Despite being a haunt of mine for some time, this is the first time I have ever attended a concert at Satan’s Hollow. It’s unique in the round setting offers punters a chance to have a 360-degree viewpoint, meaning that every bit of atmosphere can be soaked in.

Opening tonight’s 3 bands bill were Liverpool Blackened Death Metallers, Omega Throne. At first, Omega Throne just came across as your run of the mill Death Metal Band comprising all the regular staples found within the genre to create inoffensive music that does enough to keep the punters inside Satan’s Hollow nodding their heads along to it. I decided about 10 minutes into the show however to make full use of the in the round setting to head over to get a closer look at the drummer, as those who know me, may know that when attending concerts, be that Rammstein in 70,000 capacity stadium, or Gospelheim in a small night club in Manchester, I spend most of my viewing time focusing on the drummer. It was in doing this that took this performance up another rung of the ladder. Omega Throne’s drummer gave a performance that was both tight and on a technical level, impeccable, yet anyone who looked at him would’ve thought he was thinking what to have for dinner after the show. I say that however as the highest compliment, as producing such a body of work without even flinching is pretty fucking special.

Ultimately satisfied with my trip around the circumference of the stage, I planted myself back in my original position, ready for their final stretch. The first of these songs was easily the standout of the set for me, the song ‘Damn You Abraham’. This song breaks the conventional death metal sound of the previous songs and has an almost Korn like breakdown at the start, this short reprieve was definitely welcomed after the onslaught of blast beats in the previous songs and shown Omega Throne as a band who weren’t shy of straying off the path and encompassing new ideas in their work. By the end of the set, I was completely convinced by Omega Throne and whilst they were by no means breaking the wheel in terms of innovation within a sub-genre, what I did see from them stuck with me enough in which I would remember certain parts of this set as being distinctly Omega Throne.

Second support act Lure In presented a completely different shift in energy & musical style to Omega Throne. Whereas Omega Throne raised the flag for technical, musical side of things, Lure In instead decided they wanted to instead snap the flag in half and just throw it on the floor next to them. I must admit, before they even played a note, my first impression of Lure In where “what the fuck is going on here”, as the lead vocalist donned a parker, bucket hat and pair of sunglasses much akin to that of Liam Gallagher. In spite of this, I decided to leave all reservations I had of Lure In until the music started playing instead.

It was very hard to pigeonhole Lure In into any form of genre. They definitely stuck out like a sore thumb in the context of the night's headliners, and I wouldn’t have placed them on the same bill as Gospelheim initially, as sonically they couldn't be any different, but it just worked. The best way I could describe Lure In would be a mixture of Idles, Slaves, very early Enter Shikari, vocally I was reminded a little bit of Josh from Palm Reader, mainly in the screams, all blended together with an energy you’d probably expect from Jason Aalon Butler or Frank Carter. If that sounds like a mouthful then it's because it is and usually this amalgamation of styles would either come across as being self-indulgent or overwhelming but just like Lure In being on this bill in the first place, it shouldn’t have worked, but it just did.

The reason I drew comparisons to Jason Aalon Butler or Frank Carter is because Lure In displayed that they had no concept of what a stage is. The Lead Vocalist and Bassist instead decided that they would cover every part of Satan’s Hollow as physically possible, and it’d be a case of if you blinked then they would be in a new place all together. I’ve seen many bands do this, so It wasn’t a case of me going crazy for it because it’s something new, but usually you see bands do these crazy on stage theatrics to mask over the absolute shite they were playing. Lure In however have some absolutely quality songs. Going back to listen to them after the show, tracks such as ‘Forgiveness’, ‘All I Could Be’ & ‘Aren’t You Happy?’ prove that Lure In are a band with both the live show and the songs to make them into a possible force in this scene. The only downside from this set is that they didn’t play enough. They were over by 20 past 8 meaning they’d only performed 20 minutes of their assumedly scheduled 30. However if the only bad part of a performance is that they didn’t play enough, then it must’ve been pretty bloody good.

In my opinion, tonight's headliners, Gospelheim are absolute masters of creating atmosphere within their music. One only needs to listen to their 2022 album “Ritual & Repetition” to understand why It received the critical acclaim that it did, and I believe it is because of that one word. Atmosphere. Therefore, I don’t' think there could’ve been a venue that suited Gospelheim better than Satan’s Hollow could’ve done tonight. One only has to look at the venue’s name to understand what this place is about, with a vast array of satanic insignia including the Gates of Hell and a huge, imposing statue of the main man himself towering over the venue. Usually, I think this stuff is pretty tacky, but when it compliments a band this well, you can’t help but admire the presentation as a whole – intentional or not.

Back to the music however, and the main test I was looking for tonight would be whether or not Gospelheim could implement their penchant for atmosphere into their live sound as well. For those unaccustomed to their music, Gospelheim are what happens when you put Grave Pleasures, Joy Division and a little sprinkling of Ghost into a blender. If any of those 3 elements appeal to you, then Gospelheim are probably up your street. What this creates however is a noise that could be used to soundtrack the end of the world. It is rich in layers, with sweeping guitars acting as the canvas in which the haunting, stoic vocals can paint on, all whilst the rhythm section adds texture to create an image that is as much dooming as it is simply stunning. Whilst this is stunning, I thought it may have been a bit hard to pull off on a live stage, especially considering the technical limitations performing in a night club would present the band.

Opening with ‘Into Smithereens’, I admittedly took a little bit of time to decipher what song Gospelheim were playing at first, despite having listened to the track, as well as the album front to back numerous times. Despite this shakey start, the issues with sound soon figured themselves out and whilst at no point was it able to capture the atmosphere of their recorded sound, they put in a pretty good go at it – again, the technical limitations of the venue would’ve played a role in this, so I completely understand that it was never going to be perfect. My personal highlight of both the set and of the Album was the track ‘Praise Be’. This track is essentially Gospelheim 101 and if you want a 5-minute taster of what this band is about, then this is the song. It utilises the aforementioned sweeping guitars, played over a Toni Iommi esque riff during the verse all whilst being held together with a vocal hook that reminded me of something like My Dying Bride. It is this combination of sounds and influences that make Gospelheim a unique blend of innovative and yet familiar - I was never pointing out influences or stood there thinking “oh well I've heard this done before”. Their influences were like hidden between the layers of their music like easter eggs, rewarding those who dedicate their time to listen and search them out.

Overall, I was really impressed with Gospelheim tonight, whilst failing to hit all of the subtle nuances of their recorded sound, what they did show instead was all of the hallmarks of being a band more than capable of being able to do such a thing when given the right stage to do it on. You could tell they were just dying to break out onto bigger stages with a larger following and bigger opportunities, the sky is definitely the limit for Gospelheim. Despite having only the one album under their belt, they provided a show that was as long as it needed to be, with no filler and no padding, this was instead a statement. It was the perfect showcase for those who were unfamiliar with the band, all whilst showing those who are accustomed with their work what they can expect to look forward to in the future, of which I hope is a successful one for the band,