Live Review: Iress with Sunnata & Healthyliving at The Black Heart, Camden, London (18/08/24)

It says a lot about the interest in Iress that the Black Heart, on a hot Sunday evening in London, is as busy as it is. A lot of people have turned out for the dream metal band, as well as the two support acts, Healthyliving and Sunnata.

It is the former that is up first, taking to the stage with loud cheers suggesting many in the room are here for them specifically. Which does make the rough start a bit disappointing. The Black Heart’s sound can be a ‘bit much’ a lot of the time, but the wall of instrumental noise that hits at first results in the vocals being completely lost.

Happily, this is quickly rectified and we get a much better balance as things go on. Healthyliving creating differing levels of avant-garde enjoyment; sometimes entrancing, sometimes energised, and almost always impressive.

While not everything they do sparks, there’s a lull around the middle and at the end which could be blamed on the erratic setlist, but when it hits, it’s fiery as hell. Perhaps though, the most impressive thing about Healthyliving is that they have the confidence and stage presence of a band much bigger than they are. They leave an impression that’s for sure and it’s easy to tell that they earned themselves some new fans here.

Up next, it’s the Polish four-piece doom metal visionaries Sunnata, a band more than capable of headlining this venue alone. Especially coming off the back of their fantastic fifth full-length album, ‘Chasing Shadows’, which was released in May this year. It’s no secret that they’re an amazing band, hugely immersive and thoroughly captivating, but to see them in the flesh is to fully understand just how brilliant they are.

Everything they do feels big. Everything they play sounds grand. Sunnata are as creative as they are experimental, offering up something quite formless, even though it is often categorised as doom. To be able to capture the shamanic properties, ethereal melodies, adventurous rockiness, devious doom heaviness, and undue amount of progressive thinking that exists on their records, live, is so impressive.

If you’ve seen Sunnata live, you already know this though and plenty in the Black Heart were all too aware. Those that weren’t, quickly found out, and became lifelong fans in an instant.

Finally, it’s Iress. The headline act, coming all the way from Los Angeles, and about halfway through their UK tour (that included stops at the likes of ArcTanGent). Having released their incredible new album, ‘Sleep Now, In Reverse’, at the end of July, anticipation for a live show is stupendously high. Notable by the fact that it’s Sunday night, nearing 9:50pm and the Black Heart is still full of eager people waiting to experience Iress.

An experience that can barely be summed up in words, such is the transcendent nature of it. Where 45 minutes flies by in 5 and the word ‘mesmerising’ can’t fully describe just how watchable and listenable a show it is.

It is staggering that all the aspects of Iress that make them so unique are on full display here and every member sounds immense. Yet, how can a person speak about Iress live and not comment on the fact that vocalist/guitarist Michelle Malley sounds as strong here as she does on record. There was never any doubt, not with a voice like that, but even then, it’s bloody impressive.

It’s not the longest set, but Iress do pack in plenty, giving everyone in attendance a taste of who and what they are today, while also acknowledging where they’ve come from. They could have played for double the time and everyone would have still wanted more. The sooner they come back, the better, but for now, they left a room full of people happy, content, and even more in love with them.