For those who follow me regularly, you will already have an understanding that extreme music is a category of music I follow. A few weeks ago in a fair sized venue, a huge and loud group of metalheads filled the pub and venue that is the Unicorn, in the heart of London. All grouped here to see a range of extreme bands, being set loose in a frenzied mass of headbanging and mosh pits.

The first band to perform were progressive blackened death metal band ATVM. Their aggressive vocal style mixed with the blackened riffs and thundering drums, making the band very catchy. It was my first time seeing them, and they were just perfect, turning the venue into a wild mass of hair and horns. The band made the most out of the somewhat small stage withĀ vocalist Harry leaning and growling at the adoring crowd. Due to an accident involving their bass player, they did have a stand in. However they stillĀ managed to pull of a flawless and fantastic set.

Next on the stage were Wretched Soul, a band who are so diverse and creative in their sound, which makes them so unique. A mixture of blackened thrash with a traditional heavy metal sound, they are an exciting thrill to see. The battery of the band power through the more black/thrash sound, and the vocals add more of a heavy metal sound especially in “War Wolf”. This band I find hard to describe or define they are just outstanding in their own way. They filled the crowd with energy so hard-hitting that the entire room was whipping hair and mosh pits. A spectacular performance.

The final band and headliners of the night were Ancient Ascendant who like, Wretched Soul, had a dense vibe but adding more of a groove feel to their music. This added so much dimension to the evening, with fast and hair whipping riffs especially in “Driven by the Dark”, a song that is filled with technical and fast riffs over a more blackened drums. They were fuelled by the most catchy vocals I have heard in a long time, a theme that followed throughout their set. Moving on from the music, vocalist and guitarist Alex Butler on a number of occasions got the crowd into a pit. Although it was my first time seeing the band, it made me feel so alive and powerful. A fantastic band to have seen.
I honestly felt this night was a fantastic one. I found some new music to get into and three fantastic bands who I would happily see again. Each band extreme, but each adding their own element to make them sound unique. Incredible talent can also be seen here. I now wait to see what each of these bands get up to next.
Photos by Aoife Le Roux
Ancient Ascendant: official |Ā facebookĀ | twitterĀ | bandcampĀ | youtube
Wretched Soul: official |Ā facebookĀ | twitterĀ | instagramĀ | youtube