Islington Academy, London – January 7, 2025
There’s no clear thread linking all of tonight’s bands but nevertheless the bill makes this event an exciting prospect. At the helm are Dark Funeral flying the standard of Scandinavian black metal. The band’s most recent album, We Are The Apocalypse, goes back to 2021 and was a powerful embodiment of the genre.
Kami No Ikari
Opening band Kami No Ikari are from France and their music can probably be filed under the hardcore or deathcore tags. This style is not my cup of tea if I have to be honest but to their credit the band’s energy was relentless. Kami No Ikari has just released their debut album See You In Hell, which was their main focus tonight.
Ex Deo
Ex Deo was formed by Maurizio Iacono, bassist/vocalist of Canadian Death Metallers Kataklysm. The lyrics, music and image of Ex Deo are all inspired by zncient Rome and Roman mythology. Indeed the band members stepped onto the stage of the Islington Academy dressed as soldiers of zncient Rome. Tonight is the first time in seven years that Ex Deo have blitzed English soil and they seemed determined to make up for their intervening absence.
Ex Deo’s music is death metal with several rhythms evoking marching Roman troops in addition to atmosphere and musical aggression. I quite enjoyed their expansive set which also included a song from their brand new EP Year Of The Four Emperors. To the crowd’s delight, Ex Deo wrapped up an excellent set with the titletrack of their 2009 Romulus album.
Fleshgod Apocalypse
Some technical issues forced Fleshgod Apocalypse to start slightly late and, I suspect, shorten their set. Nevertheless from the moment some melancholic piano notes heralded their set, I was in awe of this band. Soprano Veronica Bordacchini was amazing and her singing was a perfect complement to the more aggressive, harsher vocals. A seemingly disparate range of musical elements actually felt quite cohesive and everything was topped off by a striking stage presentation. Fleshgod Apocalypse’s performance had all one could ask for from a metal gig.
Dark Funeral
Dark Funeral delivered an intense performance enveloped in the darkest and most evil moods they could exorcise. The showmanship did not seem to detract from the music’s primeval rawness. Dark Funeral’s set covered a relatively wide repertoire, including numbers such as ‘My Dark Desires’ and ‘Open The Gates’ – the latter taken from the band’s 1994 debut EP. And the audience reacted vociferously to all of it. A drum solo from Jalomaah followed by the coordinated riffing of guitarists Chaq Mol and Lord Ahriman gave rise to louder chants of “Hail Satan!” All in all a dramatic and enjoyable show.