Two very different sides of heavy music collide at The Underworld in Camden tonight as Denver’s masters of epic doom, Khemmis, bring their “Forsake The Light” tour to London alongside Suffolk’s death metal bruisers Celestial Sanctuary. It’s a combination that makes perfect sense:
One band specialises in towering melodies, crushing riffs and emotional weight, while the other thrives on grotesque grooves, technical aggression and unrelenting brutality. Both, however, understand the importance of a great riff, and tonight’s bill promises plenty.
With Khemmis touring behind their self-titled fifth album and Celestial Sanctuary preparing to unleash their next full-length, this is more than just another date on the touring calendar. It’s a chance to see two bands push their respective genres forward without forgetting the foundations that made heavy music so exciting in the first place.
Celestial Sanctuary have steadily established themselves as one of the UK’s most exciting death metal exports. Combining the putrid atmosphere of old-school death metal with modern technicality, hardcore-inflected grooves, and a willingness to embrace traditional heavy metal, the Suffolk four-piece has developed a sound that refuses to sit comfortably in one box.
Their 2021 debut, “Soul Diminished”, introduced a band with a vicious appetite for destruction, while 2023’s “Insatiable Thirst For Torment” demonstrated considerable growth in their songwriting. Rather than simply throwing blast beats and guttural vocals at the listener, Celestial Sanctuary understands the importance of dynamics, constructing songs around riffs that demand attention and rhythmic changes that keep the audience guessing.
Tomás Palmer-Cronin’s guitar work and vocals lead the charge, supported by Matt Adnett on guitar, Jay Rutterford on bass and James Burke on drums. The combination provides plenty of technical firepower, but the real appeal lies in the band’s ability to make their complexity feel physical rather than clinical.
The set features five standout tracks, including two new pieces that offer a tantalising preview of what’s to come. “‘Lashed By Chain” is particularly significant, serving as the lead single from their forthcoming third album, “Cradle Of The Rotten, Shrine To Those Most Foul”, due on 22nd January 2027 through Metal Blade Records.
The track is a savage statement of intent, built around tight, fast riffing, sudden rhythmic shifts and a monstrous slam that hits with devastating force. A twin-guitar solo adds a distinctly traditional heavy metal flavour to the carnage, demonstrating that the band’s musical vocabulary stretches far beyond death metal’s usual boundaries. As vocalist and guitarist Tom Cronin has explained, the new record sees the band refining their identity, embracing syncopation and unexpected time-signature changes while ignoring outside expectations.
“They Worm Their Way In” offers another glimpse into the forthcoming album, reinforcing the sense that Celestial Sanctuary are entering a particularly interesting phase of their career. The new material sits comfortably alongside established favourites, suggesting that the band’s evolution hasn’t come at the expense of their trademark nastiness.
“Puddles Of You Reflect The Filth Within” puts the familiar mix of filthy grooves and punishing death metal front and centre, while “Rid The Gormless” showcases the songwriting strength that helped establish their reputation in the British underground. Both tracks showcase the band’s knack for alternating between slower, heavier passages and sudden bursts of speed, keeping the brutality moving.
“Swivel Eyed And Gurning In The Shadows” further underlines their ability to combine technical precision with outright ugliness. The music shifts between tightly controlled rhythmic patterns and explosive passages, giving the material an unpredictable feel that suits The Underworld’s intimacy.
The forthcoming album’s themes are equally grim. Drawing on the dark history and folklore of Bury St Edmunds, “Cradle Of The Rotten, Shrine To Those Most Foul” explores stories of executions, witch trials and the legend of Black Shuck. It’s a suitably macabre foundation for a band whose music thrives on the grotesque. With two new songs already in the live set, Celestial Sanctuary gives audiences a compelling taste of what lies ahead.
If Celestial Sanctuary represents death metal’s capacity for outright violence, Khemmis demonstrates how heaviness can be equally devastating when paired with melody, atmosphere and emotional depth.
Emerging from Denver in 2013, Khemmis have spent more than a decade refining their distinctive blend of epic doom, traditional heavy metal and hard-hitting modern metal. Their early releases, “Absolution” and “Hunted”, established their reputation for enormous riffs and soaring vocal harmonies, while “Desolation” and “Deceiver” further explored the relationship between crushing heaviness and melodic songwriting.
Their self-titled fifth album, released through Nuclear Blast Records in June 2026, finds the band sounding assured and creatively focused. Featuring Ben Hutcherson and Phil Pendergast on guitars and vocals, David Small on bass and Zach Coleman on drums, Khemmis have developed a sound that feels both familiar and continually evolving. Small’s musical versatility has also brought fresh possibilities to the band’s arrangements.
Opening with “Avernal Gate”, Khemmis establish the dark, expansive atmosphere that defines their music. The guitars possess that enormous, almost cathedral-like quality, with harmonised melodies rising above the rhythm section’s considerable weight. It’s the kind of opening that immediately highlights the band’s command of dynamics.
“Isolation” and “Gilded Chambers” follow, balancing muscular riffing with the melodic sophistication that separates Khemmis from countless other doom metal acts. The material carries a traditional heavy metal sensibility, but the band never sacrifices the oppressive atmosphere that gives their music its identity.
“Above The Water” offers another chance to appreciate their pacing before “Candlelight” and “Invocation Of The Dreamer” bring the newer material into sharper focus. The latter is particularly revealing, demonstrating how Khemmis have embraced a more direct, energetic approach without losing their ability to create dramatic, emotionally charged music.
The self-titled album moves between galloping rhythms, towering guitar harmonies, and expansive passages that let the songs breathe. Live, those contrasts are central to the band’s appeal. A heavy riff hits harder when given room to develop, and a soaring melody carries more weight when it emerges from a passage of crushing distortion.
“Torn Asunder”, “Three Gates” and “Maw Of Time” continue the assault, showcasing the band’s ability to shift between deliberate, slow-burning heaviness and more forceful traditional metal momentum. Hutcherson and Pendergast’s guitar interplay remains central, with their harmonies giving the music a sense of grandeur without feeling overblown.
The closing stretch is particularly well chosen. “A Conversation With Death”, Khemmis’ haunting interpretation of the traditional song associated with Lloyd Chandler, introduces a more sombre atmosphere before “The Bereaved” brings the set to its conclusion. It’s a fitting finale for a band whose greatest strength lies in balancing the physical impact of heavy music with genuine emotional resonance.
Khemmis and Celestial Sanctuary make a compelling double bill because they approach heaviness from different directions without losing sight of what makes it work. One delivers epic melodies and crushing doom; the other brings technical death metal, filthy grooves and unrestrained aggression.
Together, they make a persuasive case for heavy music’s continuing vitality. Whether through a devastating death metal groove or a soaring doom metal melody, one essential ingredient unites the results: riffs that leave a lasting impression. The Underworld is the ideal setting for a bill like this, bringing two very different interpretations of extreme music together under one roof.
Review: Joseph Mitchell
