The Metalist attends the first major metal show of the year, and it is a heavy metal war spectacular featuring the titans of Battle Beast, Delain and Swedish machine known as Sabaton. No better way to kick off the New Year with a bang at London’s Forum!

It’s another one of those massive billings that just can’t be passed up as they hit UK shores so rarely. Love em’ or hate em’, Italian goth titans Lacuna Coil came to London with their friends from Motionless in White, and gothic newcomers Devilment featuring the vocal talents of legendary Dani Filth. The Metalist was there to give a verdict on what was a showcase of gothic metal’s old and new.

When a band who has a legacy as grand as Opeth’s graces the stage its hard to imagine of all the choice cuts what the band will pick. After releasing 2011’s Heritage the band embarked on a defiant UK tour, playing only material from the new album as well as soft pieces from the band’s back catalogue, as ever fans reacted in the typical forward thinking standpoint and hated it. Now after releasing Pale Communion just this August the band are back more defiant than ever to prove the naysayers wrong.