Darkest Era/Gospelheim – The Black Heart, London – 23.11.23

Thursday night in London, so what better to do than going to the Black Heart to see a band we hadn’t watched in twelve years? Yeah, more than a decade ago we saw Darkest Era in Lisbon alongside the Russians Arkona plus Dalriada and Trollfest, in a very interesting night!!  So, of course we wanted to see them again!! 

So, me, Ines and Galas (one other Portuguese friend that joins us sometimes in our adventures) met at the Black Heart and started the night with a nice Lightbulb, a very good pale ale from Verdant Brewery. Unfortunately, when we went upstairs to the venue, we saw that it was not going to be a very crowded house. In fact, we and one other guy were the only ones in there, a bit before Gospelheim had to start. And I think maybe that affected a bit the mood, and the show from the Manchester band!! Down to a trio with Ricardo and Coco sharing vocals, the band went through their debut album, ‘Ritual & Repetition’, with some hiccups but relentlessly. Luckily more people showed up, although I wouldn’t put it above 30, while the band was charging at us with their mix of Gothic Rock and Metal, maybe on a vein close to Moonspell or one other Portuguese band, which goes by the name of Divine Lust.  My favourite track was ‘Satan Blues’, a song with a hell of a beat and an instrumental one which I didn’t catch the name. I was hoping to buy the album but when we came upstairs (with one more Lightbulb to clench our thirst) the merch and the band had disappeared!! Maybe they were working the next day, so totally understood. I hope I can catch them a next time as a quartet and see how it goes!!!

After them, and maybe with the house with 40 to 50 people, Darkest Era arrived on stage, and it was nice to see that the band was pretty much the same that we saw in Portugal (and then interviewed on issue #12)!! And they had the same energy and contagious music!! Although of course, this time, they were promoting their third and most recent album, ‘Wither on the Vibe’, released in 2022 by Candlelight Records. The new songs are as Heavy and melodic as you can expect, but also with tinges of Black and Doom Metal, bringing to mind some influences from the mighty Bathory (which can never be a bad thing) or their mates from the South, Primordial. ‘Floodlands’ is a good example, and it was one of the hits of this show. The guitars were heavy as hell, Krum vocals on the spot (and with a great interaction with the audience) and the rhythm section very tight, especially on the faster tempos. They didn’t forget the oldies and played stuff like ‘An Ancient Fire Burns’ or ‘The Morrigan (which ended the show in a very epic mood) from their debut, ‘The Last Caress of Light’ or ‘Songs of Gods and Men’ from its follower ‘Severance’. A great show from a band that deserved more audience (I know it was almost the end of the month so maybe not a lot of money floating around) and also a bit more recognizance from the Metal scene. 

Then Woody’s for a nice chicken meat & chips, home and some sleep as the next day was a working one plus the beginning of Beyond the Grave also at The Black Heart!!! But that will be for a next one!!!