So there we were on a grey Saturday in Angel, London at around 3pm getting ready to watch day 2 of Cosmic Void 2025. Just before I had a massive Langos with eros pista (a Hungarian hot paste sauce), for which I would later pay for, but at the time I was merely bloated upon belief. It was a great start for a day of black metal mayhem.

I met Chern at the Tescos near the venue because we weren't about to spend £8 for a pint just yet. We grab a few beers and started to review the stage times for the day. We scheduled to watch Darvaza at 17:40, Ellende at 19:00, KALL plays lifelover at 20:30, and finally The Kovenant at 23:00. In between we'd dip into the merch room.

We sat around for a bit drinking and talking about how life is just a simulation and nothing really matters. And on that optimistic note we head to the venue to catch Darvaza.

Darvaza Live at Cosmic Void 2025: Satanic Black Metal

The O2 Islington was basically in a mall, which granted isn't the best venue for an extreme metal festival, but despite the outside being loaded with folks going about their family Saturday shopping the inside was pretty decent. There was space enough with two stages in two rooms and a central area where you could take photos with the bands.

After being padded down heavily by a handsome women we entered and headed to the front of Stage 1, where wouldn't you know it, right in front of us was the admin of the IG page baddlevests! He was a handsome and lovely chap and didn't take a piss out of either of us or our baddle jackets. Which shocked and appalled me, but he did show us some sweet resin skull pins and gave us some sweet stickers that read "your vest sucks!". Chern would later put that on my back to which a random passerby would shout "It does, you look gay!" Ah London! Anyways the stage lit up as Darvaza came out and it was epic!

For those of you not in the know Darvaza is an international (Italian/Norweigan) project. The showmanship was superb and they blasted out some proper satanic black metal. Wraaths vocals were exceptional, soaring and raspy but clear and cut through the room. The acoustics were pretty decent as well so it made the experience even better.

There was plenty of headbanging and the energy was top notch, fast, blistering and face melting! We didn't get a chance to grab the setlist but if you did drop a comment below for us!

When Darvaza closed we went to check out the merch tables. There was quite a lot of goodies to choose from. Patches everywhere! From the more edgelord bands to the most generic ones. I managed to grab a sweet Midnight and Darvaza patch, I had to after seeing the performance. Dayal Patterson from Cult Never Dies (Who also sponsored the festival) was also there selling his very unique very amazing set of merch, from CDs to patches, to vinyls.

Seeing Ellende Live After Four Years

He had some sweet Marduk vinyls that I wanted to grab, then immediately remembered the pints were £8 and I had about £30 left in my wallet. But if you're ever looking for sweet underground merch Cult Never Dies is the first place to visit!

After a few more Sainsbury's tinnies, we jumped back into the void with Ellende. We last saw Ellende in 2021 in Vienna for the The Fall I festival where Lukas was blasting high off the Triebe EP at the time. We were happy to see him still crushing it and with somehow even more energy than before.

I also loved that he clearly read my email to play Ballade aud den Tod as soon as possible as it was the second song in the setlist. Ellende was a great transition and prep for Lifelover, as Lukas belted out his masterful vocals and melonchalic vibes. The whole band played fantastically and managed to transform the energy in the room.

Ellende's Setlist

After the show we made sure to crowd Lukas and the band and annoyingly ask for a photo which you can see Lukas was more than happy to take (hence why it looks like he's choking Chern).

An Emotional Black Metal Resurrection With KALL Plays Lifelover

After that we had a few more beers and already I could feel my mind going. I could feel that Ernest Hemmingway edge coming on where I was ready for a fight, I was ready for war. But knowing fully well my back and knees would easily crumble from the slightest push.

It wasn't long until KALL came on. This was one of the key reasons we grabbed tickets. Lifelover is iconic Swedish DSBM band that split up in 2011 following the very sad and accidental death of band member Jonas Bergqvist, who died in his sleep from an overdose of prescription drugs. His death led to the remaining members deciding to end the band, citing his irreplaceable role as songwriter and lead composer.

But with this being their 10 year anniversary, KALL, which was formed from the original Lifelover members including Kim, Henrik, Felix, decided to play Lifelover for a few live events in Europe which luckily included Cosmic Void. And let me tell you they did not disappoint. Kim was amazing, there was something about his performance, his vocals that really took you into their world.

They translated the emotion on the sound waves in the room and it leaked into my bones. It became more than a performance and became a surreal experience. I could feel the pain and the reverence.

They played the classics which included I Love (To Hurt) You, Nackskott, and of course M/S Salmonella. Again, I failed to grab the set list so let us know if you got the full list drop it below in the comments.

I lost Chern after the first song, as he somehow got behind the gates for the photo area, despite being repeatedly denied by Cosmic Void after multiple requests on email. Take that Cosmic Void! So at least Chern got some great footage for us, a true metal photo guerrilla!

An Irishman on Acid

The KALL performance left me meloncholic, cynical and soft around the edges, so naturally Chern offered to go outside and hang out with Puff the Magic Dragon. Which we did...After about 20 mins our eyes were blood shot, we were drinking outside the Sainsbury....again...laughing at nothing when an Irishman on acid came up to us.

I thought initially it was going to be hard to communicate given he was talking about being lost, and also some other Irish things, with an Irish accent mind you. This translation was made even more difficult as I was halfway between the earth and the moon. But luckily the Gods of metal adjusted our frequencies just enough to laugh about the same thing despite not fully understanding one another.

We may have spent 10 mins talking or an hour, I wasn't sure, but luckily another metalhead beside us told us the last show, The Kovenent, was about to start and they were going to start closing the doors. So we ran back in chuckling like Beavis and Butthead.

Converted By The Kovenant, Closing Cosmic Void In Style

Chern was geared up for The Kovenant, but personally I didn't see the big fuss. When I first heard it I thought it was too industrial, too soft and funny (ironic I know) and I didn't think I'd enjoy it at all. This coming from someone who has never actually been a proper musician - arrogant…I know. But lemme tell yah I was dead wrong.

I'm sure some of my enjoyment has to go to Puff, but when The Kovenant started I was transported into the TRVE COSMIC VOID. I was freakin jammin and groovin to the epic vocals. The songs were really dynamic and felt as though nearly all of them added a little something from different genres. Again maybe I was just spacing, but it was absolutely what I needed to finish the evening off.

I swayed to and fro like some drunken troglodyte enjoying the band I previously said was too weak to hold a paper cup as Chern laughed on watching my visible stupidity play out in my dancing. When The Kovenant finished I was a convert, nay a Konvert!

As I was leaving some girl shouted at me and pointed. Me being deaf, I couldn't make out what she was saying and after responding with a loud "WHAAAAT?" four times I finally head "Nice Silencer backpatch". It was a perfect ending, elated, complimented, fully appreciating existence and the metal community, we left to head home.

I don't remember much about the rest of the evening, except absolutely carpet bombing a Shake Shack double patty burger with fries and Korean wings.

What a night, Cosmic Void was epic. Thanks to all the bands and folks that made it a bangin night! Hails to you all!

Cosmic Void 2025: A Review of the Shenanigans