Hidden Herd promoters are certainly looking well ahead with this latest announcement of their new music discovery night. This time punters will be heading to The Hope & Ruin on Queens Road in Brighton on Saturday 22nd May 2027 in order to catch a quartet of acts who offer up various forms of dark alternative sounds.
The bill features Black Doldrums, Bloodworm, Chimer and Cracked Lime.
Let’s meet the bands….
London trio Black Doldrums have established themselves as one of the most distinctive voices in dark alternative music, championed by Rolling Stone for their “mix of gothic-rock and shoegaze sounds to die for” and Uncut for their “fierce combination of post punk, reverb, drone and melody”.
Drawing inspiration from Echo & the Bunnymen and The Cure, the band have released two studio albums via Fuzz Club Records – including 2024’s ‘In Limerence’, which was co-produced by Theo Verney (English Teacher, TRAAMS, Egyptian Blue).
Since deciding to form at a Bad Vibrations All-Dayer a decade ago, Black Doldrums have brought their combination of gothic post-punk, darkwave and synth-pop to stages across the UK and beyond. Following a European arena tour supporting Archive and their own headline tours, including an exhilarating show at the Green Door Store earlier this year, the band’s evolution has culminated in a third album, ‘Repetition Compulsion’, which is set for release in November.
Backed by BBC Radio 6 Music, the album’s first singles – ‘Repetition’, ‘Compulsion’ and ‘Waiting’ – are cohesive and uncompromising, built on tension and standing out as their most ambitious and transcendent work to date. They blend driving rhythms, cascading guitar textures and cinematic atmospheres with themes of psychology, identity and human connection. Live, Black Doldrums are renowned for performances that are both hypnotic and intense, fusing primal drumming, melodic bass lines and atmospheric guitars into an immersive live experience that balances menace with beauty.
Capturing the dark, atmospheric energy of gothic rock while channeling the melodic sensibilities of post-punk legends, Nottingham band Bloodworm are attracting feverish word-of-mouth hype.
The trio kicked off 2026 supporting Suede on their 17-date sold-out tour and have become known for their searing, incisive live shows, blending shadowy post-punk with blasts of visceral noise. Early singles and their debut EP, ‘Blood & Lust’, have solidified their place as front-runners in the modern goth-punk scene, earning radio play from BBC Radio 6 Music and BBC Music Introducing, alongside coverage from DIY, So Young Magazine, Clash Magazine and The Line of Best Fit.
Their haunting vocals draw comparisons to The Cure, brooding basslines echo Joy Division’s raw intensity and swirling guitars channel the shoegaze textures of Ride, taking audiences on a sonic journey through the melancholic and the ethereal.
On the road, Bloodworm’s growing reputation has seen them sell out The Bodega in Nottingham and The Grace in London, as well as earn festival slots at Dot to Dot, Truck, Y Not and Victorious. They’ve also shared stages with Shame, Warmduscher, Man/Woman/Chainsaw and more.
Emerging from their coastal gloom, CHIMER are Hastings’ answer to the collapse of the modern world. Marrying IDLES’ snarl, The Jesus and Mary Chain’s feedback, Crack Cloud’s art-punk swagger and Killing Joke’s urgency, the trio are relentless experimenters on a mission to unravel a sonic Bayeux tapestry.
Having constructed a wall-of-sound siege of a live show, with towering guitar feedback and a razing vocal delivery, the group have been on the road playing shows alongside the likes of Kid Kapichi, SILVERWINGKILLER, Y and Pop Will Eat Itself. They’ve also played Strummerville at Glastonbury Festival, alongside sold-out shows at Sebright Arms and Tough Love Records.
Following early support from BBC Music Introducing, Clash Magazine and more, CHIMER’s debut 7”, ‘SUPPLE/CACTUS’, sold 150 copies in 24 hours, with their debut EP set for release in early 2027 via Commune Records.
Recently emerging from the shadows with their debut single, enigmatic London duo Cracked Lime have already begun attracting excited word-of-mouth whispers. Championed by Stereogum and more, their jittery, languorous first release, ‘The Idiot’, arrived via tastemaker label Strong Island Recordings (Los Bitchos, Ugly, Lipworms, ugly ozo).
Cutting their teeth in venues across the capital, the duo have been refining a performance style that blends sharp post-punk guitars with electronic beats and a lingering trip-hop feel, with their live show previously described as “Portishead with James Bond guitars”. Hypnotic existentialist spoken word, melodic interventions, noisy textures and a sharp, dance-y weirdness come together in a minimal setup of two guitars, two vocals, drum machines, samples and a handful of synthesisers.
So far, they’ve played alongside Wing!, Spanish Horses and SILVERWINGKILLER, as well as with Cordelia Gartside at a Bad Vibes All-Dayer and VCSB and Blitzer at The Hope & Ruin.
Advance tickets for this concert are on sale now from HERE.
