After an impromptu set downstairs from an acoustic duo practising for an upcoming gig, the night got fully underway with openers Twilight’s Embrace, who got things off to a fantastic start. The clean vocals admittedly sounded a little weak and out-of-tune on certain occasions, but the harsh vocals were incredibly powerful and the songs were excellent. A good and all-round solid start to the night.
Up next was Marche Funèbre, who took things up a notch. Their frontman Arne was a great performer, really engaging with the crowd and getting everyone involved by instructing the room to headbang along with the songs! They really put on a fantastic show and when taking into account the fact they weren’t quite playing at full steam (due to them being without their lead guitarist/additional vocalist) they really did play a mighty set – if they were that enjoyable then, I can only imagine what a force to be reckoned with when playing with their full lineup!
It was The Infernal Sea that completely stole the show, however, with a 10/10 performance that was in a whole league of its own. One of the best black metal bands out there (not a mean feat, for a band coming from a country that isn’t famed for it’s black metal scene!), they didn’t put a foot wrong throughout and if you think they sound good recorded, just wait until you catch them live.
One of the highlights of their set was drummer James’ constant windmilling as he hammered away at the drums, which was no mean feat, and the whole band’s togetherness was incredible to see. It was just a massively tight performance that really showcased just how phenomenally talented the band were. You could really tell they put their all into the set and quite simply, it was a mindblowing show from this incredible fourpiece, and very rewarding to finally catch them live.
Headliners Eye Of Solitude slowed things down a tad with their mixture of doom and death metal. Although they chose to play in darkness, it would have been a little nicer if there had at least been a little bit of lighting so we could see a little better, but that’s the only (and somewhat nit-picky) problem I had with the set because it was a good, strong performance from them and the awesome crowd really made the night all the more enjoyable because it’s always great to go to a show where the audience is completely behind a band. Eye Of Solitude really fed from the enthusiasm and injected it back in the set, which made for an engaging performance as a result – great stuff, and definitely a band you should check out live if you get the chance.
An all-round fantastic night with all four bands really delivering and putting – even if Eye Of Solitude’s frontman Daniel did refer to us as London rather than Liverpool at the start of their set!
8/10
