SikTh – Death of a Dead Day Live at Kentish Town Forum, 2026

Learning that SikTh‘s second record, Death of a Dead Day, is twenty years of age has very much confused my feel of time; this was a record that I remember picking up on the way to sixth form, having been obsessed with their debut, The Trees are Dead & Dried Out, Wait For Something Wild after hearing a session track on the old Radio One Rock Show – there weren’t really bands that sounded like SikTh at the time and I was excited to get my ears around the follow up. Teenage me wasn’t really prepared for what was in store; I didn’t make it through the first play from start to finish, the opening few songs were restarted multiple times – the big riff at the end of Bland Street Bloom, the technical perfection of the drums on Flogging The Horses and don’t get me started on the final third of Way Beyond the Fond Old River – I was starting those songs again and again, trying to work out how anyone could create such a thing, how something unbelievably technical could simultaneously convey so much emotion. Death of a Dead Day is, without a doubt, one of my formative albums and, while realising it’s been twenty years since it’s release has certainly made me feel a bit older, I’m very excited to hear it live in it’s entirety.

Ted Maul

Tonight’s opener are Ted Maul, a band who reformed for Damnation festival last year and who last played with SikTh twenty years ago, which would explain why the venue (at least a bit further back, near the bar) is already quite full when I arrive part way into their set (thank you public transport). Musically, if you told me that Ted Maul were a new band I’d believe you, the chops of drum and bass and various electronic elements intersplicing the brutal riffs.

Heriot

Next up is Heriot who do an incredible job of getting the crowd moving with circle pits erupting throughout their short but lively set. Vocalist Debbie produces some of the most brutal sounding screams imaginable while the band hammer through a barrage of nasty riffs, drummer Julian putting so much power behind the kit, stopping only to stand, arms in the air, when the songs end. I’ve been lucky enough to catch Heriot live a few times but tonight is arguably the best sounding that I’ve heard them; the guitars sound huge, you can feel the drums and the bass, everything is incredibly tight.

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After a short break to switch over, we’re greeted by a familiar sound, the intro to Bland Street Boom plays as the band walk on stage, the crowd erupting knowing exactly what’s about to happen. Within seconds guitarists Dan and Pin are dancing on their fretboards, playing some of the most incredible technical riffs, the kind of thing that blew my mind when I heard them for the first time. Vocalists Mikee and Justin move back and forth around the stage, switching over repeatedly while their contrasting styles create an interesting dynamic – there’s a moment when the album set pauses while they resolve a bass issue where Mikee launches into part of When Will The Forest Speak? from The Trees are Dead & Dried Out where the various voices he produces make the story telling so engrossing, there really aren’t many other metal vocalists who can switch it up that way.

Way Beyond The Fond Old River showcases some of the best drumming of the night, the intricate detail of some of the patterns is phenomenal and I can understand why he’s playing behind one of the biggest drum kits I’ve seen in a while – the cymbal patterns in particular just add a nice little detail to what’s already a technically ridiculous song. While the lineup tonight is mostly the same as when the record was recorded, unfortunately James Leach isn’t able to be there to play bass tonight, the role filled expertly by Adam Getgood from Periphery  – given the ridiculous complexity of the songs he does an incredibly job stepping in!

“This song was our experience until after the second album” states Mikee before launching into Part of the Friction – they always had an excellent knack for hiding meaning in the songs and it’s only really when given context that lyrics like “As we fall astray, trying to live through your games. This ride takes another turn, you say that you are here to stay, you can turn the bluest skies to grey” show what the band were up against around the time of writing this album, before their hiatus. After playing through the thirteen tracks that make up Death of a Dead Day, they manage to squeeze in Pussyfoot and Skies of Millennium Night to make sure the night gets the energetic finale it deserves. SikTh, I think it’s fair to say, influenced so many bands during their hiatus and beyond but, while many bands have similar sounding breakdowns and rapid jumps between big, low, riffs and mind blowing lead runs, very few bands have matched the songwriting that SikTh put into this record. While the songs are technical they also have heart, the breakdowns are soaked in emotion, the duelling vocals like nothing else.  Seeing the whole album live has really just re-enforced that view; there are sections where everyone was singing along and you just don’t really hear that when listening to music this complex – an incredible set from such an incredible band.

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