Leave’s Eyes – Islington academy, London – 10th November 2015

The opening act of the night was local band Enkelination.  They haven’t been playing many gigs this year as they are currently focussing on working on their second album, but tonight is a rare show for them, and judging by the number of EnkElination T-shirts being worn by people in the audience, they have plenty of fans here tonight.  It’s clear why they’re so popular – singer Elina Siirala has a beautiful voice, and the band are very good too, so her beautiful vocals combined with the power from the guitar, drums and bass are a great combination.  An excellent start to the night – this is a band well worth checking out.

Diabulus in Musica came next.  A Spanish band from the Basque region, their last album, Argia, came out last year and unsurprisingly features heavily in the set tonight.  Singer Zuberoa Aznárez is quite heavily pregnant but doesn’t let that stop her headbanging and windmilling during the set. She has a fantastic voice , and coupled with the great music from the band means their set is really impressive and they go down very well. I’m certainly looking forward to their next album which is likely to be released late next year.

Just before Leaves eyes came on stage a group of vikings filed out and lined up at the back of the stage with their shields in front of them and beating them with their axes.  They parted slightly to let the band on stage, then remained there for the rest of the first song before they filed offstage leaving the band with a lot more room to move around. Leaves Eyes are always good live and tonight is no exception.
The lovely female vocals from Liv Kristine contrasting nicely with the harsher male vocals from hsband Alexander Krull and the vocal performance mirrors their stage presence – Liv is a calm presence on stage as she sings, while Alexander Krull runs around like a maniac that’s drunk too much caffeine.  That’s not to say Liv can’t rock out too – she does, but it’s Alex with his waist length hair flying everywhere as he headbangs that is the more imposing figure.  It’s clear watching the band that they love performing live on stage, and that enthusiasm does add to the performance – it’s always nicer for the audience when the band look to be having fun too.
It’s a great set that includes songs from the new album (King of kings) as well as a selection of favourites from previous albums, and it’s clear that the audience tonight is enjoying themselves.  A great end to a great night of music.
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About Ant May

I spend half my life at gigs or festivals and the other half writing the reviews and editing photos, and somehow find time for a full time job too. Who needs sleep - I've got coffee.