THE UNHOLY TRINITY – PARADISE LOST, MY DYING BRIDE & ANATHEMA
LONDON FORUM 19/09/08
Hands up who was around in 1988 when Paradise Lost formed? A few of you then, myself included, wondering where the hell those years disappeared. Snapping at their heels are tonight’s two supports, both of whom are going to be coming up to their double decade very soon, perhaps we can have rotating line-ups when these anniversaries occur.
I think they should have done a date a bit closer to home though; the Northerners missing out a show at Leeds or Bradford could be construed as treasonous by many fans. With Nile playing down the road and both shows being sold out it was a busy night all round with an endless contingent of metal shirt wearers stomping the streets between Camden and Kentish Town.
It has been a while since I last caught Anathema and the venue quickly started to fill up as they took to the stage. I had been calling this the ‘Unholy Misery’ show but the cheeky Scouse chappies were all smiles on stage as they dropped us in their ‘Deep’ pit of despair. The mop top Cavanagh brothers virtually frolicked around the stage beaming with delight. There were plenty of rumours about this evening one of which was that band’s were going to play mainly old material. Anathema pretty much mixed songs from their whole career together and I was not complaining in the slightest. Despite the fact that they have changed considerably since their early ‘Serenades’ I love the recent stuff and pretty much everything they have done.
The early pounding anthem that is ‘Empty’ was one of a set brimming with highlights. ‘A Natural Disaster’ was anything but and with Lee joining in to provide vocals the audience was completely captivated as her voice soared through the venue and hit the rafters. If I had not finished my beer I would practically have been crying into it, this was a beautiful and touching moment. Bathed in pastel shades of purple, blue and red almost autumnally we were momentarily caressed by the likes of ‘Flying’ one second and abruptly flung back to earth by ‘A Dying Wish’. The trailblazing guitar histrionics as this hit full throttle were nothing short of breathtaking. The group even cheekily found time to fire a bit of The Wall from the keyboards during it. There could only be one final song and it was a fine one to exit on; ‘Fragile Dreams’ sheer perfection.
Now My Dying Bride really had taken notice of the promise of unleashing some old school wretchedness from their vaults and their hour long set was a full on bout of misery straight from the tomb. This was the first time I had seen them with new bassist Lena Abé on board and indeed drummer Dan Mullins although he was hidden at the back and nowhere near as good looking. Speaking of which there was also the addition of a violinist back in the group for the first time in aeons and Katie Stone certainly refreshed those parts of this bride long since buried.
Starting with ‘Here In The Throat’ from ‘Like Gods Of The Sun’ I have to admit was an unexpected surprise but I guess they do have a huge amount of material to chose from. Aaron quickly got into the spirit of things, you could hear him wailing and see him contorting his body and imagine the gnashing of teeth going with this display. The wretchedness was reinforced as the swans were unleashed to ‘The Songless Bird’ another unexpected surprise and one that proved they were not going for any (what could be considered) crowd pleasers this evening. The death laden roars assailed me as I left the photo pit and looked for a space to stand in; we were by now hemmed in like lemmings looking for a cliff to throw ourselves off. As I stood back and reflected on the onstage misery of the likes of ‘From Darkest Skies’ it was easy to be caught up and swayed off my feet by the flow. As I marvelled at it all there was still a big surprise to come and I was assaulted by a primitive barbarism as the group revisited their deathly origins with the first song they ever recorded ‘Vast Choirs’. All I can say is wow! Now that was one I have not heard in ages and I doubt I have even seen it live either. The violence mellowed momentarily and during this, the vocals remind of a craggy sea beast with barnacles on its throat. Finishing with ‘The Dreadful Hours’ I was fully satiated for the moment and cannot wait to see what they give us next at the Damnation Festival in November. (PW)
Paradise Lost were back off of a hectic touring schedule in promotion of the critically acclaimed ‘In Requiem’, which seems to have reignited some of the early fire of the band themselves, and also the interest of the punters too, judging by the reactions of many people I spoke too during the evening. The constant touring has come at a cost however, with drummer Jeff Singer’s recent decision to leave the band for personal reasons. Paradise Lost’s almost Spinal Tap-esque luck with drummers had thrown this show into doubt, along with an impending tour of South America, but Mark Heron of Oceansize has been drafted in to cover the live dates. With this in mind it could have been forgiven if this had been a below average performance, especially given the strength of the rest of the bill, but I’m pleased to say they responded to the recent upheaval admirably.
Their somewhat truncated set kicked of with ‘Hallowed Land’, immediately getting the sold out Forum jumping around, Nick Holmes vocals sounding as strong as ever, flanked on stage by Greg Mackintosh and Aaron Aedy, who as ever looked like he was having the time of his life. Being a 20th anniversary show, it was only fair to expect a few surprises, and they duly delivered, dusting off 3 of my favourites, ‘Remembrance’, ‘Elusive Cure’ and ‘Shadowkings’ from their ‘golden era’ the ‘Icon’ and ‘Draconian Times’ period. It was a good mix of songs across the 20 year history, an impressive feat considering it was to be fitted into little over an hour, the crowd lapping up every note and singing every word very loudly! ‘As I Die’, the now standard ‘Gothic’ and newest crowd pleasing anthem ‘Requiem’ managed to get all but the staunchest of cynics moving, before closing with a encore of the now traditional trio of ‘Say Just Words’, ‘One Second’ and ‘The Last Time’.
At the end of the show, they were joined on stage by Anathema and My Dying Bride, and the champagne was cracked open for a celebration on stage. Mark Heron had done a great job at short notice which was much appreciated and the sticks will be in safe hands for the upcoming tour. The crowd went home happy having seen 3 excellent sets. Wonder what the chances are of these guys getting together for a 21st anniversary show next year? (LK)
Lee Kimber and Pete Woods
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