Fresh off an extensive European tour with Leaves’ Eyes, Liv Kristine continues to give us fans the full extent of her creative output by putting on a select few shows throughout the continent, showcasing her diverse solo career. Not only do we see the best of Kristine’s back catalogue, but a rare appearance by ex-Theatre of Tragedy frontman Raymond Rohonyi makes the show a special one…
[date]20th December, 2015[/date]
[venue]The Underworld Camden[/venue]
[city]London, UK[/city]
[support_bands]Valkyre[/support_bands]
Valkyre
Myself, like so many others, really get a good feeling when you see a band that you have never heard of that owns the live stage. Valkyre, a symphonic metal band from Belgium have filled that role this evening by showcasing some powerful and entrancing compositions from their decade long-career. Ashamedly as I am unfamiliar with their tracks I couldn’t begin to name the songs they played, but let’s look at it from the show perspective!
The female-fronted quintet are donned in attire that reminds one of a Victorian steampunk theme, in stark contrast to the fantasy-esque power metal that roared through the PA. The music fluctuated between emotional highs of astral ecstasy and aggression presenting a diverse palette of symphonic metal that matched the physical performance of the musicians.
The Underworld Camden isn’t the biggest place to play, but by the end of the performance it was guaranteed that everybody who was sitting at the bar waiting for the main act had stepped forward to see Valkyre progress through their performance. Being particularly impressed myself, I have come off needing to do my homework and give the band’s discography a listen,
Liv Kristine
I personally believe that Liv Kristine is the matriarch of female-fronted symphonic metal. Looking back on her career, and considering how long we have all been listening to her music it is hard to argue against that. Some of the biggest names in metal at the moment have cited her works as a major influence, including Tuomas Holopainen of Nightwish who has repeatedly stated that Theatre of Tragedy were key in establishing the beginnings of the symphonic metal giants.
Tonight Kristine returns to London at the end of a select European tour to entertain us with tracks from her diversified solo career that have seen her experiment in pop-rock to hard gothic metal. Not only have I been a fan of Kristine’s solo work for over 10 years, but even more special tonight would be something that I never got the chance to see, a reunion with Theatre of Tragedy vocalist Raymond Rohonyi to perform some of the band’s classics with the original vocalists. Excited much? Yes I was.
The Underworld fills up with fans of all of Kristine’s bands, and as the light’s dim and create that dark atmosphere that suits much of her gothic-influenced career. Beginning with the title track of her latest effort ‘Vervain‘ she immediately grabs the attention of the fans with a huge stage presence that eclipses her bandmates, but it’s not long before Kristine introduces Mr. Rohonyi to begin the early Theatre of Tragedy nostalgia.
The faces of fans light up and heads start to bang at full-force when the classic ‘Venus‘ and ‘A Hamlet For A Slothful Vassal‘ rock the venue. It’s been a while since these two sang together, but it was all there. The perfect execution of the atmospheric vocals and the ‘beauty and the beast’ stage theatrics, it made all those who never got to see the classic Theatre of Tragedy duo, including myself, quite content indeed.
The setlist continued to hop the line between Theatre of Tragedy songs and Liv Kristine’s classics from her solo career, including the upbeat ‘Paris Paris‘ and the solemn ‘Panic’. Most of the evening was dedicated however to covering the Theatre of Tragedy songs which included the very best. Tracks such as ‘Cassandra‘ and ‘Siren‘ really stole the show, and every member of the band embraced the tracks as if they were their own.
As the show ringed out with ‘Der Tanz der Schatten‘, it was quite evident from the fierce nods of approval that watching the maiden of symphonic metal cover all shades of her career was the absolute ideal way to close 2015, and the wondrous execution of the performance has proven that the best years are no way near behind Liv Kristine. There is plenty more to come!
