We Are The Fallen made their world debut in London on a typically cold and wet March evening at King’s College Students Union.

For those not in the know, We Are The Fallen is a new band formed by American Idol star Carly Smithson and former Evanescence members Ben Moody, John LeCompt and Rocky Gray with the addition of Marty O’Brien on Bass.

With the name obviously intending to reference Evanescence’s highly successful debut album (and probably wind-up Amy Lee) and an image not dissimilar to the gothic pop-rockers, the comparisons naturally flood in. But that is where it ends… for We Are The Fallen is a very different band.

Hitting the stage after solid performances by Slaves To Gravity and Telegraphs, WATF have a point to prove. Carly takes her natural place as the front woman of a rock band instead of the pop starlet that she could have been, and it’s great to see Ben Moody’s return to the stage performing with all of the energy that he did in the past.

The set list features tracks from their debut album Tear the World Down including the download single Bury Me Alive, but the most memorable songs from the night are covers of Madonna’s ‘Like A Prayer’ and Iron Maiden’s ‘Flight of Icarus’, both of which bring the audience to life. The sound quality is a bit of a let down after the decent sounding support sets with the instruments a bit too loud drowning out the vocals and reducing Carly’s voice to a bit of a shriek, but at least she had chance to shine on the slower numbers.

On the evidence of tonight’s gigs, I can’t see them recreating the instant success of Evanescence as the music isn’t quite as instantly catchy and perhaps not as appealing to the average music fan, but they have their chance to shine. It’s just a shame that they have chosen the name and image that they have as it will be a long long time before they are mentioned without reference to Ev.

As far as debut gigs go, this was a definite success even if they are not yet as tight as they will become, but I’m sure the support slot they have on HIM’s tour of the States will improve things immensely. There is a lot of talent in the band so given the chance to prove themselves they have a bright future ahead of them.