LIVE FROM THE PIT: Lacuna Coil and Nonpoint

Tucked away in the basement of the Leeds Student Union is the Stylus, a respectably sized 1,000 capacity venue spread across multiple floors that each pack a punch. A sea of old-school metalheads and corpse-paint-draped goths were shuffling in, having braced the November bite to experience a night of nothing short of pure nostalgia. Tonight belonged to the Italian gothic metal legends LACUNA COIL. Celebrating 30 long years in the scene, the ‘Sleepless Empire’ tour acts as both a showcase of their tenth album and a retrospective of their most iconic work. Joined by long-time friends, Puerto Rican nu-metal unit NONPOINT, the lineup felt like an early-2000s time capsule. Amid thick fog and eerie blue lighting, the stage was scattered with the uncanny crow skulls from the headliner's newest album’s artwork. When the room finally went black, the crowd roared with anticipation.

With nearly three decades in the game, veterans of their genre NONPOINT bounced out with a bang and a level of certainty in themselves that can only be forged with time. Lead vocalist, Elias Soriano, initially strolled onto stage with a can of Carlsberg in hand, but that casual stance quickly evaporated when he shouted, “Are you fucking ready to party, Leeds?!” As a psychedelic, early 2000s-esque graphic of the band's name shone onto the screen behind them, the opening notes of their 2014 hit ‘Breaking Skin’ rang out, and the entire band leapt in unison as the beat dropped. Unfortunately, their impressive raw energy was quickly undercut by a flawed sound mix. Soriano’s powerful and aggressive live vocal style, relying more on intense growls instead of the clean lines of the studio tracks, consistently drowned out other instrumentation.

Their attempts to hype up the crowd also quickly lost steam, being hampered by too much repetition. Before launching into ‘Dodge Your Destiny’ from their 2018 album ‘X’, Soriano took a brief moment to introduce the band. This led to a running joke claiming they were nu-metal giants KORN, a joke that landed the first time, but repetition quickly dulled its effect. The decline in crowd engagement was most clear during their mid-set cover of Phil Collins’ ‘In The Air Tonight’, with noticeably fewer arms seen waving in the air and voices heard singing along. Despite these hiccups, the set came to an explosive close with their time-defying smash hit, ‘Bullet With A Name’, before they bounded off-stage to a warm applause.

After a swift changeover, the atmosphere shifted. It was time for the main event, and the crowd knew it. Enveloped in corpse paint, each band member slowly crept out onto the stage as the tune of ‘Layers of Time’ filled every crevice of the room; an ominous introduction to their set. The setlist leaned heavily on older favourites such as ‘Reckless’ and ‘Kill The Light’, punctuated with notable moments from their newest album, including ‘Hosting the Shadow’ and ‘In the Meantime’. Before ‘In Nomine Patris’, Cristina Scabbia, lead vocalist, took a moment to attempt to create a ritualistic sense of calm, with the lights dimming and whispers into the mic of, “I repent… for my sins…” This atmosphere was swiftly interrupted by an impassioned fan shouting, “Cristina! Bellissima!” Whilst both Scabbia and co-vocalist Andrea Ferro fully embodied their dark alter-egos, bringing an impressive level of theatricality, the other band members' regular trips to the sound desk throughout the evening in between songs disrupted the immersion.

Scabbia paused to acknowledge the difficulties of creating music outside of the mainstream in the 90s, particularly as a female-fronted band from Italy. “People would tell us we couldn’t do it… and we’re so glad we ignored them and did it anyway,” she said, before leading the crowd through a chant of “we fear nothing”. It acted as a powerful bridge into ‘Nothing Stands in Our Way’, serving as a fitting and emotional pre-encore closer.

While waiting for the band to reemerge, chants of “vogliamo di più”, translating to “we want more”, echoed across the venue, to which the band surprisingly cheerfully obliged. They returned with a fierce run of tracks, consisting of ‘The Siege’, ‘I Wish You Were Dead’ and ‘Swamped XX’, before closing the night with the haunting melodies of ‘Never Dawn’. It was an enchanting and impassioned ending, proving that they have endured so long for a reason. With NONPOINT delivering a raw and kinetic energy, and LACUNA COIL bringing the darkness and drama they’re known for, the night left a memorable impression.

Words: Chloe Sodeau

Photos: Neve Saltmarsh