A week of gigs culminated in my first trip back to Manchester’s Rebellion for this unmissable line up. If I recall correctly, this gig was originally planned to be with Alda and Panopticon, and when they had to cancel (for obvious reasons) they were replaced by Norway’s Mork. I have to admit I was gutted when these bands had to pull out as they are all personal favourites, but thankfully Dread Sovereign and Deus Mori were on hand to more than fill the gap.

And so it fell to local Black Metal behemoths Deus Mori to get things going, taking to a stage flanked by Union Jacks and military memorabilia, and protected by barbed wire stretched out across the front. The onslaught was as captivating and barbaric, as it was confrontational. ‘Defiling’ and ‘Uprising’ flew past with the vocalist looking increasingly deranged as he prowled the stage.

There was no let up in the aggression as the set progressed and all too soon things were being pulled to a close with ‘Ritual Silence’. Deus Mori are making a real name for themselves in the UK black metal underground and rightly so as this was a vitriolic display of black metal of the highest order.

There was a change of mood, but no let-up in intensity for Ireland’s Dread Sovereign who brought their Doom to Manchester. Even though they’ve been going since 2013, this was my first live encounter with them and I was really looking forward to it. Nemtheanga (perhaps better known for his role with Primordial) was a commanding, imposing figure on the stage in front of a respectable Monday night crowd as the trio rumbled through their set.

Doom dominated their sound, but heavy metal was also integral and at times, there was also a feel of 70s occult rock. Bones, on guitar, was a natural showman pulling rock star poses and flamboyantly swinging his guitar round.

As the set built the crowd were becoming more active, not least during the galloping ‘Nature is the Devil’s Church’ and the band were being treated as though they were headlining the show but all too soon the set was over. I will definitely be making an effort to catch Dread Sovereign again as I thoroughly enjoyed this brief set and would love to see them play a full show.

After a brief turn around, Manchester’s Winterfylleth took to the stage with no frills, preferring to let the music to speak for itself. From the outset ‘Absolved in Fire’ was majestic and by the time my personal favourite track ‘A Valley Thick with Oaks’ was being performed this had become a masterclass in atmospheric black metal.

A monumental version of ‘The Reckoning Dawn’ closed the first portion of the set before ‘The Ghost of Heritage’ picked things back up. ‘Mam Tor’ was epic as one black metal masterpiece flowed into another.

The tracks are monolithic and barraging but with finesse, atmosphere and sweeping melodies. The set was brought to a close with ‘Ensigns of Victory’ accompanied by an invitation to see them again in Glasgow the following night. If only I hadn’t got work the next day……

Review and Photos Andy Pountney