PARADISE LOST, Lacuna Coil, Katatonia, @Wulfrun Hall, Wolverhampton 30/10/13

Out of all the fantastic value for money bills that are criss-crossing the UK at the moment – and we are blessed right now, with the likes of Volbeat and Iced Earth, Tracer and The Answer welded together – this evening might have seen the best there is on offer this autumn.

Paradise Lost are in the building to celebrate their 25 years as a band, and they have bought along some mates for the evening. Lacuna Coil are phenomenal support act, but when you add Katatonia to the mix as openers – and by the way all bands are playing over an hour each, this really is quite spectacular.

The Swedes are on this tour with an anniversary of their own to mark. It is ten years since they released their “Viva Emptiness” record, which  as far as they see it, is as good a reason as any to play it all the way through. It is an excellent album and one which deserves hearing, however, if we are being honest we would rather see a proper show than an album one. That said, it is a treat to watch a couple of songs that have never been played live before and the likes of “Sleeper” which comes near the end is prime doom of the highest order and “Ghost of the Sun” ends things in a swirl of anger. 

Lacuna Coil are often dismissed as Cristina Scabbia and some other people. That does them a tremendous disservice. Big enough to headline this venue in their own right last year, they are a formidable live act. They are also back up to full strength. Last year’s tour saw them missing a rhythm section, tonight sees them all present and correct.

Their set is heavy on tracks from the “Dark Adrenaline” record from last year, including the opening one-two of “I Don’t Believe In Tomorrow” and “Kill The Light” both rock harder than you think, but perhaps where Coil excel is on the massive chorus which sees them in full stadium bothering mode “Heaven’s A Lie” is huge sounding and “Spellbound” ends things in epic fashion. 

So…25 years, then? 25 years. How it happened that Paradise Lost became veterans, who knows. Whilst RTM cannot claim that we were there since the start, we will claim PL worship since 1994 when Raw Magazine put a sampler of “Draconian Times” on the front cover, so tonight is as special for the fans as it is for the band. 

And my, what a setlist they have put together to celebrate this fact. It begins with “Mortals Watch The Day” from the “Shades of God” record – the track hasn’t been played live, apparently, for nearly 20 years. We are not in Greatest Hits territory, it seems.  So it continues, with “So Much Is Lost” from the drastically underrated and undervalued “Host” album and the death metal stylings of “Gothic.” 

There are some recent songs too – “Faith Divides Us, Death Unites”  and “Tragic Idol” for example – but this is an hour and half that really takes all your expectations, toys with them and surpasses them, and any set that includes “Say Just Words” must be one of the highlights of the musical year.

Notoriously miserable frontman Nick Holmes jokes (no really!) near the end, saying “imagine if you didn’t know us and turned up tonight, there’s been pop, rock, death metal, doom, you would wonder what was going on!” 

He’s spot on, but that is the charm of Paradise Lost, you never know what they are going to, except whatever they damn well please. What a joy it was to celebrate their 25 years of music with them here tonight. 

BLOODSTOCK DAY 3 12/8/12 @Catton Hall

Given the indignity of a ridiculously early start time you could perhaps forgive Corrosion Of Conformity for being a little bit cheesed off and going through the motions a bit. Not a bit of it! Instead, the now three-piece deliver a set of rare intensity and riffing.  Without former member Pepper Keenan, COC don’t play anything from their mid-period, instead opting for a large number of new songs from their new album – “Psychic Vampire” sounding particularly special - and a smattering of songs from their first couple of records. They delivered a quite outstanding 40 minutes.

Not being death metal aficionados RTM takes its leave during Nile, ancient Egyptian themed brutality, opting instead for the New Blood Tent. Hakin’s frontman Brian sports a Fred Durst style red cap but there the similarities end. The Welsh band are billed as being, like Nile, from the death end of things, but to RTM it sounds like they have as much to do with Conan-esque doom as anything else.

Dreamcatcher are a much different proposition. The six piece fuse prog and melodic metal and come up with something not to dissimilar from the likes of Neonfly. They only manage a short set, but it is a thrilling one, closer “Take Hold” and “Never Look Back” particularly enthralling.

Its tough to do thrash metal well these days, even tougher when ridiculous scheduling sees the end of a young thrash bands set clash with the start of Evile’s on the main stage, but Reign Of Fury take it in their strides “we’ll race through it” jokes front man Bison Steed. They have no need, because, although they don’t, as yet have a new take on things, they are a band to look out for. “Envy The Dead” has a confidence and the twin guitar work on “Born To Die” was stunning.

Which brings us to the aforementioned Evile. Now relatively experienced campaigners, the Huddersfield band have overcome adversity to be a tremendous propostion. No British group has come up with thrash songs as good as “Cult” and “The Thrasher” in years, and they even find time to give “Centurion” its live debut during in a set that not even the rain can spoil.

Not content with two thrash bands in a row, it’s off to the Sophie Tent for the hat-trick and Slovenia’s Nocteferia emerge as the day’s surprise packets. “Slave To None,” “Democracy” and “Murder” are all, quite frankly, brilliant and the band can look back on their first trip to the UK with immense pride.

Over on the main stage, we catch the end of Anvil, and as always the suspicion with the Canadian triers is that they have never quite made it not through any bad luck, but actually because they aren’t all that good. “Metal on Metal” sounds excellent, of course, but you have to wade through a lot of mediocre stuff to get there.

Of all the bands that you would expect to make the sun come out, Paradise Lost are fairly low down on that list. But nonetheless, that’s the rather incongruous sight that greets them. Frontman Nick Holmes is a little disgruntled at this and dispatches a roadie to get sunglasses. Holmes is also barefoot, although this, he informs us is because the stage is slippy and not because he “wants to look like that c**t from the Black Crowes.” PL then set about showing just why they are the best band of their type out there. Just like their headline tour in April PL play a lot of the stunning “Tragic Idol” opus, which they mix with oldies like “Forever Failure” and “As I Die” before they finish up with a magnificent “Say Just Words” which induces much fist-in-the-air action.

French metal is often neglected, but Headcharger are looking to follow Gojira into our thoughts. Their sound is more Pantera based groove metal than their compatriots and in truth there is nothing especially memorable to their set in the Sophie Tent, although “The End Starts Here” – title track to their new album – is a diversion and they have a decent stab at “Communication Breakdown.”

Dimmu Borgir in the light is an odd thing! On their tour last year they were bathed in dark light throughout, now clad in leather and corpse paint they look entirely different. Thankfully they sound just as good though, and put on a sublime performance. “Ritualist” remains perhaps black metal’s most accessible moment, and “Mourning Palace” is grandiosely brilliant, over the course of an hour they show exactly why they are modern black metals finest band. Although the ever modest frontman Shagrath sees it differently, “I suppose you are all ready for Alice Cooper now,” he says.

And so it is 50 minutes later that the original shock-rocker brings his circus to Derbyshire. He does so with a show that is an exact replica of that which he played last October, which while nowhere near as good as the previous Theatre of Death trek in 09 is still a superb gig. The first part sees Alice racing through some classics and “I’m Eighteen,” “No More Mr Nice Guy” and “Hey Stoopid” are exactly that, before things lose a touch of momentum with a succession of solos and newbie “Ill Bite Your Face Off.” He’s soon back playing “Poison” and “Cold Ethyl” as well as creating monsters and getting killed. Of course it ends with “Schools Out” and a giant party, which really is all you need from Mr. Furnier.

This was three days to celebrate the magnificence and diversity of Heavy Metal, and as events go it was perhaps the best of the 2012, and with Anthrax already slated for 2013, who knows, next year may be better still.