Live Review: Harmed w/Centuries & I, The Mapmaker @ The Black Heart in Camden!

Released in December 2017, “From Day One” by Harmed is a gem of an EP and one that received the full review treatment from us. Given that the EP is only 14 minutes and 22 seconds long, it came as quite a surprise to us that the band from Budapest would be doing a headlining run anywhere, let alone play 6 UK dates in a 9 date run! Not being ones to miss an opportunity to see a great band in the live setting, we thought we’d check out the Metal at Camden’s Black Heart!

Bournemouth’s Art Post-hardcore quintet I, The Mapmaker [7/10] are the first of tonight’s trio of bands to take the stage, with the exception of frontman Ash Emery who stalks the pit in front of it, perhaps preferring to be at eye level with the audience than cramped up on the small stage. His thoughtful lyrical poetry during the songs is as deep as the deepest of oceans and as dark as the blackest of nights while his short spoken word sections segway between the songs and keep everything together. I, The Mapmaker deliver a performance rather than a set and they don’t do anything that relates to a traditional song structure, rather using repeated lines as a basis to mount the song on its musical template. Ash Emery’s vocal range is impressive tonight and “Capsized” is spot on.

London quartet Centuries [8/10] are a far more straightforward offering. They have been labelled as Metalcore but are anything but. Elements of Tech-Metal fused with Metallic Hardcore flow through their sound as they deliver slab after slab of riffage and spit ferociously vitriolic lyrics that are far more direct. Centuries have played every date on this run with Harmed and still have a lot of energy in their set. The recently released single “Reset: Rebuild” becomes a sing-a-long with a mosh as frontman Dan enters the pit.

Budapest’s finest export Harmed [9/10] are living their dream, having wanted to tour the UK for the past 5 years. They have a full length album waiting in the wings, recorded but with no pending release date. So tonights set is a mixture of material from “From Day One” and the new album. Synchronous headbanging, neck breaking head spins, crushing guitar tones and a hell for leather pace are all in the mix as Harmed deliver a finely honed set of polished and brutal songs. “Speechless/Deaf” and “Vetus” hit like a one two punch combination from a prize fighter while set closer “Not Myself” is masterful and sees the audience and band members get involved in a final breakdown mosh pit. Harmed will be back upon our shores and they will be on much bigger stages than this.