Halloween and is there a better genre to see on this most unholy of nights than a bit of doom and gothic metal. Probably not, and with two of the best bands in the genre on display tonight, tonight was sure to be a night to remember. Having seen Swedes KATATONIA a couple of months earlier at BLOODSTOCK OPEN AIR, I was eagerly awaiting to see these guys perform inside.

Opening with ‘Ghost of The Sun’, KATATONIA delivered an excellent 40 minute set of truly beautiful intertwined melodies with more heavy riffs, and the atmosphere was absolutely fantastic, despite their being hardly anyone there. With a fantastic new album out, ‘Night Is The New Day’, it was a little disappointing to only hear one new track tonight in the form of ‘Forsaker’. Tracks like ‘Liberation’, ‘Nephilim’ and ‘The Longest Year’ would have definitely worked well in this environment.

Still, the rest of the set made up for the lack of new material with some note perfect renditions of ‘My Twin’, ‘Soil’s Song’ and ‘Consternation’, while the brilliant ‘Evidence’ went down superbly with those in attendance. The majority of the set came from the previous two albums, ‘The Great Cold Distance’ and ‘Viva Emptiness’, and set closer, the superb ‘Murder’ rounded off a wonderful performance from the Swedish doom/gothic metallers who will be returning to the UK in March next year. Get yourselves there, I will be.

Onto tonight’s headliners and the UK’s very own PARADISE LOST took to the stage with the venue just shy of half full, which was much to the contrary earlier in the year when I saw them at Hammerfest. I know PARADISE LOST aren’t as big over here as they are in Europe, but hey, even this was a disappointing turnout for one of the founding fathers of the genre. With one of the best drummers in the world being newly appointed, Adrian Erlandsson fitted in perfectly tonight and it hasn’t taken him long to get up to speed as the set was very tight tonight considering Nick Holmes seemed to be having some technical problems with hearing the songs (which seemed to be the reason for him leaving the stage at one point).

Plenty of new material from their superb new album, ‘Faith Divides Us, Death Unites Us’, was on show tonight with the standout tracks being set opener ‘The Rise of Denial’, the brilliant ‘Frailty’ and ‘First Light’. There was plenty of old school songs in tonight’s set for the older fans in the form of ‘Pity The Sadness’, ‘As I Die’ and ‘Enchantment’ being some examples, while newer songs like ‘Erased’ and ‘The Enemy’ also got an outing and both were well appreciated by the fans.

A surprise omission to the set was ‘Hallowed Land’ and the opening track of the new album, ‘As Horizons End’, which I thought would be certainties, but they made up for it by playing ‘Eternal’ to many of the fans delight. Closing the main set with ‘Requiem’, before kicking into the encore with the title track from the new album, ‘Faith Divides Us, Death Unites Us’, and then closing with the ‘The Last Time’ and their most famous song to date, ‘Say Just Words’, closed a truly wonderful set.

With a strong new album, PARADISE LOST are still at the top of their game both live and on record, even if Nick Holmes can’t sing the old stuff like he used to. Tonight’s performance was professional and excellent, given the technical problems they had during the set. It’s just a shame there weren’t more people in to see some quality doom and gothic metal.

PARADISE LOST Setlist: The Rise of Denial / Pity The Sadness / Erased / I Remain / As I Die / The Enemy / First Light / Eternal / Enchantment / Frailty / One Second / Forever Failure / Requiem / Faith Divides Us, Death Unites Us / The Last Time / Say Just Words

KATATONIA Setlist: Ghost of The Sun / July / Criminals / My Twin / Soil’s Song / Evidence / Forsaker / Consternation / Murder

Ratings:

Photography By Alexander Shaw (click here for Photo Gallery)