My first club gig in about 18 months couldn’t have got started with a better line-up, but like the ridiculous journey I had to the Lake District for the Northern Darkness Festival it seems the traffic Gods brought down to bare their full force on the M62, resulting in it being closed in both directions for a lengthy time, making a detour through Halifax to bypass it all essential. Arriving at the infamous Satan’s Hollow, there were plenty of people waiting outside as the gig was taking place at the same time as the Pride Festival in the heart of Manchester City Centre, offering its own traffic problems to circumvent.

Like the old adage, you wait ages for a bus and then along came two can be applied to Manchester’s Burial who I witnessed lay waste to Northern Darkness the previous weekend, I was keen to see how they would change, if at all, for this club gig with two other exceptional black metal bands. Noticeably the band had a far more serious edge to their approach, with little between song banter from the ever-amiable Derek (bass and vocals) who usually has a wise crack or two. Instead they walked on stage and blasted into their set without ceremony, as I failed to note what the opening song was, they played. Their battering onslaught was equal to Northern Darkness and if anything, comparably more intense and denser as their guitar riffs had an icy blast to them. ‘Encircled By Wolves’ followed after a brief segue announcing it was good to be back in Manchester, as the song slashed at the decent sized crowd that attended for the seven o’clock start.

However, as they played it, something was remiss as I believe the guitarist mucked it up, so they abandoned it and went into ‘Void Of Decay’ culled from their excellent recent album ‘Satanic Upheaval’. The relentless onslaught was unforgiving, as I was glad to have my ear plugs, their blurring speed going hand in hand with the barbaric riffing. Derek isn’t without subtlety it should be added as he shouted right you set of cunts, this is ‘Destruction Absolute’ and with it came its superb riff and death metal styled bludgeoning, as the crowd started to appreciate what Burial had to offer. Their set was a whirlwind, as ‘Satanic Upheaval’ and ‘Cursed By The Light’ followed in quick succession unleashing a feral war storm on the audience that felt like you were in a tornadic wind tunnel. Favourite song of their set for me was ‘Hellish Reaping Screams’ primarily because the riff has a huge crust punk edge to it producing a catchier vibe within the maelstrom assault as they closed with ‘Nun Fucking Black Metal’. Virulent and nihilistic the closer was one minute of bedlam backed by its corking riff that I absolutely love, as I got myself another pint and bought a shirt and vinyl, and had a chat with Derek for a few minutes.

Ante-Inferno were not even at the venue when we arrived, as I assume, they were caught up in the travesty of the M62 closure. They arrived only 15 minutes before they were due to start and incredibly, they set up in that time, as the stage activity was awash with people helping out. They even had time to daub their faces and hit the stage only a couple of minutes after their scheduled time. I saw Ante-Inferno at the Atmosfest in Nottingham in 2019 and was suitably impressed with their atmospheric epic black metal, but here they blew me away. Having not given their recent ‘Fane’ album a listen prior to coming to the gig I have no song titles but could offer a guess at what they played. I assume they opened with the title track intro, ‘Fane’, from their album as it pulsed through the sound system, giving the band a small amount of time to gather their thoughts ready to unleash their opening tune, which may have been ‘Oath’. What Ante-Inferno offered was a sublime blend of caustic black riffing set against their imposing, grandiose and atmospheric backdrop created by their instrumentation.

With tempo dynamics awash in their opener you could fail to be absorbed by the immense sound afforded as the crowd had swelled now and was totally fixed on the central stage, which if you didn’t know about Satan’s Hollow, their stage is in the middle and you can walk around it if preferred and stand at any angle, though there was a backdrop so you couldn’t stand at the back of drummer, something I’ve done previously at this venue. After the colossal opener the band quickly went into what may have been ‘Passing’, its bleak isolated riff piercing the crowd with its glacial shards before the climb in speed. Drenched in melody and hatred the song was rammed with intensity as the periodic breaks added texture. Ante-Inferno had unbelievable power and like Burial that preceded them, their sound was perfect, as the next song smashed into the audience. Their ability to harness power and melody was unmatched on the night, as the audience by now was absorbed into their onslaught that continued with, possibly, ‘Return’. Their intensity was pure, showering the audience in obsidian wrath capturing all their feral epic stature superbly as I was left breath taken, probably like everyone else.

With such exceptional opening bands Ninkharsag definitely had their work cut out to upstage them and, in some respects, they didn’t quite do that. Sure, they had all the intensity and speed required, the riffs flying out like broken glass but there was something missing, quite what that was I am not sure. However, they set the atmosphere for their set with billowing smoke and a strategically placed candelabra which if truth be told wasn’t required, and proceeded to air the intro to their set after which they unleashed the title track to their latest awesome album, ‘The Dread March Of Solemn Gods’, bristling with fire and fury.’ Under The Dead Of Night’ followed and continued their unerring and relentless barrage of blackened ferocity as the crowd lapped up what they had to offer. The sound was cataclysmically effective, like the other two acts, as they had a sharper more clinical approach without any less impact.

Ninkharsag songs are packed with dynamics and the ably showed this with ‘Tartarus Unbound’ which quickly followed, as I noticed they were not partaking in any interaction with the crowd, whether for purist sakes or time I’m not certain. ‘Lunar Hex; The Art Of Mighty Lycanthropy’ was aired too, utilising their own brand of melody linked to the inexorable pace as the set paused momentarily for an atmospheric phase before ‘The Necromanteion’ detonated onto the crowd. The intensity here was supreme as we were asked to join them in death, faultlessly spraying us with atramentous savagery. ‘Spectres Of The Ancient World’ had my vote for the best song, due to its variability, melding that inherent power and causticity into a track of sublime majesty. They announced ‘Discipline Through Black Sorcery’ where the continued assault showed no signs of easing up, and though I felt the set was blurring into one the crowd was obviously enjoying their black metal tirade. I believe ‘Strigoi Diabolicum’ got an airing too which seemed to capture the crowd’s attention more than the other tunes, the enraging intent here was clear, powering through the audience with its blasted frenzy right until the end of their set.

A superb return to club gigs for me as I’m sure I will be seeing these three exceptional UK bands again in the near future again.

Review: Martin Harris

Photos: Andy Pountney