The saxophones get louder as Lake Malice steps on stage at their debut album ‘I Wanna Know If Its Real’ release party. A celebration of determination and hard work that the crowd excitedly welcomed with a lot of dancing, singing and moshing.
This was the night I finally put my camera away to join the crowd, singing one of the new singles ‘rly OK‘ with Alice Guala right there performing with the crowd rather than at the crowd, showing off the full power of her vocal range. And wooow the new album is a true reflection of everything the band is capable of. Alice goes from hyper pop to metalcore screams in smooth and effortless transitions. And that’s not even all, this album sees an impressive scream in “Main Character Energy”, it made the crowd silent and break out in a celebratory applause over the control she showed especially after such an intense performance. Its impressive to listen to on a track but its a true spectacle to witness live.
The album follows this theme with its mix of hyper-pop and metalcore genres, with added elements of saxophones and other surprises that are worth listening to the album for. Especially “3D Robocop” which we didn’t get to hear live but I cant wait to add it to my playlist for its energy. Its one of those songs that truly covers all of the unique Lake Malice elements whilst starting out with more of a dance floor beat than what we have heard from them before.
And what’s more special is that every song truly hits a spot of those compressed emotions as the album is about being a human and dealing with life as it throws its challenges at you.
“It’s about being real, real emotions” – Alice
Blake Cornwall and Emily Ainger also stepped up in the new tracks. Blakes multi instrumental skills make the live set an impressive spectacle of multi layered sound all whilst he jumped around the stage with Alice. There was no kick that was missed out even when the height of the ceiling looked like a hazard. And Emilys skills on drums are on another level. Keeping up with the high speed of the tracks looked so easy for her. You don’t often see the drummer add elements of performance to their sets but Emily clearly enjoys what she does and takes time to add her own elements to the already dynamic performance.
The chorus from “rly OK” will be forever embedded with the memories I made that night
“Oh, are we really ok?
Just having the time of our lives”
The next exciting part of the release, other than the headline tour, are the videos for the rest of the tracks. The newer songs “Ghost in Hell” and “Chrome Red” have already had their debut releases with a unique anime inspired style that really reminds me of videogame gameplay. Especially “Chrome Red” where visual elements take you in to a different universe.
I am excited to see what creative direction Lake Malice will bring with the new releases, maybe a special scene of a group of her fans playing inflatable saxophones. That was a truly fun way to involve the audience in the release party and I hope they keep it up in the rest of the tour.
Lake Malice were supported by EVILLE who I had wanted to see live for a while and they did not disappoint. The world is lucky to get to see them open up for such an amazing band. Performing new music they truly hyped the crowd in preparation for the rest of the night. Including a song they performed whilst in a circle pit with the crowd, a true show of talent and vocal endurance.
The ‘I Wanna Know If It’s Real’ tour starts soon (Tickets):
European Tour Dates (September 2026)
- MTC (Cologne, Germany) – September 23, 2026
- Elfer (Frankfurt, Germany) – September 24, 2026
- Backstage (Munich, Germany) – September 25, 2026
- Café v lese (Prague, Czechia) – September 26, 2026
- Modus (Berlin, Germany) – September 27, 2026
- Naumanns (Leipzig, Germany) – September 28, 2026
- Betty (Headcrash) (Hamburg, Germany) – September 29, 2026
- Merleyn (Nijmegen, Netherlands) – September 30, 2026 [1]
UK Headline Tour Dates (October 2026)
- Exchange (Bristol, UK) – October 2, 2026
- The Key Club (Leeds, UK) – October 3, 2026
- G2 (Glasgow, UK) – October 4, 2026
- Manchester Academy 3 (Manchester, UK) – October 6, 2026
- Rescue Rooms (Nottingham, UK) – October 7, 2026
- The Garage (London, UK) – October 9, 2026
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