An evening of some of the finest creative concepts in metal decends upon London this evening, presenting a entertaining clash of unique musical output and visual gimmickry. The acapella crew Van Canto are back in town, and they bring with them the superheroes of Grailknights, and the Dutch starlets End of the Dream.
End of the Dream
The Dutch gothic metallers may not have entirely fit in to the theme of the billing this evening, but they were certainly the first to impress.
What the band brought was something I had wanted to hear for a long time – a continuation of a progressive dark sound that long-vanished Season’s End started. I love the dark, mid-tempo tones that the band brought, and the Dutchmen and woman here tonight have brought it back to life in full valour.
The cold blues of the lighting provided the atmosphere for each member to embrace their darker sound live, while the frontwoman theatrically wonders through the stage fog. It was a great opener, and more than convincing to give this band a listen on record.
Grailknights
So many metal fans roll their eyes so far back into their head that they can see their brain when it comes to gimmeckry in metal. It’s a shame really, as bands that adopt a non-serious theme are some of the best live acts out there – GWAR slays giant alien caterpillars, Danko Jones obsesses about himself, and Grailknights fight evil in search of a holy grail.
This band have been the most entertaining live act I have seen in a while, and I don’t think I spent one moment without a smile on my face. The band storm on stage in multi-coloured superhero outfits they had created, flexing their muscles before ripping into some standard European power metal.
While the music was particularly average, the stage antics were nothing short of phenomenal. The band brought a giant-beer carrying horse on stage to treat a lucky fan to a keg of Warsteiner, before acting out a slow-motion battle scene using large swords to slay a skeleton King.
The show ended to the pummel of some higher tempo power metal, and the Grailknights declared themselves victorious wielding the Holy Grail to the London battlechoir. The whole occasion had me struggling to catch a breath between laughter.
I really do hope they return in a headline capacity, as these guys have the superpower to turn any awful day into a joy with their live show. Metal needs more of this!
Van Canto
It would appear that metal has a love hate relationship with Van Canto if you were to believe any of the features on the heavy acapella concept. It seems that London simply love the idea though, as the room fills with dedicated fans.
It’s a slight upgrade from the last time the band played in London, but graduating from the Underworld to perform at the Islington Academy is a good sign for a band, and Van Canto have won over a significant amount of fans since then.
Arriving on stage to epic intro music, and band kick off their musical showcase with some of the brand new tracks on their album ‘Voices of Fire‘, immediately impressing fans with ‘Clashings on Armoured Plates‘ and ‘Dragonwake‘.
While acapella heavy metal may seem like a humourous concept to some, the band do take their music seriously, and have spent the last 10 years perfecting the craft. The amount of confidence on stage coming from the 5 vocalists really represents this as the effortlessly move through classics such as ‘Pathfinder‘ and ‘Speed of Light‘ engaging the crowd and saluting every time they catch fans ‘Rum Dum-ing’ with them.
Of course fans lent their voices at the loudest to the covers of classics such as ‘The Bard’s Song‘ and their rendition of ‘Wishmaster‘, that became internet famous when synced with Ned Flander’s riddly-diddling.
It’s simply outstanding how this band have managed to create something that’s so listenable on record, and incredible to watch live. With experimental concepts such as this one, there’s so much that can go wrong, but Van Canto have dived into the unknown and come out breathing fire. They get bigger with every album and tour, and like them or not they are here to stay.
As ‘Fear of the Dark‘ ends a fantastic show, it leaves all to spread the mantra that whether you like this band or not, they need to be respected. They tried something different, and it worked. Ask any of the fans that were here, and they will tell you that Van Canto on a live stage is one of live metal’s treasures.
