Leprous / Rock City / Nottingham
Friday and a trip into town, and once more into Rock City, for what promised to be a great night as Leprous hit town on their Aphelion tour along with Nordic Giants and Fight the Fight.
Unfortunately doors were pushed back, and it became apparent the bands had had travel issues either side of the border and as a result the Fight the Fight set was pulled. A real shame as I had heard they were a great live band, but I loved how, between Nordic Giants and Leprous, they came out onto the stage to thank the fans and to apologise for the issues. Top stuff !
So, down to one support, but boy what a support we had in store as Nordic Giants came out onto the stage. Nordic Giants are an instrumental post-rock duo who mis their unique sound with prominent cinematic visuals from two large screens on the stage.
Loki and Rôka are dressed in traditional headdress wear, predominantly covered in black feathers (rook?) giving the air of shaman. They’ve released three studio albums in A Séance of Dark Delusions (Kscope, 2015), Amplify Human Vibration (Kscope, 2017) and Symbiosis (self-released, 2022).
It’s an interesting juxtaposition of elements, with the ritualistic visuals supported with an earthy drum sound, against the modern keys and audio/visual performance. However, it works so so well, being as much a visual experience as a sonic one. The music has an intricate, delicate structure and would fit in the soundtrack to any number of movies.
The set flies by in an instant. Brilliant stuff
Lots of the usual rushing around to re-set the stage, made more frantic tonight with the travel delays. The crew work miracles to get the headliners ready to go in record time.
Leprous, from Notodden in Norway, are a progressive metal band, formed back in 2001, the brainchild of singer and keyboardist Einar Solberg and guitarist Tor Oddmund Suhrke. They’ve released seven studio albums: Tall Poppy Syndrome (2009), Bilateral (2011), Coal (2013), The Congregation (2015), Malina (2017), Pitfalls (2019) and Aphelion (2021).
Rushing out on to the stage they dive straight into opener Have You Ever from their latest album “Aphelion” (2021). As a photographer it’s a hard night. Nordic Giants was dark, and Leprous are silhouetted with bright spots and backlighting. But it makes for an impressive and industrial look.
They create an impressive sound, both in volume and depth of complexity, all underpinned by pounding bass lines, heavy, almost tribal drums and then layered with some of the best vocals you can find, from Einar. His range is really impressive, equally able to growl out the harsh heavy stuff, but switching with ease to crystal clear, pitch perfect high notes. The higher stuff reminded me of Aaron Starkie from The Slow Readers Club with its similar tone and crispness.
A core element to their sound is the synth lines, which ripple through the mix, giving it an industrial edge against the fuzzy guitar riffs. This complex sound it matched by that impressive light show, using spots and beams to create a stark, almost harsh industrial landscape for the sounds to drive through. The whole thing is quite the experience.
The energy doesn’t just come from Einar though, with guitarists and bass taking centre stage, both in the mix and up on the risers. An impressive set, where it’s hard to pull out any particular tracks, but special mention has to go to the performances of From the Flame (“Malina” 2017), Slave (“The Congregation” 2015) and the final track The Sky is Red (from 2019’s brilliant album “Pitfalls”).
Despite the issues the bands have gone through to get here and perform for us tonight (thank you guys) the crew and the venue did an amazing job. And, from what was delivered ? You wouldn’t have known. The sound was spot on, the lighting, and Leprous delivered a performance for the ages. High energy levels throughout and a sound to die for. A brilliant night all round.
Setlist
Have You Ever
The Price
Angel
On Hold
Castaway Angels
From the Flame
Alleviate
Out of Here
Slave
The Cloak
Below
Nighttime Disguise
The Sky is Red
