LIVE REVIEW: Darkest Hour @ The Underworld, London

Celebrating 25 years of being a band, melodic death metal heroes DARKEST HOUR hour once again returned to the The Underworld in London. Bringing with them a stacked line up, this was sure to be a great way for both the band and their fans to celebrate this time.

LOWEST CREATURE were up first and, as is often the case with these sort of five band lineups, were left playing to an almost empty room. Still those who were there early did seem to enjoy the hardcore tinged thrash that was on offer here. The biggest problem with their set was less the songs and more with their performance. Outside of the vocalist, the rest of the band just seemed either incredibly nervous or disinterested, leaving a bit of a void when it came to charisma. There is definitely potential here but tonight their live performance just felt lacking.

Rating: 5/10

UNE MISÈRE were a lot more engaging. Looking like one of the most stylish bands hardcore bands around with a vocalist who looks like he could be a James Bond villain, UNE MISÈRE just pummel the audience with some of the most bleak and miserable hardcore. It’s not just relentless beatdowns either, as they do what they can to keep things as varied as possible whilst sticking withing hardcore. Beaten is a particular highlight seeing them use drum and bass which gives it a real SLIPKNOT vibe. This is an incredibly impressive showing from a band making their first trip to the UK.

Rating: 8/10

BLOODLET are less impressive and really struggle to make much impact tonight. The metalcore veterans certainly aren’t bad. But their sludge-tinged metalcore tunes just do very little to engage the audience. The band just power through song after song taking very little time to pause between the songs and it all just becomes a little numbing by the end.

Rating: 5/10

FALLUJAH stick out somewhat on this line up, being the only band with no ties to hardcore. This arguably plays out in their favour though as their tech-death metal feels very unique compared the other bands playing tonight. The real standout for FALLUJAH is just how technically accomplished musicians they are. Every member of the band is capable of such brilliant technicality and it comes across even more live. The band seem really fired up tonight too with new vocalist Antonio Palmero really getting involved with the crowd. Their set length also helped as it allowed them to deliver what was almost a co headlining set. This was an impressive showing from FALLUJAH  who could be set to have a big year in 2020.

Rating: 7/10

Finally it was time for DARKEST HOUR to take to the stage and celebrate 25 years of being a band. And even now after all this time they seem as fired up as ever. The best part about their set tonight was the decision to fill the set with deep cuts they haven’t played in a long time. It just gave the set a really unique feel especially considering how much DARKEST HOUR have been over on our shores in the last few years. The career spanning setlist just serves as a reminder how good the band have always been and how they genuinely have a shout for being one of the most underrated melodic death metal/metalcore bands around. Not that they seem to care, the band just seem to having so much fun playing. Nothing captures this better than when they decide to through out a cover of THE DEAD KENNEDYS‘ Nazi Punks Fuck Off which is an absolute rager. So 25 years on and DARKEST HOUR are showing no signs of slowing down and based on sets like this, they are still on their best form.

Rating: 8/10

Check out our photo gallery of the night’s action in London from Rhys Haberfield Media here: