(((O))) Live: Inter Arma • Mizmor • Dool • Hangman’s Chair – The Underworld, Camden

Good things happen when you work together. Originally two separate gigs organized by Old Empire and Born Again Concerts, tonight brings together two touring pairs at fairly short notice for a big, eclectic bash at the Underworld. It’s reassuring to see promoters operating as community rather than competition. From the stoner sludge of Hangman’s Chair and Dool’s galvanizing dark rock, to Mizmor’s emotive blackened doom and Inter Arma’s experimental extreme metal, there’s a real Smorgasbord of music to enjoy – and, as a fan of ¾ of the bands already, it was a real Godsend for me. I won’t be the only person slightly concerned that the audience would dip out in between their favourites tonight; but these fears are quickly alleviated, and a party spirit ensues.

Hangman’s Chair. Photo: Talie Rose Eigeland

Kicking off early, the attendance for Hangman’s Chair isn’t huge, but the band work hard to get the crowd energized – especially the guitarist, raising his instrument to the grimy roof, before every massive chord drops. Several people here are clearly fans already, fists banging in sympathy, shouting the words – words which are unusually audible for a doom band, with a clean, soaring vocal style reminiscent of Yob at their most melodic. It’s clear why these guys are Dool’s touring band, with their bold choruses, dramatic drums, and shimmering guitar layers. I’m pretty sure they play their latest single ‘2AM Thoughts’ which features Dool members, although none of the latter band emerge for this collab. . .

. . .because you sure know about it when Raven and co. do take to the stage to the jangling chords of ‘Venus in Flames’. Dool is a band bristling with an almost feral performance energy, everyone sweating immediately, and all five members filling the stage with posturing movement. It’s genuinely hard to take your eyes off Raven who seems to dominate the stage, despite being largely glued to the mic, displaying a magnetic intensity and sincerity. When they’re not shaking chords out of their natural wood Telecaster, they’re beating their chest, shaking their fist, stamping the monitors, and generally riled up like a wild animal. This is nicely contrasted with their more restrained, stage-left guitarist, who – sporting a sunburst Les Paul, long curls hanging over florid silk shirt, and leather trousers – does a fine Jimmy-Page-circa-1970 impression.

Tonight’s early start means that each band gets their original set durations, so Dool’s 12-song set makes them feel like headliners – and it’s not yet 9pm. That’s on top of the fact that there’s just something so fucking rousing about Dool, which gives their set that end-of-the-night feel. Tunes like ‘The Alpha’ are so well-crafted and anthemic, the triple guitar parts so expertly intertwined, Raven’s voice so powerful and mercurial, that if you don’t leave this show wanting to get at least a little bit wild, then you’re doing something wrong.  

Dool. Photo: Talie Rose Eigeland.

Mizmor, on the other hand, probably won’t make you want to go crazy in the same way, but they are certainly no less intense, launching into the fifteen-minute epic ‘Only An Excuse’. Going from the clean and melodic rock of Dool to dirty, gritty distortion and blast-beats is still something of a shock even if you know what to expect. But Mizmor distinguish themselves from other blackened doom acts – from most other extreme metal bands, perhaps – by the emotivity of their sound. You’ll hear adjectives like ‘mournful’, ‘sorrowful’, and ‘cathartic’ readily applied to bands in these genres, but none seem so apt as Mizmor. A.L.N (Liam Neighbours) is an unassuming frontperson for such a dark project, tall and skinny in his long-sleeve black shirt, but his growl seems to sweep around the venue, wrapping us all in his outpourings of despair.  

I must admit that I’m a bit behind with Mizmor’s more recent material, having been blown away by the Yodh album from 2016, so it’s amazing to hear ‘Woe Regains My Substance’ as the closer tonight. This is clearly black metal – fast, furious, nasty – but damn if I’m not fighting back genuine tears here, especially when it breaks down into weird claustrophobic riff-caves, power chords sliding like an avalanche, gutturals like a troll returning to an intruded sanctuary.  I’m struggling to isolate exactly what it is that makes Mizmor such a uniquely emotional experience, and can only point simply to A.L.N himself who delivers everything with such sincerity and lack of pretension that his feelings translate perfectly into your own. 

Mizmor. Photo: Tale Rose Eigeland

And now – judging by Herbie Hancock on the PA and the drummer’s pink shorts – for something reasonably different. Different-ish; similar-esque. Inter Arma’s latest album New Heaven is rather brilliant in case you haven’t heard it, and the title tracks sounds especially good live: all skronky dissonance, weird groove, and gurgling growls. The range of t-shirts sported by the band – Terrorizer, Massive Attack, Infernal Stronghold – displays the eclectic tastes their music combines. There are no trip-hop or Prince covers tonight, however, as the band first plough through four from New Heaven and then four oldies.  

What follows is somewhat bewildering in its twists and turns of genre and mood, yet these songs are so well crafted that you can trust it all to make sense in the end. Probably my favorite moment is when they play ‘Endless Grey’ – all rising sustained leads and gritty melodic bass – and you’re wondering, is it a Floyd cover? No, it’s clearly their own track, but it’s every bit as solemn and magisterial – Oof! And I don’t say that lightly. 

Inter Arma. Photo: Talie Rose Eigeland

Inter Arma speak the language of extreme metal, expert in each sub-generic dialect, weaving them together to tell original and powerful stories – all while going absolutely nuts, running around for a high-energy headline performance. Damn, if tonight isn’t just a constant metal relay team, adept at blowing us all away over and over and over again.