Isn’t it frikkin amazing when you go to a gig and love all three bands on the line-up? And what’s even better is that we at MetalTalk have a connection with this trio of shamazing acts. It is bloody brilliant to witness HeKz, Dylan Gers and Soulweaver all in one sonically stormy night of Metal, prog and rock.
HeKz – Dylan Gers – Soulweaver
The Fiddler’s Elbow, Camden – 3 October 2025
Words: Sara Harding and Ben Roberts
Photography: The Fans With Phones
We first witnessed the guitar chops of Dylan Gers at the Chiswick Invasion, an event that MetalTalk reviewed yearly back in the day. The idea of a then school pupil Thomas Gers (Dylan’s cousin) with Iron Maiden as its ambassadors, became a yearly highlight of the West London music scene.
Hosted by my bestie and then Head of Maths, the amazing Toni Corbin, it raised thousands for charity. It’s also where I first encountered the mighty HeKz.
Fast forward to the now, and we are all here to witness the journey of Hekz and Dylan Gers, who have evolved and gone on to wow since those happy daze.
As Storm Amy blew in, we braved the weather in Camden Town for this triple threat of live music. We love it at the Fiddler’s Elbow. It’s like your favourite Irish local turned gig venue. There was a great turnout of fans and friends, as well as the team from our Iron Maiden hotel hangout, the Karma Sanctum, plus old school like us and the new generation of gig goers. We all swarmed together for this most-wanted lineup. 
Soulweaver
We are old friends with the trio Soulweaver as they perform every year at our favourite festival, Legends Of Rock, and they never disappoint.
We’re mid-conversation with legends Janick Gers and Xavier Russell at The Fiddler’s Elbow when a tud-dum of the drums bursts the atmosphere. We all turn our heads. People are gathering around the stage, and through the gaps, we can see Soulweaver.
It’s a barebones three-person band, with Goodge on lead guitar and vocals, his wife ‘M’ beside him on bass and James the powerhouse on drums. Before we know it, Goodge is up and down in the air, jumping to the catchy chorus of Comprehend. The writing is tight, sharper than the performance even, which is deliciously passionate and powerful. They’ve come all the way from Wales, apart from James, who is from Kent. “I said Kent,” Goodge laughs.
A highlight of the set is the unreleased Civilisation, an anthem set for release early next year. “Gimme civilisation,” they cry, alongside yet another soaring chorus. It’s a classic hook, with a melody that you can’t help but groove to. The same could be said for Live With Me, where the refrain “We’re not living free, we want liberty,” skates across a scathing riff.
The sound is on point at the venue tonight and really goes to highlight M’s bass skills. Often, I struggle to hear them at Legends, as it’s such a huge venue, so it’s great to take in this talented trio in a more intimate venue.
The final song, Simple As It Is opens with an introspective guitar melody that builds into an explosive finale of screams from Goodge. It is with these intense, Grohlian screams that Soulweaver end their set, having given everything. Stunning stuff.
Dylan Gers
While Soulweaver announced their presence with a thunderclap of drums, Dylan Gers chose to introduce himself with an ambient, Kid-A-esque drone. Drums eventually do join in, and they feel deeper and pronounced against the drone.
Mid song, Dylan walks off stage for a moment. He is a spontaneous performer, and you get the feeling that anything could happen, and it often does with blasts of Theremin into out-of-this-world guitar solos. 
Gers’ falsetto fills the pub, and layers against the atmospheric music of the band, and his guitar, Jasmine. The way he sings is raw, lacking in restraint. It is almost searching the ambient soundscape, reaching for something new, like an extra instrument.
We’ve had the honour of witnessing Gers play a lot this year. We are really getting to know the songs, and Talisman is now an earworm. We often catch ourselves singing Talisman on the bus or at the footy.
The guitar parts of the set are wonderful. Cool, bright chord progressions from a seasoned guitarist, alongside solos that feel classic. After all, they come from blood. These guitar parts, which are measured and confident, intertwine with emotionally charged, flowing falsetto verses.
It feels like Gers’ guitar work is so good that he overlooks it. He’s conquered that already, as has his father, and he seeks now to conquer something currently undiscovered. Something that lives in the in between, something ethereal.
Unapologetically unique, Gers is the real deal. With nods to Iron Maiden and Radiohead, with soaring guitar solos and stunning songwriting, Gers is now a tour de force and destined for greatness.
He announces the next song, Young Boy, is a slower number. His vocal register changes. It is lower, similar to the radio-ready, low-melodic tone of The Killers’ Brandon Flowers. Leaning back, he lets Jasmine take centre stage once more.
It’s a set that is both classic and experimental, a mark of a versatile up-and-coming artist. Maybe it’s the October haunts, maybe it’s the dim light across the stage, but one thing we can’t shake is that the set is unique. And that is very exciting.
HeKz
There is a buzz about the place as HeKz ready their weapons. A red light on stage. We are all standing and BANG. With pinpoint coordination, the band begins, bursting into rocking cacophony – a wall of sound – all at once. It is stunning and thrilling in its power and pace.
Matt’s voice rises and falls with the melody effortlessly – what a singer – and they’re all beaming with smiles. The live sound this band possesses is extraordinary.
It’s a very theatrical sound with a powerful Prog Metal vibe and then there was a violin solo. I’ve never seen anything like it. Not a flying V guitar but a flying Violin. It flies up above the audience and plays back and forth with the heavy guitar riffs, and both are grounded when Jerry plays a delicious extended jam on the drums. This is like Metallica and Mozart’s best collab.
As Matt’s voice sinks low down into a death-rocking growl, we think there are a lot of layers here. Classical, emo, Metal, theatrical, Celtic, it’s the kind of musical journey you want to be taken on by every prog band.
Not to mention Nick on guitar, who only had two weeks to prepare for the gig, he was even practising just before coming on. He has been on point all night and deserves heaps of credit, as do all the other band members. They’ve been rocking out with a smile through every song.
We are card-carrying fans of HeKz, and yes, we enjoy watching this band at intimate venues as well as Legends Of Rock. But this band deserve to play the world stage. Promoters, are you listening?
What a night, and as we all left to brave the storm, we were already blown away.
