On Monday night I headed to The Dome in Tufnell Park for an evening of black metal. Despite doors being at the early time of 6pm there was already a queue forming outside the venue when I arrived, which meant that there were a good few people in the room for when openers Summoner’s Circle from America took to the stage.
It was clear that this was going to be an evening of theater from the very start when the vocalist appeared to cut his palm with a dagger and then hold up his bloody hand towards the crowd. All six members of the band were wearing matching hooded outfits which further added to the mystery and drama of their performance. Musically, their sound was a mixture of doom, death, black and progressive metal, and what I particularly enjoyed was the inclusion of a keytar – not an instrument that you see very often at a black metal show!
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Summoner’s Circle went down very well with the steadily growing crowd, and were followed by Ghosts of Atlantis (G.O.A) hailing from Suffolk, who also had matching outfits. I particularly enjoyed the combination of clean and growl vocals in their set, and the juxtaposition between groovy hooks with darker and more aggressive sound, and between big choruses and guttural main vocals.
Blackened death metal band Hate were the main support on this tour and, like the headliners, hail from Poland. They had some great stage props featuring skulls and antlers, and their “look” was further brought together by the band members’ face paint. Sonically I got some strong Behemoth vibes as their set progressed, but with slightly less theatrics. The room was pretty full while Hate were playing and the crowd seemed to be really enjoying their set.
Headliners Batushka (БАТЮШКА) began their set as I had hoped they would with ritualistic lighting of candles (the feeling of ceremony of which was slightly ruined by a couple of people in the crowd singing “Happy Birthday” as they did so) and swaying back and forth of incense thurible. The band’s lyrical themes are inspired by the Eastern Orthodox Church and their entire stage show was very strong – with band members’ faces masked with hooded cloaks, candles, a fabric-covered altar, and even a drum shield featuring religious iconography.
As the scent of incense filled the now-packed room it really felt like everyone was part of something special. The band’s obscured faces and lyrics in Old Church Slavonic language further added to the theater of their performance. This was one of only two UK shows on the band’s European tour (the second of which was at Rebellion in Manchester) and it seemed to me that they could definitely have either played in a larger venue or played some more dates, as there was definitely an appetite for it. I had a thoroughly lovely time and would definitely go and see Batushka next time they are in London, and will also keep an eye out for the other bands that I saw as they were also great.
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Photos by Katie Frost Photography
Batushka: official | facebook | twitter | instagram
Hate: facebook | twitter | instagram | spotify | youtube
Ghosts of Atlantis: official | facebook | twitter | instagram | youtube
Summoner’s Circle: official | facebook | twitter | instagram
