Vexed / The Black Heart / London

A trip to the ‘big smoke’ and to the iconic Black Heart in Camden. I saw vexed a couple of years ago and was impressed, and so was looking forward to this.

On a backstreet in Camden, the Black Heart is dark and moody, the bar covered in music art and photos. A small door in the corner takes you up the stairs to an intimate music venue. Compact and dark, but with a fantastic sound system, which is crisp and crystal clear.

In support tonight are Kila Kosa, a metal band who serve up a powerful metalcore set, which they describe as “heavy, chaotic and intentional.”

The guitars are hard and heavy with a real chunky feel and the vocals are viscous and feisty, which have an almost punk edge to them.

The set is crushing and unrelenting with the heavy metalcore sound and requests to open up the room result in a small group in a pit, delivering some seriously hardcore moves. Impressive in such a small space.

Solid and thoroughly entertaining, a great way to start the night.

Next up are Leeds based quintet InRetrospect who were a real find. Their style of metal consists of rapped sections and souring vocals mixed with some powerful and crushing, infectious riffs. There’s something different and fresh about their approach a blend of metalcore and nu-metal perhaps, and it’s delivered with a passion for their craft.

I thought the vocals were exceptional throughout, delivered with energy and style, the emotion and effort clearly visually there to see. As a result the crowd responded and were digging it throughout the set, dancing and cheering.

There’s a professional feel to them and I think they are definitely one to watch.

The night has flown by and it’s 21:30 and time for tonight’s headliners Vexed. Formed in 2019 in Hertfordshire, Vexed are Megan Targett (vocals), Willem Mason-Geraghty (drums), Olly Hall (guitar) and Meyrick de La Fuente (bass). They released their debut album “Culling Culture” in 2021 and followed that up with 2023’s “Negative Energy”.

The Black Heart was creaking now, packed to the gills and there’s an air of excitement round the room. Having seen them before I thought I knew what to expect, but as soon as they hit the stage and roared into opening track Anti-Fetish it was clear they had a new energy, and a ton of vitriol to deliver our way. A track packed with twisted sounds and melodies it hits like a brick with it’s brutal format.

Megan’s vocals were outstanding throughout, packed with raw power and energy as hard hitting tracks such as We don’t talk about it, Fake and Narcissist blast out at us with venon especially Narcissist with its fast and erratic structure, with an almost Slipknot like intensity within it’s insanity. Olly delivers some crushing riffs and the whole sound, is precise and powerful. The sound system at the Black Heart is fantastic and gives their music a clarity, allowing us to distinguish the different elements and every nuance.

The set design worked well and as it drew to a close we enjoyed Dominate (a 2019 single), Nepotism and the closing track Hideous, bot taken from 2021’s “Culling Culture”. And what a way to end the set, Hideousstarting with some fantastic guttural screams from Megan before the intense riffs and beats hit us hard, a metalcore live anthem if ever there was one. The crowd are dancing and bouncing off the walls enjoying every last beat and the heat is intense.

A great night with some fantastic support from Kila Kosa and InRetrospect, but it’s all about tonight’s headliners Vexed, who felt revitalised, and refreshed, delivering a set where they put their heart and soul into each and every song. It was packed with power and raw emotion, and the crowd loved it.

Vexed remain a must see live band, and on tonight’s performance, lets hope there’s more new material and a tour in the offing.

Setlist

Anti-Fetish

We don’t talk about it

X my <3 (Hope to die)

Turning Green

Fake

Narcissist

Elite

Detonate

Lay down your flowers

Dominate