
PHOTO GALLERY
VIDEOS
Leaves’ Eyes at Islington Academy
Leaves’ Eyes -“Halvdan the Black”
Diabulus in Musica – “Spoilt Vampire”
EnkElination -“Last Time Together”
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