Sunday evening I ordered my takeaway just a few minutes too late; I had to wolf down my noodles, chuck my coat on, and practically sprint to the city in order to make it to Lacuna Coil in time. 

I walked up Magdalen Street speedily and knew I was at Epic Studios once I saw queue in which many of the hairstyles defied both gravity and reason in ways that you would only expect at a metal concert.

It was a long queue, but moved quickly, and soon enough I had entered the venue and stood within the crowd awaiting the live music. 

Very shortly after I arrived, the opening band Nonpoint had begun. I was not familiar with them, but their crunchy sound that is so apparent in nu-metal music demonstrated the band’s origins in nineties and noughties America.

People were still entering the venue as they performed, and the room was getting steadily more packed – I could feel the excitement in the room increasing.

After they had finished I quickly dashed to the bar to get an energy drink, before I then squirrelled my way through the crowd to find a better spot, in preparation for Lacuna Coil’s nearing arrival.

A half an hour or so passed as I drank my Monster, and almost as if by magic the lights dimmed as I was about to have my final sip.

It was quiet at first, with the anticipation high, and little to be heard aside from a low and subtle sound. Every movement on stage caused whispers in the crowd.

Eventually there were cheers when drummer Richard Meiz arrived, shortly followed by bassist (and founding member) Marco Coti Zelati and guitarist Daniel Salomone.

All three of them were in black and white skull-like makeup, matching the aesthetic of their latest album Sleepless Empire, the cover of which featured an illustration of a bird skull.

Cheers reached a peak when the two leads came on stage. Andrea Ferro, the second founding member of Lacuna Coil, who provides the harsh vocals for the band, arrived clad in a similar gloomy black to the instrumentalists, whereas Cristina Scabbia, Lacuna Coil’s singer, graced the stage attired in a bright red.

The low sound that was emanating from the speakers began to rise, before it transformed into the intro for ‘Layers of Time’, one of the singles from their 2019 album Black Anima. 

I always appreciate a band that has a unique aesthetic, and Lacuna Coil is without a doubt one that takes no shortcuts in this regard.

There is a stereotype about metal music being Satanic or scary in some way, and Lacuna Coil don’t shy away from this but instead embrace the aesthetic.

The stage was flanked by giant illustrations of bird skulls and the drummer, bassist and guitarist were all wearing black cloaks and had spooky black, white and blood-red face paint.

During ‘In Nomine Patris’, stark red lighting and fog machines made the entire room look like a picture of hell. Everyone chanting in Latin with the band definitely added to the effect.

Matching the gothic aesthetic, Lacuna Coil’s sound is dark and gloomy – in the best way – which is attributable to Scabbia’s incredibly talented soaring vocals that are often simultaneous with Ferro’s low, growling screams.

These two types of vocals occurring simultaneously is not something unique to Lacuna Coil, but it is something I rarely hear in metal, and they do it expertly. 

At the end of ‘Nothing Stands in Our Way’, the band left the stage, but the audience did not leave the room, knowing a pre-planned encore was on its way.

I have mixed opinions about concert encores, as I find them cheesy, but they almost always play my favourite songs in them.

Lacuna Coil gets a pass as they didn’t drag out the intermission between the main set and the encore, and they played my favourite of their songs, ‘I Wish You Were Dead’, during the encore. 

I got my groove on (in a heavy music sense this usually means fist-shaking and headbanging) and sank into the final tunes of the night.

This is my favourite thing about live concerts: the line me and music seems to blur. For just a few hours I get to experience this alternate dimension where nothing exists except the hear and the now.

Thank you to Lacuna Coil for letting me experience that feeling with them.

Image Credit: Robyn Srikandan