LIVE REVIEW: Svalbard @ The Dome, London

Winter is sinking its claws in up and down the country, though the capital is free of the snow blanketing other parts. There’s still a chill that seeps into the bones, leading many to seek solace indoors. A few hundred of those have chosen Tufnell Park’s The Dome for a night with some of the UK’s most promising bands; SVALBARD, CLT DRP and HERIOT. It’s a special event; metal and alternative music has long been dominated by men but that’s very different tonight; all three bands challenge the status quo and bear important messages about inclusion, representation and equality. 

Opening tonight are fast rising, and recent Church Road Records signees HERIOT. They bring their metallic fury to bear with devastating effect. Opener Dispirit hits like a truck, co-vocalist Debbie Gough’s piercing screams cut like a knife and the breakdown is nothing short of titanic. Sounding for all the world like the sludgier, bastard child of old school death metal mixed with NAILS and even some MASTIFF, it’s a bruising aural assault that emanates from the tiny stage and the band are clearly having a blast, with screams tearing from them that are audible even without a mic. Their brand new material is barbaric, with a stage presence to match. There aren’t too many people here just yet which is a shame but there’s no doubt they’ve won many of them over to the cause with their monolithic riffs and fury. HERIOT don’t even have a debut album out yet but their confidence onstage speaks volumes of a band who mark themselves out immediately as ones to watch in the UK heavy scene.

Rating: 9/10

CLT DRP take to the stage next, unapologetically confronting institutionalised sexism, misogyny and bigotry, bringing their electro punk to the gathered masses. Opening with the raucous I Don’t Want To Go To The Gym, they’re a very different prospect to what’s come before and a breath of fresh air. You’d be forgiven for thinking their sound is entirely synth driven; the single guitar proves it’s also in no small part the ingenious use of a pedalboard that drives their danceable sound. Mixing electric energy with biting lyrics that take aim at misogyny, sexism and more, vocalist Annie Dorrett shows raw charisma and punk swagger. Songs from their debut simply hit different, there’s a sense of barely-controlled chaos, as if it could go off the rails at a moment’s notice but it’s just held back. CLT DRP simply own the stage and the crowd before them despite their markedly different sound; the band are clearly having a great time and from the scattered people dancing before them, so are a good number of those here tonight.

Rating: 8/10

SVALBARD are hot off the heels of not one, but two sets at Damnation Festival, the first of which saw them perform latest album When I Die, Will I Get Better? in full. Tonight’s set spans their career, though does lean more heavily on their latest material. The opening salvo of Throw Your Heart Away, Revenge Porn and Silent Restraint take no prisoners, their blackened riffing and impassioned message only sounding more urgent after so long away from the stage to find nothing has changed. Pits are mostly respectful bar the odd person barrelling a bit too hard into those not involved; it’s a release of energy sorely needed by some.

SVALBARD themselves are also revelling in being back on stage here, as guitarist/vocalist Serena Cherry remarks on several occasions how much they all appreciate the crowd gathered before them and the chance to be back playing live. “It still feels a bit unreal to be able to go on tour again,” she remarks after a brilliant rendition of The Currency Of Beauty before an excoriating Click Bait, taking aim at journalism designed solely to generate controversy and clicks.

To close they invite Debbie Gough from HERIOT and Annie Dorrett from CLT DRP to join them onstage for Open Wound, declaring “I want to see more women in metal, more women in music”, embodying the change they want to see. It’s not just a token gesture; this is something they’ve championed throughout their career, and it’s a touching, meaningful moment that makes an already special evening something incredibly memorable.

Rating: 10/10

Check out our photo gallery from the night’s action in London from Anne Pfalzgraf here: