Delain - London Review

While not as popular as bands like Nightwish and Within Temptation, the Netherlands' Delain are still one of the big hitters in the symphonic metal world. The band was originally conceived as a studio project by Martijn Westerholt (keyboards), who put together 2006's Lucidity with frontwoman Charlotte Wessels and a host of guest musicians, but they soon morphed into a slick and popular live act that has been treading the boards for well over a decade now. In truth, I always feel it is a bit disingenuous to call Delain a symphonic metal act, as I am not sure that they have truly been one for a good few years now. While their is still a certain element of that to be found throughout the band's more recent works, the modern Delain is more of a sleek melodic metal act with the grandeur of symphonic metal and the hooks of great pop music. Delain's music is always fun and accessible, but still manages to be interesting and, at times, technically challenging. It is to the band's credit that they have remained as creative and vital as they have, and it is why they are one of my favourite melodic metal acts. They are also one of a handful of European metal acts that can justify playing proper UK tours, rather than one-off stops in London. Delain have always been embraced by the UK metal crowds, and it seems that this love affair between the band and the audience is set to continue and grow well into the future. Each time I see Delain they seem to be playing a bigger venue than the previous time - with the most recent show, which I took in this past weekend, taking place at the good-sized Electric Brixton in London. It is a venue that I had only been to once previously, but it is a venue that I rate. It is a good-sized room, and both the times that I have been now the sound and the turnout has been excellent - which helps to create a strong atmosphere. The band's London venue of choice recently has always been the Koko, but I think I prefer the Electric Brixton - and I would not be surprised if the latter is a little bigger too. The show at the Electric Brixton capped off a short run of UK dates to celebrate the release of their latest, and sixth, studio album Apocalypse & Chill - the first set of shows since the album's extremely recent release. It had been around four years since the band's last album, so the release of new music was certainly a great excuse for a new run of UK dates. I last saw the band back in 2016, so I was really looking forward to catching the band again and hearing some of the new material live. Many others clearly thought the same, as the venue was pretty full - which was great considering that Sabaton had sold out the Wembley Arena the previous night, which certainly would have made the prospect of attending a Delain show the night after a tricky prospect for some financially.

Before Delain's set however, the growing crowd were treated to 45 minutes of melodic metal from the Swedish four-piece Cyhra - a band who I recently saw supporting Battle Beast. I have been a fan of Cyhra since the band's debut album was released in 2017, so it was great to get another chance to see them live again so soon after their first London show last November. Unsurprisingly, the show this time was extremely similar with material from 2019's No Halos in Hell dominating the set. Frontman Jake E has really come into his own as a singer and a performer as a member of Cyhra. I always felt that he was somewhat overshadowed in Amaranthe, but in Cyhra he really gets to showcase his melodic voice and his songwriting. He was in great form again in London, belting out the emotional chorus to Letter to Myself with ease and taking time in between the songs to joke with the crowd. The band went down well at the Battle Beast show last year, and they went down just as well this time - with each song receiving a strong reaction from the large crowd. Battle from Within, written about E's brother's battles with mental health and his eventual succumbing to his demons, was particularly well-received. It is one of the strongest songs from the new album in my opinion, and hearing the story of the song made it take on more meaning - especially live. It was easy to see how hard it was for E to sing the song, but it only made his performance stronger and the crowd was certainly on his side for the rest of the show. Another highlight was the heavier Kings Tonight, the only track in the set that was not played at last year's show, which gave guitarists Euge Valovirta and Marcus Sunesson a bit more of a workout with its pacy metal rhythms and tight riffing. I still find the lack of a live bassist and keyboard player strange however. As I mentioned in my review of the previous night's Serenity set, melodic metal bands really should have live keyboard players - and quite a lot of Cyhra's sound relies on synths. There are some portions of the band's songs where only E and drummer Alex Landenburg are playing - with bass and keyboards mysteriously emanating from the speakers. It is, sadly, quite common for bands to not have live keyboard players - but not to have a live bassist too is quite strange. It does make you wonder how much of the band's set is actually live, but having now seen two great support slots from Cyhra it seems a bit churlish to dwell on these issues - despite them always being worth a mention. It did not detract from my enjoyment of the band's set however, with the dual guitar leads of Karma once again really hitting the spot, and the closing crowd sing-a-long in Out of My Life being louder than average for a support act. With two strong support showings now in the UK, I hope that 2020 is the year that we see Cyhra come back to the UK as a headline act! The setlist was:

Letter to Myself
Bye Bye Forever
Dreams Gone Wrong
I Am the One
Battle from Within
Kings Tonight
Heartrage
Karma
Man of Eternal Rain
Out of My Life

Despite a strong showing from Cyhra, it was Delain that everyone was here to see - and the minute the lights went down the place erupted. There really does seem to be a special bond between Delain and the UK, and this was clear from the off as Wessels was greeted by a huge cheer as she took to the stage and there was plenty of singing along to opener Burning Bridges. With the new album only a few days old, the new songs all received strong receptions, with many greeted like old friends. Burning Bridges is a great representation of the modern Delain sound: heavy, yet accessible; with guitarist Timo Somers' riffs really driving everything forward. The new album is probably the most guitar-centric release the band have done yet, and Somers clearly enjoyed playing so many of these new, riffy tunes live. Another new number Creatures followed the opener, but then it was time to dip into the back catalogue with fan favourites such as the soaring pop metal of Suckerpunch and the old-school symphonic metal of April Rain with some excellent keyboard work from Westerholt. Each song brought a big cheer from the crowd, and even the band seemed a little taken aback by the general reaction to their set at times. Wessels occasionally seemed lost for words, and instead the band just let the music do the talking - with track after track impressing. It was many of the newer songs that proved to be the highlights for me, with the groovy Let's Dance prompting a big sing-a-long during the choruses, and lots of movement, and the somewhat strange One Second seeing the band showcase a bit of an alternative/tech metal sound - with Somers sharing the vocals with Wessels. Somers also got to show off, along with relatively new drummer Joey de Boer, during the shredding prog metal instrumental piece Combustion - another new vibe for Delain. This explosive track followed the gentle Ghost House Heart which saw Wessels, accompanied only by Westerholt and guest cellist Elianne Anemaat (who also joined the band on a couple of other numbers), deliver the song perfectly despite a cold. By this point, it seemed that Delain could do no wrong, with the last third or so of their set seeming like a victory lap - with mostly old favourites being wheeled out. The heavy Hands of Gold got everyone moving, while Don't Let Go saw plenty of dancing thanks to its strong grooves and disco-esque beats. The Gathering is always a live favourite and, as usual, it went down a storm. The band do not often play too many tracks from Lucidity live, but The Gathering is ever-present and it has one of the catchiest choruses in the band's canon. It was sung loudly by the large crowd, and explosions went off as it came to an end. It felt like the end of the show, but it seems Delain have dispensed with the silly encore tradition and just continued on, playing another four songs with Fire With Fire and the heavy Pristine seeing plenty more headbanging. There was time for one more new tune, the hypnotic and poppy We Had Everything, before the band's anthem We Are The Others brought the evening to an emotional close, with the crowd really singing along at the top of their voices throughout. Again, the reception seemed to shock the band a little, and as they took their bows they seemed rather emotional - which was appropriate considering the great show they had just put on. The setlist was:

Burning Bridges
Creatures
The Glory and the Scum
Suckerpunch
The Hurricane
April Rain
Masters of Destiny
Let's Dance
One Second
Ghost House Heart [w/ Elianne Anemaat]
Combustion
Hands of Gold
Not Enough [w/ Elianne Anemaat]
Don't Let Go
The Gathering
Fire With Fire
Pristine [w/ Elianne Anemaat]
We Had Everything
We Are The Others

Delain are a band that seem to get better with age, and this could well be the best show of theirs that I have seen yet. It was my fifth time seeing the band live, and I hope that they come back again soon as I would love to see them live again - especially after having some more time to digest the new album. I had listened to it once on the train on the way up to London the day before, but had not really had a chance to properly appreciate the new songs. They all came across really well live however, and I would not be surprised if many of the songs become live favourites for years to come.