As the nights are drawing in and gigs are steamrolling with much warranted frequency, I found myself in the back streets of Manchester, sourcing out an infamous back alley on which Aatma resides. As it is a new venue for me, I was extra vigilant to the twists and turns I found myself faced with so that I could make an unaided retreat at the end of the evening without fear of taking a wrong turn and ending up in some dodgy area I really ought not to be. After I had hunted out the steel door to the club with relative ease, and transcended up numerous flights of stairs, I stumbled upon what can only be descried as a small room with an unassuming and basic stage at one end, and an even smaller bar at the other end, but you know what, I liked it!!

I got massively good vibes from the moment I walked in. The 2 support bands were camped out in the main room, I am guessing the dressing rooms must have been pretty much non-existent as a huddle of sofas seemed to be a makeshift dressing room for them, and everyone seemed in really good spirits.

So, as the lights dimmed and Decimated Cross took to the stage, which I had personally nicknamed the step, all hell broke loose. Decimated Cross are made up of 3 souls, a triangle of black who had taken up residence on either side of the stage with the drummer rooted at the back. Both string men had a differing presence, the beast on bass, Count Lucifuge, stood solitary, hair cascading down over his face, reminiscence of Varg in the famous pose with those blades. The six stringer, Darko, on the other hand was lively and energetic, crouching and lunging, striking poses at a moment’s notice and visibly loving his brief time on Manchester soil tonight.

The short set was bass heavy from the start, and this was only superseded on the final track, ‘Alone In The Fog’ from the latest and only full-length album to date, ‘From Pagan To Waste’, on which the drums came to the forefront and became the guiding light. The only thing lacking from this set was vocals of any kind, the set was instrumental, and this did baffle me a little as there was a microphone and stand on the stage throughout. Hmmmmmmm strange!

Next up stepped Vehement., and this five piece were not taking any prisoners. After some effort in trying to get the intro tape to work, they boycotted it and decided to just launch into their set, it was mayhem from start to finish, and I say that in a good way. The vocal efforts from Ohtar were powerful and commanding and the drum beating from the back was frenetic yet majestic. The six strings flanking either side of the stage were mesmerising, and the main vocals were demanding of your attention from start to finish.

The set was punctuated with two of my personal favourites from the 2017 ‘Ashes’, ‘Burden’s Root’ and ‘Tidal Verse’ (which they closed the set on), and they also threw in a new track, ‘Rebirth’, which was colossal and gracious in the live setting, so God only knows how massive it is going to sound on vinyl.

So, to the main event and Nahemia, the stage was cleared of excess cables and pedals and on came the stakes on which 2 pigs heads are savagely thrown down upon. This brought an air of death and a definite stench of rotting flesh which filled the small venue. Candles were lit towards the rear of the stage and the anticipation was palpable. The lights faded one last time and from the darkness emerged three corpse painted figures which looked as if they had walked straight out of Hell itself, and then as the trio launched into a true lesson in blasphemy and satanic ritual, on walked Rimmon. Striking a raw satanic image, complete with dagger and dead rat hanging from his bullet belt, the raw uncompromising vocals were unleashed.

Opening the set with ‘World Annihilation’, this was a celebration of their latest, and first full-length release, ‘Ar-Caosaji’. The set comprised of nearly all the album, but just juggled about a bit, omitting only ‘Misanthropic Division’ and ‘Teloch’, instead choosing to throw in non-album effort, ‘Raise The Dead’. The bass from Abdiel was absolutely crushing from start to finish and he looked like a true warrior from the underworld. The skins were beaten into submission by Bil and the speed and precision with which they were attacked was truly mesmerising and elegant. Rimmon stalked the stage like a man possessed, screaming, and spitting the vocals out with venom and poisonous intent. Mid set, it must have seemed appropriate to Rimmon to obliterate two publications and launch the corresponding torn and savaged pages into the crowd, I am only surmising that they were replications of the Bible and Quran, thankfully I wasn’t close enough to the stage to be drowned by the cascading sheets of paper to be able to tell exactly what versions they were.

As the set ended and the last chords of ‘Vindictive Malice’ rung out, this had been a success of great magnitude, the only negative would be that they hadn’t drawn a bigger gathering than the twenty or so devotees stood before them. The evening had been a serious resounding achievement, so much so, I am seriously considering catching the whole event again in Leeds and York. The metal promoters on this isle really need to sit up and take notice of these three bands, especially the twisted and satanic world of Nahemia.

Take a bow, your job in Manchester is well and truly done. Thank you.

Review & Photos Phil Pountney