Live Review: VV and Kælan Mikla | O2 Academy Bristol | 10/03/2023
After years away from the limelight, goth metal’s most fawned over icon is back.
Kælan Mikla
Given the mutterings of speculation within the audience prior to their set, it’s safe to presume a large a portion of this capacity audience aren’t acquainted with tonight’s opener. After all, given how there’s more Heartagrams here than a 2002 episode of Jackass, it’s clear that the vast majority of punters have gathered for one act, and one act only. But as tonight’s openers call out from the fog with the mantric vocals, frigid synths and the siren-esque allure of their titular track, it’s clear that no one will be forgetting the enigmatic darkwave of Kælan Mikla for a good long while.
As the Icelandic trio ghostly conjure tracks like ‘Stormurinn’, ‘Kalt’ and Sienur’ seemingly from beyond the veil that separates us from the ether, even before the band get a chance to introduce themselves to the stupefied audience it’s clear that Kælan Mikla are a creative entity devoted to their craft. Channeling the whimsy, allure, magick and subtle horrors inherent to the legends and lore of their native North Atlantic homeland, the trio’s sonic craft skirts between magical and fatal.
There’s a real juxtaposition to the band’s aurora-lit sound, something that perfect renditions of ‘Sólstöður’ and ‘Næturblóm’ bare witness to. Within such tracks – which Kælan Mikla animate with possessed physical vigour that almost borders upon performance art – thumping bass riffs dance pragmatically with hypnotic synths and the enchanted, possessed vocals of Laufey Soffía. The end result is a sound that effortlessly conjures thoughts of both the volcanic obsidian wastes and the sun and snow-kissed scenic majesty of the legendary Iceland, a sound rich with substance and juxtaposition.
Much akin to the legendary and misunderstood elves of Icelandic lore, the band’s set tonight threatens to whisk the population of the South West away to a place incomprehensible. As the capacity crowd snap out of their entranced stupor to applaud the closing ‘Hvítir Sandar’ with the kind of enthusiasm seemingly originally reserved for their idol set to take the stage next, it’s clear that Kælan Mikla have indoctrinated the hundreds in attendance with ease.
Photo Credit: Kate Gavaletz-Smith
Score: 8/10
VV
And now, for the main event. A man that has no doubt influenced the lives of all within this room and is the primary reason why some within this venue have travelled across countries and oceans this evening. Granted, many years have passed since Ville Vallo has last performed within the UK, with HIM’s final appearance on these shores taking place just under six years ago in late 2017. One would be forgiven in thinking that maybe Vallo’s clutch on alternative and gothic culture has lessened without his input over the years. But as the one and half thousand people in this room scream, yell and even cry at the sight of a neon Heartagram lighting to herald his approach, it’s clear that VV – Ville Vallo – still has an ironclad grip on the world of gothic fatalism.
Opening with the new wave romanticism of ‘Echolocate Your Love’ prior to dropping into the 2003 tear-jerker that is HIM’s immortalised ‘The Funereal Of Hearts’ – a song that garners a reception so deafening it makes those not yet wearing ear protectors scrambling for them – Valo and his new band sound totally phenomenal this evening. Losing none of his characteristic dramatics in his delivery, Valo sounds like a man reborn and made renew as his commands a set that alternates between tracks from the aforementioned Neon Noir and HIM’s back catalogue. As he drives tracks such as ‘Loveletting’ and ‘Buried Alive By Love’, it’s nigh on impossible not be drawn and transfixed by the same sense of magnetism and amorous slyness that made his presence so alluring all those decades ago.
However, this is not a set banking on the power of nostalgia. Yes, whilst it may be the performance of HIM tracks that trigger the most frenzied of receptions, with ‘Right Here In My Arms’ soundtracking the sight of a single black rose being thrown onto the stage, it’s the content from Neon Noir that showcases a man and band renewed with a sense of purpose. Despite the synth driven ballads counteracting some of the more vigorous HIM tracks being aired, tracks like ‘Run Away From The Sun’ and a passionate rendition of ‘In Trenodia’ see Valo once again lost in the passion of fatally romantic performance that began to wane towards the end of HIM’s lifespan. The time away from the pink and blue limelight has seemingly reinvigorated the Finnish goth legend with a sense of newfound energy, and as he drives ‘The Foreverlost’ with a sense of command not seen in years, it’s nothing less than the highest of pleasures to see one of goth rock’s finest doing what they do best.
But it’s the original pioneering HIM classics such as ‘Wings Of A Butterfly’, ‘Join In Me Death’ and ‘When Love And Death Embrace’ that are greeted with the most screams movement and tears. It’s to be expected, but given how well such cuts are performed tonight, one cannot help themselves from losing their minds. Whilst Valo sounds simply better than before now he’s ditched the drink – his timbre fluid and faultless – it would be a crime not to mention the his band that make this set possible. Guitarists Mikko Virta and Sampo Sundström, bassist Juho Vehmanen and drummer Risto Rikala perform with a sense of sleek musicianship that matches the sly galvanism of Vallo himself, cutting through timeless cuts and new content with effortless ease.
But ultimately though, as the night ends on a four track encore of ‘Soul On Fire’, Salute The Sanguine’, ‘Poison Girl’ and ‘Saturnine Saturnalia’, tonight is a night that reaffirms the fact that Ville Vallo and his signature Heartagram iconography remains timeless and untouchable. Make no mistake, his infernal majesty of all things fatally romantic is back better than ever before.
Photo Credit: Kate Gavaletz-Smith
Score: 9/10