Live Review: Darkest Hour (with Bleeding Through, Shai Hulud and Denial of Life) at The Underworld, Camden (29/09/2025)

American heavy metal band, Darkest Hour, arrive in Camden for their short stint on these shores before they head back to the continent. With them, as an all American line-up, we have the metalcore band Bleeding Through, melodic hardcore punks Shai Hulud as well as crossover thrashers, Denial of Life.

Darkest Hour are here for a very special reason, celebrating 30 years of existence as a band. That’s an amazing milestone really and it’s really cool to see them celebrate that partially here in the UK, in a small but iconic venue. Bleeding Through aren’t too far behind that either, with 25 years behind them and a new album, Nine, out earlier this year. Shai Hulud aren’t a band I’m very familiar with but they have one hell of a history behind them so it’s cool to get a chance to see them and it’s also cool to see a younger band like Denial of Life get to come and showcase their brand of aggressive music.

Monday night gigs aren’t my favourite thing but the weather’s good, and this line-up is sure to bring a ton of energy, so I am looking forward to it.

Seems a lot of people are also looking forward to it too where after a delayed journey due to issues on the Northern Line, I get there 5 minutes before Denial of Life are due to start and we have a decent sized crowd all good to go.

Denial of Life

Denial of Life sounded good right from the start — nice and heavy, with a solid thrashy edge and plenty of that crossover vibe. Not being very familiar with their material, it wasn’t easy to catch all the song titles, especially as the vocals did occasionally get buried in the harsh guitar tones, especially during song changeovers where you couldn’t really hear too much of what the vocalist was saying to the crowd. Despite being firmly in the crossover thrash style, it seems fly kickers and elbow throwers have infiltrated here too where just a couple people made the front of the stage a no-go zone for most casual observers despite the efforts of the band to get people to move forwards.

I saw the same ninja warriors at the side of the stage with the band for the rest of the show so a word of advice for them – if you want the crowd to come forwards, tell your mates to stop trying to kick everybody.

Back to the music though which I am really enjoying. Denial of Life stay consistently heavy, with plenty of movement on stage and a strong stage presence. The drums were absolutely on fire, and the guitars were just as powerful. Including a partial Slayer cover (Raining Blood) was a bit of s surprise. It was just some of the riffs and leads, long enough to not be a jam, short enough to not be a cover. It was a fun surprise. A few bangers I did manage to get the title for though was Scheming to Suffer and my favourite of theirs on the night, Shadow Self which packs plenty of aggression but also a bit of groove. The final song, Bloodsaint was a strong ending track too, wrapping things up on a high note and showcasing a band with plenty of talent, but in need of a little refinement.

Shai Hulud

Seems I am unaware of something special happening here as Denial of Life pack away their gear and the stage starts forming for Shai Hulud. It becomes apparent very quickly, that I am about to witness something iconic. I notice their merch stand has a mad queue for it, before they start. With 20 minutes to go, the crowd, half full for the opener is now shoulder to shoulder and getting fuller. You can feel the excitement in the crowd. I think I should know these guys………….well, I do now and I love them. Being a band made up of a couple of old boys, and some younger blood, their iconic status as being hugely influential in the formation of early hardcore and crossover is very apparent.

Musically, they are insanely good to listen to live, with huge beats, lots of crunchy riffs, hardcore like vocals but with melody and big, room filling leads. There is so much movement on stage, so much energy and enthusiasm oozing out of the band, it’s unreal. One of the most entertaining things I saw all night was watching a photographer get visibly distressed as he tried to get picture of the frontman who just would not stand still for a second.

Set Your Body Ablaze was brilliant live. I love the transitions between the melodic sounds and the heavy hardcore beats. An emotional rendition of This Song: For The True and Passionate Lovers of Music was immense to be part of. Given Flight By Demon’s Wings – amazing, A Profound Hatred of Man – towering. It was literally a non stop, song after song feast of fire and fury but delivered with heart, passion and love. The banter between songs was equally endearing and also genuinely funny. The frontman lost his shoes at one point throwing himself around, we had a nice little tribute to Your Demise all while the crowd swelled, the pits spun and the band smiled, knowing they were killing it. Amazing.

Bleeding Through

I wondered if Shai Hulud had been the big draw here but no one left after them as the crowd swelled again for Bleeding Through. It was so busy by now, I couldn’t actually get back down to the floor. Like all of the bands tonight, the sound is really good for Bleeding Through and they are fired up and bring plenty more energy. Their metalcore edge, with cleaner choruses offers a bit of something different from our openers and frontman Brandan Schieppati is on good form, talking about the 25 years of them being a band and also being funny.

I particularly liked it when he asked if anyone had listened to the new album, Nines, and then made a joke about people needing to move on from the past. I also thought it funny when he jokingly referred to this gig as a midlife crisis for all of the bands and discussed having to get babysitters before coming.

Musically, they played from a wide range of their catalogue with one of their newer songs, Dead But Alive really sounding fantastic. Love Lost in a Hail of Gunfire kept the pits moving, as did Rise and Orange County Blonde and Blue. There was a very welcome moment of appreciation for female members of bands in metal now, pointed also towards their keyboardist and singer, Marta Peterson where, for the song Lost In Isolation, the band created a female owner circle pit while the men had to stand back. I liked that, and it all added another touching and heartfelt moment to a gig that really felt like a celebration of music.

I did find some of the male clean vocals to be a little off in tone, just on occasion, but the overriding feeling here was one of inclusivity, and positivity within a wall of heavy riffs, blast beats and heavy metal.

Darkest Hour

With such a strong showing by every band so far, you could worry that the crowd may have run out of energy by the time Darkest Hour get on stage, especially as they are running 5 or 6 minutes late. Never fear though – 30 years in the game means you know what you are doing and they take quick control of the crowd. No one is leaving as the band launch into 4 or 5 songs, one after the other without a single moment of pause between them. Starting with With a Thousand Words to Say but One, into the excellent The Sadist Nation, into Convalescence, into Rapture in Exile – it’s breathless stuff and the crowd are lapping up every moment. Singing every chorus, moshing hard, head banging – it’s really special to watch.

When John Henry does address the crowd, it’s again to offer thanks and appreciation continuing on the general feel of this show which is one of gratitude, positivity and celebration.

Demon (s) goes down a treat next as does Sound The Surrender. I love the lead guitars across the set. The sound is so good and there is a lot of flair, energy and enthusiasm still pouring from the stage, infecting everyone in the place. Knife In The Safe Room is killer live as is Goddess of War, Give Me Something to Die For. They sound really good, every note fills the room and the crowd lap it up. Darkest Hour absolutely killed it, delivering relentless energy and precision across their set. John Henry’s powerful vocals cut through the mix, driving the crowd into a frenzy from the opening notes, to the last. They capped off one hell of a show, from all of the band’s. If you weren’t planning on catching this tour, correct that quickly. This is an experience you won’t want to miss out on.