GIG REVIEW: Diocletian / Blood Chalice @ The Cart And Horses (London, UK)

In the legendary Cart and Horses, something fearsome stirs. Although a venue associated with the history of Heavy Metal royalty Iron Maiden, tonight something more malodorous and hostile takes place. Diocletian from New Zealand and Finland’s Blood Chalice join forces to wreak bestial havoc upon us. Sadly I arrived shortly after the two UK support acts, Gorgon Vomit and Trivax, but thankfully have seen both on many occasions and will surely cross paths with them soon enough.

Bursting with ferocity and hammering (quite literally as we will get to) Black / Death Metal blitzkrieg upon London, the barbarians in Blood Chalice launch a strike of remorseless savagery. With two totally unforgiving albums under their belt, there was no way I was missing these guys crushing the local vicinity and damn did they deliver. An onslaught of metallic viciousness like none I had witnessed, these muscular maniacs crushed the city with pulverising force. With the drummer literally hammering an anvil, this testosterone-driven set was sort of like the War Metal equivalent to a Manowar album cover; something I mean with the highest of regards. No wimps, no mercy, total fury.

Revelling in the chaotic spirit of things and continuing the purge of puny minds from the room, Diocletian launch their feral sonic assault. Convulsing barbarism and malicious intent fills the air with the true spirit of evil Extreme Metal violence. With a scorching new record hot off the press (available as a pre-release tour edition exclusively on this run, which naturally I picked up), it was excellent to hear these hymns of blasphemous perversity live. Their strings screamed pure venom while the percussion laid waste to the remaining skeletal beings in their wake, only the be bludgeoned by the storms of vocals. Their soul-dissolving decimation forged on for an entirely unrelenting set of pure might that struck every life in the room alight with ecstatic heresies. Being from the other side of the planet, it is proof that true Metal conquers all when a band like this flies around the glove and gives such a punishing performance to a receptive crowd. Death to false Metal and glory to the upholders of disciplined old school mania.

Morbid Angle seems to show no signs in slowing their conquering of London’s underground with the most malignant and visceral artists from around the globe. This inter-continental ballistic missile of War Metal armageddon was another glorious example of their triumphs.