LIVE REVIEW: Lorna Shore, Distant, Cabal, Electric Ballroom, 08/03/22
Photo Credit: Stu Garneys
When Lorna Shore’s latest vocalist Will Ramos joined the New Jersey Deathcore unit back in 2021, the TikTok storm that would engulf the band and send them into stratospheric heights of success with their recent EP …And I Return To Nothingness with Ramos’ demonically punishing guttural screams and Lorna Shore’s blend of pulsating brutality, mixed with their intense visual ideas have now made this five-piece a formidable outfit top of the table of this new breed of Deathcore bands dominating the space.
Such dominance can also come in the form of a heavily sold-out tour and numerous venue upgrades and for Lorna Shore, that was certainly the case when it came to their recent run of dates overseas in the UK. Changing the venue of their London date a trio of times, finally Ramos and co confirmed a date at London’s Electric Ballroom after also being in the midst of many bands forced to abruptly end tours circa 2020. This is the carnage Lorna Shore caused, alongside fellow peers Cabal and Distant down on the London date.
Copenhagen based blackened Metalcore band Cabal already cause mosh hits to circle in the early stages of the evening, just two songs deep. And with two other heavy bands to follow, the energy levels get off to a solid start thanks to this Danish Deathcore outfit. 7/10
Distant are up next continuing on the European streak where Cabal left off. Winning the crowd over instantaneously was something that came naturally to these Rotterdam natives, the turnout amassing tenfold, the rowdy cheers growing louder and the count of heads and number of fists raised in the air after every song Distant produce getting larger and larger. 8/10
By the time the headliners of the night Lorna Shore take to the stage, the Electric Ballroom is a hive of hyped-up energy waiting in anticipation to outburst. From the moment Ramos questions “Alright London, you ready?”, alongside the eerie strings and grand epic guitars open To The Hellfire, the Electric was quite literally hotter than hell down there. With Will Ramos’ screeching screams and the operatic version of metal music’s finest grandiose sounds start to take force, this Lorna Shore show felt like a theatrical display, something plucked out of the West End and shoved into the world of Deathcore by the time To The Hellfire came to its dramatic close.
The hysteria that EP …And I Return To Nothingness caused when it came out can only be ramped up tenfold with the live reception of some of the EP’s best songs such as Of The Abyss and title track …And I Return To Nothingness receives. Whilst set opener To The Hellfire might have been the catalyst solely responsible for the band’s online explosion (just take a look at its Spotify and YouTube statistics, standing at a largely respectable 14 million and 7.5 million streams). But live, each song taken from the EP stands up on its own two feet, willing to not be defined by its biggest hitter. Of The Abyss for example, with its soaring and swirling atmospheres or …And I Return To Nothingness with its melodic guitars prove this exactly.
Not wanting to abandon the bands earlier material completely despite a borage of line-up changes and the bands progression as an entirety, King Ov Deception, This Is Hell, FVNERAL MOON and closer Immortal make appearances. “It’s amazing to see so much love from the Metal community” closes Will Ramos leading up to the final act of the night in Immortal, the love from the metal community for one of its most inspired bands around right now still as strong as if the last song was To The Hellfire.
With enough material behind them, their online status sky high and the ability to sell out and upgrade venues multiple times, Lorna Shore are the modern faces of Deathcore and who will be for the foreseeable future. There is no denying them that. 9/10
Written by: Katie Conway-Flood
Photos by: Stu Garneys
