The Black Heart - Camden Towns Heavy Metal Hotspot

Nestled in a lamplit, brick-walled back alley in the heart of London’s Camden Town, The Black Heart rock pub has been thriving for a full fifteen years. Pubs in grotty old Camden might not seem, or look, too special — The Black Heart itself is so obscure one could easily walk past its single entryway without realising it was a venue at all — but this bar holds an entirely special place in the heart of the local community, and for goths, punks, rockers and metalheads from across the capital city and beyond. Many times I’ve stumbled into a late-night conversation with a band-shirt clad bloke in the smoking area, pint of Camden Hells in hand, who has travelled all the way from a distant English county just to catch a glimpse of The Black Heart’s action. But what’s drawing music fans so rampantly to socialise at such a discreet venue? It’s likely no shock to hear that Camden Town, situated in North London (about a fifteen minute walk from King’s Cross St. Pancras train station), is a historic hot-spot for the alternative music scene. Just like Whitby’s ripe association with Gothic culture in Northern England, Camden Town coalesces the many subcultures of rock music into one melting pot of oddities: goth shops, metal bars, mohawked punks blasting raucous music from the bridge overlooking Camden Lock… At least that’s how it used to be. These days, gentrification has practically obliterated the heart and soul of this buzzing highstreet location; the goth shops are gone, and in their place, two Pret A Manger’s stand within a one minute walk of each other, an extra Starbucks for luck perched between the two, with a host of generic, Instagram-girl hipster stores filling the void left by the emo scene’s demise. Yet, The Black Heart remains, stronger than ever; a pillar in the alternative community and one of the metal scene’s last remaining safe havens. The Black Heart isn’t just a pub decked out in exquisite all-goth attire; its walls painted black and smattered vibrantly ...