Tonight would be the final gig for a band I’ve seen a few times, and have seen develop quickly over the past couple of years. Hex Morbidity would say farewell, but not before some sets of black metal from Sufferer, Nomos and Kathaarian Grave.

I think I heard mention that this was Kathaarian Grave’s first ever gig, which surprised me. They sounded tight, with some big changes in rhythm and tempo during a couple of numbers that from where I was standing went off without a hitch. The sound quality tonight was great too, as it always seems to be if the last few gigs I’ve attended at The Unicorn are anything to go by.
They certainly have the ability to keep the London scene going, as it’s always good to see new bands step up and deliver. It makes everyone feel good when their favourite scenes have new blood coming through.
The venue itself was pretty full, even for the first band, which is a great indicator as to the health of the underground black metal scene in London.

Nomos were next and offered obscenities galore! The black metal duo have a raucous sound, with a set of thrashy and violent numbers that I really enjoyed. Themes included demonic snakes and heroin, and fucking sluts (all very wholesome stuff).
The obscenities intensified between songs with a bit of banter, which was all good fun, with the singer/guitarist retaining the black metal style vocals even when addressing the crowd. Things did take a more serious turn when one drunken moron in the front row decided to start trouble by throwing beer all over the front man (for seemingly no reason) prompting said front man to admit he was willing to “rip this guy’s head off and fuck it up his arse” if security didn’t get him out of the way. Luckily they did before any fucking of heads occurred, it might have made an awful mess.

I spotted a few Sufferer shirts around, even the first two bands had some on, so I was anticipating a lot of action in The Unicorn for them. I wasn’t wrong. I managed to fire off a few shots from the front before a barrage of sweaty limbs knocked me off balance.
I’ve seen these two a few times this year and they seem to be heavier each time. Big crunching and dark riffs with frantic drumming alongside some snarling blackened vocals. Great energy level too, with guitar/vocalist Cam headbanging at every opportunity with the crowd.

Finally, and for the last time ever, Hex Morbidity were up to give a set of their brand of black metal with a gothic edge. Even a broken string didn’t stop them as they played through their best sounding numbers. Each time I’ve seen them, they’ve gotten far better than the last, and tonight they sounded brilliant.
Something I didn’t realise was that Sufferer drummer, Caio, was once in the band. At one point he swapped places with Dimitri for a Mayhem cover which went down extremely well with plenty of hair flying and heads banging in front of the stage.
For the final number, “Hex Morbidity”, a pit broke out, and it felt like a great send off for the gothic black metallers. Good luck to all of them, whatever they do next, plenty of talent on show so whatever is next now that Hex Morbidity has come to a close should be very interesting.
Photos by ShotIsOn Media