Vader, Skaphos & Rise Of Kronos Conquer The Underworld

May 1, 2025

Vader - The Underworld, Camden – 25 April 2025. Photo: Ash Nash/MetalTalk

Camden’s The Underworld has seen its share of chaos, but tonight it was dragged into the abyss. Vader came not to play but to conquer, flanked by two monstrous supports. Rise Of Kronos and Skaphos lit the fires early, and what followed was a full night of Death Metal warfare, soaked in sweat, fury and unstoppable force.

Vader – Rise Of Kronos – Skaphos

The Underworld, Camden – 25 April 2025

Words: Ash Nash

Rise Of Kronos – German Power Unleashed

Born from the embers of long-running Death Metal outfit Surface, Rise Of Kronos took the stage like gods of war ready for slaughter. Founded in Hamburg, they sharpened their sound over years of brutal touring before forging their current myth-soaked, hardcore-infused Death Metal assault.

Tonight, from the first hit, they came swinging.

Opening with pure aggression at 6.30 sharp, their set tore through The Underworld like a wrecking ball.

Rise Of Kronos are no young upstarts. They are battle-hardened veterans with grooves deeper than grave scars and a presence that shook the room to its core.

Tight, pounding and ruthless, they fed off the chaos they created, stoking the fire higher with every breakdown.

By the end of their set, The Underworld was already bleeding heat.

Skaphos - The Underworld, Camden – 25 April 2025. Photo: Ash Nash/MetalTalk — Skaphos – The Underworld, Camden – 25 April 2025. Photo: Ash Nash/MetalTalk

Skaphos – Nautical Horror Dragging You Under

After the German war machine came the slow drowning. Skaphos, the Blackened Death entity from France, took the stage and pulled the crowd into the depths with them. Drawing from albums Bathyscaphe and Thooï, Skaphos did not just play songs. They conjured nightmares from the sea floor.

Built around themes of nautical terror, Skaphos sound like the creaking bones of sunken ships and the howls of drowned sailors. Their performance tonight was slow, gritty and bombastically oppressive.

Guitars churned like black water, blast beats exploded like depth charges, and the tension in the room tightened like a noose.

There was no light, no mercy. Only brooding, crushing power trimmed in the twisted wreckage of forgotten oceans. It was not about speed with Skaphos. It was about weight.

It was about dragging you under until you could barely breathe. A serious outfit, trimmed in scars and salt, and tonight, they ignited a different kind of violence inside the crowd.

Vader – Death Metal’s Undying Force

By the time Vader took The Underworld stage, Camden was ready to erupt. No long intro, no fanfare. Just a brief moment of atmospheric tension and then all hell broke loose.

Vader are legends for a reason. Formed in Poland back in 1983, they have weathered every trend and stood their ground while others fell. Tonight proved exactly why they are still kings. One song — Go To Hell — and the pit detonated into a violent storm of bodies, fists, hair and blood.

Piotr ‘Peter’ Wiwczarek, the band’s founder and eternal driving force, led the charge with a roar and riff work so savage it carved through the air like a blade.

Bombastic drumming hammered down like artillery fire, accompanied by every riff hitting harder than the last.

This was not some legacy act phoning it in. Vader performed like they had something to prove and left absolutely nothing behind.

Powerhouse after powerhouse tore through The Underworld. High energy, unrelenting and filled with moments of pure, pounding speed and nasty Death Metal delight.

The pit was a free-for-all. Sweaty, relentless, beautiful chaos. Every blast beat drove bodies forward. Every breakdown summoned a new eruption. Vader were not just playing songs. They were staging a war.

The production was tight, brutal and trimmed of any fat. A polished sledgehammer to the face.

This was the kind of performance that only comes from a band who have lived and died by Metal.

The Final Word

The only curse of the night? It ended too soon. Club curfews clipped the wings of what could have gone all damn night.

Rise Of Kronos brought the war. Skaphos dragged us to the depths. Vader brought the devastation. No gimmicks. No compromise. Just Death Metal done exactly as it should be; raw, honest, violent and alive.