On Dec. 17, four bands graced the humble Chicago venue of The Metro. Seamless, The Sword, Lacuna Coil and In Flames all charmed a crowd of hard semi-gothic rock and metal fans with a great show.
Seamless took the stage first. Musically they are just rubbish with jumbled melodies and a vocalist who screams for the sake of screaming. This is a turn-off in terms of music. Anything that is put into a song should be put there for a reason.
They put on a good stage show. It was a great presentation of an absolutely horrid product. Take away the music and vocals and it would have actually been pretty good. Sadly, they had a pretty big following for a no-name, no-talent hard rock band. It is a wasted 30 minutes of life that would have been better spent in a coma.
The Sword came on about 15 minutes after Seamless left the stage. They are not quite bad for a poor man’s third-rate attempt at being a second-rate carbon copy of Black Sabbath. The driving murky melodies that were slow to build and quick to give you a swift kick in the face were absolutely beautifully composed and well played.
The lyrics were not half bad detailing loss, death, pain: usual rock stereotype themes. The vocals sucked. It was a half-hearted attempt at being a second-rate Ozzy Osbourne, and the vocals failed because there was no emotion. There was improvement from the atrocity that was Seamless.
Here is where the treat really comes in. Lacuna Coil took the stage, and the two best bands that night was set. Lacuna Coil, the Italian powerhouse group that is a little bit Goth and a whole lot of heavy metal, powered through their songs with a force rivaled by few modern hard rock groups.
Songs like “Fragile,” “Heaven’s a Lie” and “Closer” took on a life of their own during their live performance. The strength of their performance was also powered by the loving attitude they had towards their fans and the audience.
Lacuna Coil set the bar and In Flames cleared it. That is why they were the headlining act. The Swedish metal band congratulated every other band on a great show, flirted with the audience, insulted themselves and just all in all had a very invigorating and playful mood toward the show.
Sadly, no real encore was given even though their show by itself was more than enough to please the audience. After a little talking to the audience and handing out picks, sticks and a shirt, In Flames left the stage in the same glory that they entered with: rock gods to the core.
As for the songs done by Lacuna Coil and In Flames, this was when the sound and acoustics of the venue really shines. No matter where you were, you heard the music like you were right by the speakers, except at the bar. You could not hear it like you were by the speakers, but at least you felt it pulsing through the air like a heartbeat. The sound and the acoustics of the metro when it comes to a show like this are just gorgeous.
Quite frankly it was a wonderful show, a beautiful venue, and if you’re into the style of music, something you should not have missed ? except for Seamless.