A packed Friday night at The Fenton, courtesy of Rolling In The Grave Promotions brings together three very different flavours of black metal headlined by Blasfeme. Small room, loud crowd, and exactly the sort of sweaty underground show Leeds does best.

NAPIERDALAC

Opening the night are Manchester’s Napierdalac, who deliver a sound with symphonic backing tracks, filling out the atmosphere. They kick things off at pace, the bassist immediately showing serious technical prowess. The opening track drops into a symphonic break before crashing back into the riffing with real impact. The second track features a cool synth driven breakdown that added that extra texture to the set.

One of the standout moments comes with a symphonic-led number that veers into almost Sepultura-style breakdown territory before launching into a slick guitar solo section. Bassist, Josh, is easily the star of the set, throwing in a brilliant solo and generally carrying a huge presence throughout. At one point his strap snapped, though given how aggressively he was playing it was hardly surprising, and he finished most of the final track without it.

DREICH

Next up are the band many in the room seem most eager for: Dreich, hailing from Scotland.

They open with a gloom track, immediately leaning into the band’s depressive black metal atmosphere. It’s DSBM done right, bleak but dynamic, and the track features a great breakdown that gives the song real movement.

The second track, from the newer material, slows things down but it works brilliantly in the smaller venue. Seeing them on a tighter stage actually suits the music; it allows the full weight of the songs to breathe rather than getting lost in a bigger room. Having spoken to Nemus, the lead singer, this was his first show back after a hiatus. It was a performance to be proud of!

Vocally, Nemus absolutely nails it. The depressive wails sound just as raw and pained as on record, while the drumming is rock solid throughout.

BLASFEME

Headliners Blasfeme, all the way from Bristol, close the night with a more straightforward, old-school take on black metal, and that simplicity works in their favour.

Their sound leans more toward traditional black metal than some of the more experimental material on their recent releases, but the execution is tight and confident. Frontman, Moord, has great command of the stage, keeping the crowd engaged throughout.

The title track is a proper fist banger, featuring a solo that almost veers into black ’n’ roll territory. Next up is Nothing Bleeds Forever, which stands out for its chanty vocal sections that have a slight Falkenbach feel to them when played live.

WOLVES OF KATHEPIS

Wolves of Kathepis follows with pure black metal fury, easily one of the most aggressive moments of the set. They also debut an untitled new track from their upcoming album. It has a cool recurring chord progression and at times even drifts toward a slightly heavy metal feel.

Overall, a brilliant underground Black Metal show. The Fenton remains one of the best small venues in Leeds for this sort of thing. It’s intimate, loud, and full of atmosphere. Interestingly, there were a lot more guitar solos than you’d normally expect at a black metal show, not a complaint, whatsoever!

Rolling In The Grave are back at The Fenton on April 4th, with what promises to be a much doomier affair, featuring The Drowning and Reliquia. You can find all the details here.

Blasfeme: Bandcamp

Dreich: Bandcamp

Napierdalac: Website

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