Tribulation with Livgone at Manchester Rebellion.

Livgone are a French metal band, formed of members Elise Aranguren, Emil Svensson, and Michal Kielbasa. The trio have previous experience in the black metal scene which they bring into their current performances.

Livgone started off the show with a performance that can only be described as a French poetry slam with the elegance and beauty of gothic rock, they brought an electricity to the room that made you want to float around a room whilst in a state of anguish. The tempo could dial down whilst vocalist Elise sang beautifully with the backing of her keyboard playing, her voice would feel like it’s sending a message throughout the room, with words that felt like torment sang so elegantly.

The band’s guitarists brought the energy to the performance, bringing in that part of hard rock into the show that really made your head bang and needed for your body to move even more, definitely showing the previous experience in metal. The instrumentals of their set flowed so amazingly with the vocals it felt like a story was being told in a dramatic sequence in front of your eyes, you felt like you were being flown through a tail that would end in dramatics as a plot twist unfolds, Elise sounds like she’s the storyteller and the rest of the trio are amplifying a tale as old as time with the way she presents each track.

The end of the set had soft vocals that felt like you were in a fairy tale before reminding you of the violent themes to the track. The true meanings behind each song brought you out of a trance like state into the reality with the instrumentals really helping put a deep story surrounding your brain.

8/10 – An interesting set that was really unique.

Setlist:

Dance So I Can
Watching Them Feel
Childhood Landscapes
J’y suis presque
Silverstone
Hypoesthesia

Tribulation the Swedish heavy metal band have brought gothic rock to Manchester’s Rebellion. The band consists of Adam Zaars, Johannes Andersson, Oscar Leandor and Joseph Tholl. The band formed in 2005, eventually releasing their debut album The Horror, in 2009.

Having never listened to Tribulation before this evening, I instantly had the thought of the band Ghost when they began playing, the intro had a similar riff of the song Calling Little Sunshine. The beautiful riffs to start the set brought you into a cathedral like setting, with the background props of stain glass windows bringing the entire set and feeling of being in a church to life, it does make you question what could they do with a larger venue, the thoughts of a makeshift cathedral comes to mind, maybe one day the band will bring their future tours to Manchester’s Albert Hall, a venue that would fit not only their look but their sound perfectly.

The band all dress in suit wear, with their faces painted like skeletons, they walk around the stage like the undead as if you’ve just walked into the land of the dead from Beetlejuice and you’re meeting the recently deceased band, the green light and smoke adds to that affect and you feel like you’ve been taken aboard the metal train and not the soul train.

Vocalist, Johannes Andersson, has the vocals of the legendary Lemmy (Motorhead) taking you back to the times of Motorhead’s prime years, which for anyone who is an avid classic rock fan like myself that’s something you would gravitate towards. If you’re a fan of the traditional aspects of classic rock but like a more modern twist with unique elements taking over their songs, performance and overall presence then Tribulation is something you would be attracted to, not just the music but the entire show as well, the show is everything you could want from a band in forms of entertainment.

9/10 – Incredible show and have already recommended them to many other friends of mine.

Setlist: