Review - The Slaughtering - Matter - Child of Sorrow at The Fiddler's Elbow, Camden - Thursday 29th October 2026

Photography by BeckyKat Kaptures

Words by John Hirst

This evening I have the pleasure of checking out 3 great bands at the Fiddlers Elbow, this is The Bleak Winter Sermon Over London, featuring Child Of Sorrow, Matter and The Slaughtering.

Child Of Sorrow are the opening act this evening. Black metal two piece from Essex make excellent use of unnerving samples, raw black metal blast beats, frosty grindiing riffs and gut wrenching vocals. 

Formed from the mind of Adam Beck during COVID lockdowns this band has themes of nature, life and death. 

A raw and passionate start to night.

Next up is London's own, Matter. Doomy post metal with hypnotic riffs and brutal harsh vocals which build epic sonic waves of chaos and power. Sounding like Russian Circles on meth, these guys raise the bar fully killing it on stage. With rich bass sounds playing excellently with the technically timed drum patterns this was a wicked performance.

Finally, tonight's headline act is The Slaughtering, a death metal five piece who have been tearing through the local scene and quickly building a fan base which is well deserved. The energy these guys bring to the stage is huge. Guttural vocals from Andi tear through the room commanding the crowd, she even joins us off stage helping the mosh pit into even more of a frenzy. Shredding riffs, insanely fast fingers bass and pounding drums shake the walls tonight, a banging set which will make tough competition at the first round M2TM event next month - M2TM LONDON HEAT ONE

And with that The Bleak Winter Sermon is brought to a close. A great event with an awesome selection of bands to please any extreme metal fan.

Follow the bands for future events:

The Slaughtering - Facebook - Instagram

Matter - Facebook - Instagram 

Child of Sorrow - Facebook - Instagram