An early start at The Asylum this evening means opening act, Noctem only walk onstage to a half-full venue. Word of their arrival must get out fairly quickly though, as the room swells significantly before the scary Spaniards reach the end of their set. Smashing into “The Black Consecration,” the title track from their 2019 album, frontman Beleth (Xavier Tolosa) shrieks and roars for all his worth, enveloped by smoke and moody lighting as the band continue the blastbeats and tremolo riffs with “The Submission Discipline,” “The Pale Moon Rite,” “We Are Omega” and “Let That Is Dead Sleep Forever” before closing with a rip-roaring “A Cruce Salus.” Continue reading