Living in Northern Ireland I am used to travelling to see some of my favourite bands. The Irish sea is a small stretch of water but logistically and financially it’s not always possible for bands to make the journey. When German dark rock band Lord of the Lost announced their UK tour it was an easy decision to spend £40 on flights and head to Glasgow to see them in Ivory Blacks, and it was £40 well spent!
Local industrial metal band Seraph Sin opened proceedings and seemed to have drawn their own crowd judging from the number of t-shirts in the crowd. This band had a fantastic drummer and Gabriel Lennox was an engaging front-man. My only criticism would be that the guitar tones were sometimes a little dull but overall a great performance and great songs. Definitely worth checking out if you are a fan of industrial metal.
Gothic duo Auger were up next and are accompanying Lord of the Lost on the rest of their UK tour. I was instantly transfixed by Kyle Wilson’s vocals which were reminiscent of Sisters of Mercy frontman Andrew Eldritch but also at times sounded like the plaintive cries of Aaron Stainthorpe of My Dying Bride. This soulful combination created a mesmerising performance on top of the more modern backing tracks and guitar. At times the drums on the backing tracks were a little lost but it didn’t detract from the overall performance. Will definitely be checking out Auger more in the future.
Like Auger before them deadfilmstar are with Lord of the Lost on all UK dates. Vocalist Gary Mobley was one of the most impressive frontmen I have seen. Snarling round the stage and making everyone in the front row feel uncomfortable, he was difficult to ignore. The band’s delivery of their sleazy industrial rock was flawless and despite having no live drummer there were no problems with backing tracks.
As the time approached for Lord of the Lost to hit the stage every single person in Ivory Blacks moved forward towards the stage, no-one was left lurking in the corners and the excitement was palpable in the atmosphere. The room darkened and they immediately launched into “On This Rock I Will Build My Church”, “Loreley” and “Morgana”. All flawless, all extremely heavy, thanks to the double drum work of Niklas Kahl and Gared Dirge.
Chris Harms then pauses briefly to discuss the band’s first UK headline tour (they were here in 2017 supporting KMFDM) and to thank Benji, the roadie, for all his hard work. Harms is personable and charismatic as a frontman with a vocal style that whilst not unique is extremely impressive in its range. He can move between low Pete Steele style vocals to growls and screams with seemingly no effort, resulting in a live performance that is CD perfect. This is particularly evident on “Black Halo”, which nearly had me crying tears of joy, it was so good.
I had to compose myself quickly though as absolutely mind-blowing performances of “Drag me to Hell”, “Prison” and “Six Feet Underground” followed. Chris Harms explained that their record label had told them to include a cover version to make sure people should sing a long! As Lady Gaga is a guilty pleasure of mine, I was thrilled to hear “Bad Romance” and I did a fair amount of damage to my neck head-banging along.
As things began to wind down Harms took the time to invite everyone back to the hotel bar, which was open until ‘late’ to party but explained that first they would play “La Bomba”, grab a fresh t-shirt, then come out to meet everyone, and that is exactly what happened. The band reappeared post-gig and spent time signing CDs, getting photos taken and chatting to fans. In the days of being charged £100’s for meet and greets it was a fantastic experience.
I left Ivory Black’s absolutely buzzing, I don’t normally score gigs but if I did that was a solid 10/10, I won’t even deduct a point for not playing “Raining Stars”. I sincerely hope that word spreads on how good Lord of the Lost are and that a UK festival picks them up soon. Do yourself a favour – buy Thornstar and keep a close eye out for future UK dates.
Photos by Exposing Shadows Photography
Lord of the Lost: facebook | instagram | bandcamp
deadfilmstar: official | facebook | twitter | bandcamp
Auger: facebook
Seraph Sin: official | facebook | twitter | instagram | bandcamp
