(((O))) Live: Iress • Sunnata • healthyliving – The Black Heart, London

A London show on the same day as the throngs return home from Arctangent festival might not be the most auspicious date, given that many will have caught these three fine bands there. But I was very pleased to see a good showing at the Black Heart on this gloriously sunny Sunday. I caught a few songs from healthyliving at ATG and – while they clearly owned that show – I just had to catch a more intimate experience with this selection at the Heart. The threat of a post-festival crash is very real, but I just knew this would be a special one. And it certainly was.  

A beautiful bunch of flowers at centre-stage sets a certain mood for this show; a few of them remain at the close.  

Down-to-earth and chatty in person, Amaya López-Carromero – singer for healthyliving – immediately commands the stage, flinging her long hair around, dancing, and climbing the monitors. Heavier, dirtier than her alter ego Maud the Moth, this has a similar degree of earnestness and passion, but moving far away from atmospheric ambience, into soaring, doomy rock textures.  

Amaya López-Carromero, healthyliving • Photo: Talie Rose Eigeland

“It’s our second time at the Black Heart,” explains Amaya, following a gig alongside Codex Serafini and Dawnwalker here last year. This time around, fresh from a big show supporting Hexvessel, healthyliving are clearly energised and on fine form. There’s a moment when guitarist Scott McLean genuflects before the Orange amp, praying that the tone gods will smile upon him; and they do, very swiftly. 

Scott McLean, healthyliving • Photo: Talie Rose Eigeland

Healthyliving can write songs “about late capitalism” while remaining utterly free from pretension and totally full of soul; so much so, in fact, that I’m truly captivated right from the outset. Amaya’s vocals segue effortlessly from low and sultry bluesy moaning, moments of cackles and growls, to the high and belting; there’s one particularly stunning moment where she soars through them all, seemingly in one long breath.  

Amaya López-Carromero, healthyliving • Photo: Talie Rose Eigeland

“Are you ready to go?” Amaya cries, tearing the flowers off the stage and lobbing them into the audience, before launching into ‘Dream Hive’ from their 2023 album Songs of Abundance. Psalms of Grief. 

Her three-piece band can also move from smoothly calm, mellow finger-picking to displays of doom power, and choppy punk anger, all the way up to tremolo and blastbeats. Think of that warm, introspective space occupied by King Woman, Chelsea Wolfe, ERR, but with a voice of their own. This was a truly powerful and moving set, which shows what you can achieve with standard rock-band components, and a whole load of spirit, passion and beautiful chord progressions. 

healthyliving • Photo: Talie Rose Eigeland

Poland’s Sunnata combine the best parts of drone, stoner and doom metal, especially recalling the Eastern flavours of Om. Their whole set certainly feels like going on a journey, with each track exploring new mystical grooves like twisting desert pathways. The band’s flowing clothes suggest robes, narrowly avoiding the dubious orientalist trappings of other bands of this ilk. But it’s the vocals that really set Sunnata apart from the hordes of perfectly decent yet forgettable bands in this field, recalling the moaning dual vocals of Alice in Chains, or Mastodon at their most melodic.  

Sunnata • Photo: Talie Rose Eigeland

Having played at Desertfest earlier in the year, this crowd are clearly here for Sunnata as much as they are healthyliving and Iress, even if they occupy a somewhat different sonic space. My nerd-ometer tingles dramatically when the band introduce ‘God Emperor of Dune’, a suitably long and epic creation set in Frank Herbert’s famous science-fantasy universe – a track always destined to be a standout moment. 

I’m just starting to really appreciate the sinuous grooves that the bass-player Michal Dobrzanski teases from his Rickenbacker, so its sad and surprising to hear that it’s his final show. It’s genuinely moving to hear singer Syzmon describe the “honour and pleasure” it was working together: “We love you, brother.” Following another dramatic, doomish walkabout, culminating in the thickest riffs of the evening, Michal raises his bass to the roof to feel the venue swell and vibrate around him.

Michal Dobrzanski, Sunnata • Photos: Talie Rose Eigeland

Travelling the furthest of tonight’s bands, Iress hail from LA, forming their slow, brooding flavour of metal since 2010. It’s their first time in the UK, and this much is very clear from the rapturous response they draw tonight. Vocalist Michelle Malley is full of smiles, her eyes twinkling as they launch into the bitter-sweet ‘Blush’ from the 2023 EP, Solace. I must admit that Iress were new to me before this show, but I’m immediately captivated by the soaring sincerity of their sound. Like healthyliving, they’ll be surely going onto playlists alongside Chelsea Wolfe, Slowcrush, King Woman and Miserable.  

Iress • Photo: Talie Rose Eigeland

Watching Iress perform is a truly marvellous experience, and I’ll wager that more than a few tears were shed in the audience tonight. The dreamy, doomy quartet perform with confidence, nuance and passion, with a particular sensitivity to dynamics, moving smoothly from a scream to a sigh, a thundering riff to a lightly rippling melody. Their set explores songs from latest album Sleep Now, In Reverse alongside tracks from older albums, some slightly “played around with” for the stage.  

Michelle Malley, Iress • Photo: Talie Rose Eigeland

With their singer cradling a gorgeous matt-black Fender Jaguar at one stage, Iress get more moving as they get heavier. But my strongest memories of this show are Michelle’s most aggressive moments, propelling beautiful angst into a stunned, soporific crowd as the band closes with ‘Wolves’ from 2020’s Flaw.

Iress • Photo: Talie Rose Eigeland

My last words have to be on Michelle’s vocals: I don’t know where this emotion comes from, but it pours from every bittersweet note, emerging as soaring, earnest cries, near-orgasmic moans, and quiet, whispered contemplation.  

A few flowers remain at the end, shredded yet graceful. Iress don’t return for an encore, but the crowd won’t accept defeat and keep baying for more until well after the lights have come up.  

I’ve emerged from this show with tears in my eyes and three fine new bands to explore: utterly exhausted but so glad I came.