Having said that, I did take notice of a few numbers which stood out musically, with the catchy style of ‘What You Do To Me’ and the ferocious ‘Conversion’ impressing in particular, whilst Brown‘s break neck speed headbanging during the latter could have smashed a brick wall if needed.

Having toured the UK a number of times over each of the past few years, the fans came out in force yet again for one of the best professional and live bands around in the metal scene. And it’s no wonder really. LACUNA COIL, now on their Darkness Rising tour, for me have always been one of those bands that are better to see live than on record. Don’t get me wrong, I can listen to them on record easily, but when you see them live, they are a different beast altogether.

The darker and more gothic elements and riffs become a lot more prominent, and create a really sublime atmosphere, with opening numbers ‘Our Truth’ and ‘To The Edge’ being prime examples of how this transforms from record to live. The vocal problems that plagued STRAIGHT LINE STITCH‘s performance didn’t transfer to the headliners and the dual vocals of Cristina Scabbia and Andrea Ferro sounded excellent, with the only minor gripe with the sound being that the bass was a bit too high and overpowered the guitars at times throughout the first half of the set.

The majority of the set was made up from their last two efforts, ‘Shallow Life’ and ‘Karmacode’, with the likes of ‘Fragile’, ‘Fragments of Faith’, ‘I Won’t Tell You’ and a great rendition of the melancholic ‘Wide Awake’, while it was great to hear classics in the form of ‘Heaven’s A Lie’, ‘Daylight Dancer’ and ‘Swamped’. With a new album out early next year, entitled ‘Dark Adrenaline’, it was nice to hear a taste of what is to come from it. ‘Kill The Light’ and ‘Trip The Darkness’ were on offer tonight and sounded extremely good. They had those familiar LACUNA COIL traits stamped all over them and if the rest of the album is in a similar vein, it will be one to look forward to.

Their cover of DEPECHE MODE‘s ‘Enjoy The Silence’ closed the main set, which was the cue for some audience participation on the chorus, and to say they were loud is probably an understatement. LACUNA COIL came back on as the intro to ‘Survive’ played and delivered a killer version of it, whilst the rest of the encore was made up of the aforementioned ‘Trip The Darkness’ before the superb ‘Spellbound’ closed proceedings for the evening. LACUNA COIL could have easily delivered an extra 15 minutes on top of the 75 we got tonight. They certainly have the material to warrant it, but I don’t think that was on anyone’s mind as they headed for the exit. LACUNA COIL are always going to be one of my favourite live bands, and I bet we won’t have to wait too long for another chance to see them in the new year, especially with a new album just around the corner too.

Ratings:

Photography By Alex Shaw (click here for Lacuna Coil gallery)

What can you say about Max Cavalera that hasn’t been said before? In extreme metal cricles, the guy is an absolute legend, and every year, he comes out, wearing metal on his sleeve, playing countless shows all over the world. Tonight, Cavalera was in typically fine form, bringing along his SOULFLY tribe to tear up a packed Manchester Academy 2. Set opener ‘Blood, Fire, War, Hate’ was like a call to arms, as Cavalera revelled in the electric atmosphere. The band was tight, and the sound was crisp and clear – all the right ingredients for a metal night to remember.

There’s still room for a few SEPULTURA classics in the set, and ‘Territory’ and ‘Refuse/Resist’ were amongst those that got aired tonight, alongside the essential ‘Roots Bloody Roots’. Still, SOULFLY’s better songs are just as good as ‘Frontlines’, ‘Seek ‘n’ Strike’ and ‘Back to the Primitive’, all rocked like hell. Any band that features Cavalera, is always going to put on a good live show, and tonight was no exception. SOULFLY came, and they well and truly conquered.

Ratings:

INCITE 4.0/5.0

SOULFLY 4.6/5.0

Review by James Allman

Photography (including setlists) by Alexander Shaw(click here)

Arriving in time for the start of UK based act ARCHITECTS, this was a prime example of what I mentioned earlier. Their music is not for the general passer by, but for the near enough full venue, they lapped it up. The band did have plenty of energy and got the crowd going but I’m afraid it ends there for me. Their sound got old quick (even in a 25 minute set) and I was glad of it to be over so I could visit the bar. Unless they write something with a twist in it and show some progression and evolution, its hard to see them appealing to a larger fan base unlike AS I LAY DYING and UNEARTH. The majority of the set was made up from latest album ‘Ruin‘ with a couple of new ones thrown in which included ‘Follow The Water’ and ‘Early Grave’, which presumably will feature on the new album ‘Hollow Crown’ released in January next year.

Up next were Canadian dual vocal deathcore outfit DESPISED ICON, and because of technical difficulties during soundchecking, they came on 15 minutes late and on a tight schedule with the amount of bands on the bill, this was a disaster as it meant they had to cut their set short, so that other bands could keep on time. Unfortunately, the technical difficulties were still there as straight from set opener ‘Furtive Monologue’, Steve Marois’ mic was too low to hear his squeal style vocals above anything else. This was not the case for other vocalist Alex Erian, who climbed onto the barrier so the crowd could sing parts of ‘A Fractured Hand’. There 20 or so minute set closed with ‘In The Arms of Perdition’ to the crowd’s delight.

Having seen UNEARTH a few times before and being impressed with them on every time, tonight was no different. They were on top form and probably one of the tightest bands you will see around at the moment. Their style of thrash tinged metalcore went down a treat amongst the crowd tonight, and frontman Trevor Phipps got the crowd moshing at every available moment and every breakdown was lapped up by the metalcore faithful. Opening with ‘Endless’, their set was a mix of new material from latest album ‘The March’, of which ‘Crow Killer’, ‘My Will Be Done’ and ‘We Are Not Anonymous’ sounded excellent live, with classics which included ‘This Lying World’, ‘Giles’, ‘The Great Dividers’ and ‘Sanctity of Brothers’. Just before they left Phipps mentioned they would be back in the UK in February next year doing a headline tour in support of the new album. This topped off a terrific performance from the Massachusets outfit and judging by the way they went down tonight, their will be a few familiar faces in the crowd come next Februrary, me being one of them.

Onto tonights headliners and having the tough job of following such a brilliant performance from UNEARTH, Aussies PARKWAY DRIVE came on to a sold out venue and delivered a very good performance. Technical problems saw frontman Winston McCall’s mic play up during set opener ‘Boneyards’ where he was barely audible at times, but that was soon sorted out, and the band marched on with the crowd loving the likes of ‘Gimmie A D’ and ‘Carrion’. The set was made up from their two studio albums with highlights including the crowd getting a chance to sing into the mic through ‘Dead Man’s Chest’, whilst other tracks that shone were ‘Anasasis’ and set closer ‘Romance Is Dead’.

Tonights show was a huge success for all the bands on the bill, and each band will have gained a few more fans thanks to the likes of these sort of shows with so many bands on. One thing is definately certain – metalcore is still on the rise and it probably won’t be long until we start seeing these sorts of bands playing larger venues, so while they are still playing club like venues, get in now and check them out. A good night for both the fans and the bands.

Ratings:

Photography by Alexander Shaw (click here)