Mimi Barks pushed through the crowd amidst the demonic opening of Abyss, anticipation crackling through Camden Assembly, a venue bathed in blue light and packed to see Doom Trap.
Mimi Barks – Raven Gray – Tom Saint
Camden Assembly – 10 October 2024
Words: Theo A-Mullis
Photography: Theo A-Mullis and Robert James Congdon
Dressed like a broken castoff from a hellscape medical lab, Mimi Barks tore into Klingen & Stitches. It grabbed the crowd in her bandaged hand and kept that grip tight all night.
GRIND, SAW, RAD and SONIC followed in quick succession. Barks never stopped moving as she spat lyrics like artillery, tearing through the front row. 
The Camden Assembly is a smaller spot, and it can be hard to get as much as she did out of it as she slid into Faded, the first track from the new album, which is a slower track that echoes lyrics from her previous records. It is an interestingway to introduce the new album live, less a roar than a lament.
This does not last before Barks hit the audience with a neck-snapping 180 with Montana and absolute roaring 10.steps.back and BACK OFF. The pit soon formed, vicious and intense. Mimi commanded it and then entered it like a ringmaster. By this time, the crowd were not just invested. They were ensnared, lost and awash in crimson and strobes.
Banshee and Final Destination, both slower tracks, were a much needed reprieve, giving the pit a moment to draw its breath and lick its wounds.
Of course, this could not last. Mimi Barks was here to play the butcher not the bard. Suicide hit the crowd with a shotgun blast of heavy bass after its misanthropic intro.
Disgusted was soon followed by Mirtazapine. It is clearly one of the fan favourites from the new album. The crowd, battered, bruised and beaten by almost an hour of the pit, were stunned back. Bark’s eyes never left the crowd during these two slower songs. She appeared to see everyone who wanted to be seen. 
Wormgirl was the highlight. Barks welcomed supporting artist Raven Grey back onstage. The track is a triumph, and it is a capstone of the set when played live. The contrast of Raven’s haunting tremolo and Mimi Bark’s growling roar blends into an unforgettable soundscape. It ripped the crowd back up and into FSU and the final track, the brutal Big Ass Chains.
This was the longest Mimi Barks set I had yet experienced, a 24-track behemoth that was almost too much for the space she had. It proves she has the gravitas and presence for big venues. The set was a solid balance of established favourites and new work from Doom Trap. 
Mimi Barks live is charged and violent even when she opens a night. Her headlining is an abattoir. You will be in pain by the end of this set, but it will be worth it.
Doom Trap’s tour concludes in Nottingham tonight. Be there.
Raven Gray
This was my first introduction to Raven Gray playing live. Hailing from LA, she takes her namesake to heart in a dark dress bedecked in midnight black feathers, which flew into the air around her as she opened with Angels. 
Digital Babylon was thoughtful, evoking the lost meaning in the high/tech low/life world we increasingly find ourselves lost in. Raven earned my respect when she addressed the crowd during an interlude. Mental health can be difficult for anyone to talk about, and sometimes, what a person might need is to be seen and reminded that they have intrinsic value.
Raven took a moment to remind us all of this. Perhaps someone there needed to hear that. 
A Splinter In Soft Skin is a vulnerable track by name and nature. The lyrics “My fears are passing shadows” hit hard inthe moment. The venue bathed in a soft blue glow as she serenaded. Tandems In The Sky is a doomy, gothic epic. 
The crowd, perhaps unfamiliar with Raven at the start, was now fully enthralled. Taking this and covering Sweet Dreams was inspired. A well-known classic that took the crowd’s already rapt attention and turned that dial to 11.
The set finished with Fever Dream, trappy percussion under Raven’s haunting, Lacey Sturm-esq vocals was an excellent close to the set. She took a crowd that was perhaps unfamiliar with her and made more than a few fans by the end of the night.
Tom Saint
Tom Saint was unknown to me before the set. It is always hard to get a crowd going as the first act up, but he stepped up with a dirty blend of Emo and Trap Metal.
Whiskey slow riffs and thumbing bass evoke that dive bar feeling, twisting with the trap lyrics into a hedonistic and filthy track. Hellcat’s a fucking banger. A standout track to end the set with, it sunk its claws into the crowd and had them ready for Raven and Mimi.
Tom Saint stood strong on his own merits. He has got great vocals with clean rapping and a solid, scratching scream. I cannot wait to hear more.
