Originating from the beautiful community of Catalonia, Spain, Ankor have been making enormous waves in the alternative music scene since mid 2003, with their band members being just 13-years-old at the time. Fast forward to 2025 with five incredible albums under their belt, the band are blessing ears everywhere with their ‘Shoganai’ tour spanning across major cities in the UK and Europe, including The Underworld in Camden, London, a venue famous for its world-renowned list of previous artists that have graced their stage, and Ankor are no exception. Ankor’s stage presence is second to none and the band have made one thing abundantly clear, they are here to mosh and you better be too.
The band set the tone of the night stunningly with support from Conquer Divide, an American rock band formed in 2013 who certainly know how to demand a thriving circle pit, and Seven Blood, an up-and-coming Emo Metal band from Germany who started creating music in 2023, and are now stomping their way into the big leagues with their stellar performances.
Seven Blood stepped out onto The Underworld’s stage with lead singer Azaria Nasiri commanding the energy of the room to unspeakable levels with a few of their top hits to date, including the tracks ‘Monsters’ and ‘Killing from the inside’, and from this striking performance, they left the stage confident that they had gained more than a few brand new fans that night.
Conquer Divide followed very shortly after, bursting onto the stage and right into the action with their track ‘Atonement’, beginning with energizing screams from lead singer Kiarely Castillo and insanely intricate riffs from guitarist Isabel Johnson. The band demanded circle pits left, right and centre to complement their vigorous performance which shook the very foundations of the building itself. The band then made their way through their most recent album ‘Slow Burn’, released in 2023, showcasing their innate talent and their drive to make every fan in the audience scream along with them.
After thirty minutes of tense anticipation following Conquer Divide, Ankor announced their arrival with an incredible light show and each member coming into view and showing off their insane skills one by one, and lead singer Jessie Williams boasting her talented vocals as soon as she graced the stage. The energy escalated at unfathomable speeds as smoke and lights filled the stage at the very beginning of the first track from their new album ‘Shoganai’, named ‘The World Is a Cruel Place… And It Is Also Very Beautiful’, a predominantly instrumental number that set the tone of the rest of the show phenomenally and left the audience in anticipation for which tracks their eardrums were going to be blasted with next.
The band then leaped straight into the depths of their new album with the tracks ‘Venom’ and ‘Stereo’, two that are far into the album but strike with breathtaking vocals and astonishing instrumentals nonetheless. Ankor began bounding around the place, not just using the stage but rather commanding the stage as if they had been there their entire lives. The fans created enormous circle pits on the floor, as if to respect the masters of metal at work.
However, the moshing was only just beginning, as Ankor demanded the fans carry on the roof-shattering energy for their next track ‘The Legend Of Charles The Giant’, which is one of
their most intense tracks to date with guttural screams from lead singer Jessie Williams that cover at least 80% of the song and her voice being so versatile that she has the power to leap between singing and screaming as if she was flicking a light switch.
With such high energy, comes a brief change of pace, and that is exactly what went down with the bands next track ‘Nebula’, a slower-paced love song from their previous album ‘White Dragon’, and the rare spectacle of a sea of metalheads swaying their arms through the air was really a sight to behold.
As the band delved deeper into their brand new album, the fans reaction was second to none, with a packed out floor that would give a claustrophobe nightmares and circle pits emerging from each and every corner of the room, especially with their newest track ‘Prisoner’, that gives each and every metal band that came before them a run for their money. Ankor split between singing and screaming effortlessly during their remaining tracks, ending with the title track of the album ‘Shoganai’, which gifted fans with the chance to rage one last time before going back to their homes with only the memory of this spectacular performance from a band who can command a room through the power of music so effortlessly.
Words: Becca Wheeler
Photos: Amy Smyth
Bình luận