Live Review: MØL - Underworld, London 12/02/2026
MØL deliver a sonic wall of intense sound that makes sure Camden’s iconic Underworld is the nosiest you’ve ever heard it. Imagine Deafheaven dialed up to eleven? That would be MØL.
Sadly – I was unable to make it for the first act; Cold Night for Alligators, which was receiving some adoring love from the crowd by the time I made it into the historic metal venue that is Underworld; pillars and all. But thankfully, Tayne more than made up for lost time with their electro industrial noise, that’s designed to play loud and test the Underworld sound system to the limit. Their atmosphere feels Muse-adjacent and clinical, mixing in with brash, adhesive vocals that make the most out of the sharp playbook.
They’re an Arctangent veteran of a band (my favourite genre) and it’s easy to see why – the Dublin natives displaying a tour-de-force of a set that plays to a crowd with a lot of overlap. The Heavy breakdowns bring us into Underworld mosh territory, and if there’s any crowd that know how to start a mosh – it’s Underworld, pillar and all – triumphant beast all the way through. The left pit was decidedly more chaotic from the right by the time MØL came on stage – and despite the pillar, it didn’t take long for two circles to form one very large, chaotic one. Circle pits, thrusting, screaming – cathartic rage for the blackgaze band that delivered their best record yet, Dreamcrush, at the start of the year – that may well be on course to be the best record of 2026 just a couple of months in. Live; their experience is otherworldly and they deserve much bigger than Underworld – surely, next time, a trip to Kentish Town beckons – Kim Song Sternkopf makes the most out of an adoring crowd and is happy to engage; dancing in with the mosh and embracing the pit, wondering through daring – asking – do you have what it takes to make this a special night? And the crowd obligies.
Wasting no mistake in deploying Hud, the crowd are off and running. Sternkpof’s energy is triumphant and fearless, a naturally gifted frontman. It means Skin in English and it’s easy to see why they went with that title – the dreamy riff kicking in with blackgaze that elevates shoegaze with a ferocious velocity rarely seen in bands of their ilk, frequent comparisons are made to the likes of Slowdive but their energy is so much more intense; generating pits early on and maybe giving us one of the loudest sets Camden’s iconic Underworld venue has ever seen, no small feat. It feels abrasive, and echoes Deafheaven and Alcest in terms of sheer fever, and feels like at album number three the band are a well-polished outfit that just keep going and going. They deserve an explosive nature outside of the extreme underground and Dreamcrush potentially brings them kicking and screaming into the stratosphere. Brat Summer is a distant memory. MØL Midsummer is where it’s at.
The organs run right through this track and you can tell Sternkpof has a guttural, blisteringly roar scream and he puts it to good use. It’s the right pitch for this live show and he feels at his best, with clean vocals breaking up the louder moments. He’s a lot more confident than he ever was – able to mix up songs from all three albums, Dreamcrush and Jord get 4 apiece, Diorama gets a reduced three, but on a late night in Underworld, the crowd are up for anything and put as much as the frontman on the table. The four-act set means it’s a late 11pm curfew and the bar quickly turfs out those there for the band (Underworld is a club, of course) but everybody is wanting them to go on right the way to the end. It’s just natural for a band as good as they are – and you feel like this is a moment where you’ve just watched a pendulum shift – from the outside looking in to the mainstream, but still one of the most distinctive bands on the planet. Yes we all are waiting for MØL to start - but do we really ever want them to finish?
They are Denmark’s main blackgaze band and have earned that reputation. The charisma of Sternkpof is effortless and the vocals feel like a gut-punch designed to add to a dream that feels incredibly blackened. Ken Klejs’s drums are fantastic, percussive and cutting like a thousand sharp knives through the crowd. It feels instantly eye-catching – a real counter to Sternkpof’s blazing energy. MØL’s ensemble is magnetic – bassist Holger Rumph-Frost sounds triumphant, and the guitars of Nicolai Hansen and Sigurd Kehlet aid the riffs in a way that gives the whole band a grand standing ovation; and there’s more than one of them across the night.
This is the moment – MØL grabbing it and refusing to let go. There’s enough there for the Jord heads and they’ve found the perfect 3 album setlist mix that combines the best of all three worlds; I’d wager whether this is your first MØL or your third, it’s a setlist that kept you satisfied at bare minimum, blown away at best - rarely before has the Underworld pit been raptured by a band this much. Their sonic blasts keep the crowd entertained from start to finish and the crescendos are ripe with overload, perfect for those who like Deafheaven dialled up to eleven. They find the perfect blend between the past and the present for you to be completely bowled over by what is happening here - and show the next chapter of MØL is in good hands.
Words by Miles Milton-Jefferies
