Italian shock-metal coven Dogma turn Bristol’s Thekla into a sweat-soaked sermon, smashing modern metal, 80s glam and pop hooks into one gloriously unhinged ritual.
Words & photos by James Crisp (@james_taking_pictures) | May 07, 2026
Here we are back on the boat in Bristol. Of course, I’m talking about one of Bristol’s coolest music venues, Thekla. It might be cold and absolutely hammering down outside, but things are about to get a little heated in the hull.
Taking the stage wearing their iconic tight black dresses, nun headdresses, corpse paint and some freaky as all hell contact lenses, YES!! We have the mighty Dogma.
Vocalist Lilith arrives centre stage like a sermon is about to take place and in some ways that is exactly what happened. The band dives headfirst into the first of many songs of the night, “Forbidden Zone” before wasting absolutely no time at all and smashing straight into “Feel The Zeal”. The room is already total chaos at this point and we are only 2 songs in. Everyone shouting the lyrics right back at the band, jumping around, fully locked in like the night’s been going on forever.
What hits you quickly is how much Dogma throw into the mix without it feeling like a mess. It’s modern metal at the core. Tight, heavy, sharp around the edges, but it keeps shifting shape. One minute it’s thrashy bursts cutting through everything like a dagger, the next it’s pop-leaning hooks landing way harder than they should in a venue this sweaty and claustrophobic. “Made Her Mine” especially has that sticky, almost radio-ready chorus that shouldn’t work in this setting but absolutely does and goes oh’ so very hard.
Then there’s this constant flash of 80s glam running through it all. The swagger, the big gestures, the slightly over-the-top theatrical confidence that makes everything feel bigger than it actually is. It’s not subtle, and it most definitely isn’t meant to be subtle at all. Just when you think you’ve got it pinned, it flips back into full-throttle aggression again.
The vocalist is in pure control from the very start to the last note played. Always moving, always watching, locking eyes with people/sinners in the crowd like they have literally been individually stalked out and selected. It’s incredibly intense without ever feeling forced, more like they’re pulling the audience into the show one sinner at a time.
Guitarist Lamia barely stops moving, pacing the stage like they’re trying to keep up with their own shredding guitar. Then we have on second guitar Rusalka, who is a bit more grounded but still brings that extra flash when things tilt into glam or hook-heavy territory, giving the songs shape when they threaten to spill over.
Bassist Nixe sits underneath it all, not overly flashy but absolutely crucial. You feel them more than you see them, the low-end weight that keeps everything from drifting off into complete chaos when the tempo jumps or those big hooks kick in.
Then drummer Abrahel who is beyond relentless behind that monster kit. No breaks, no letting up, just a constant forward motion holding the whole thing glued together. Every shift between styles, thrash, glam, pop, modern metal, feels like it’s being driven from behind that kit.
Nobody stands still. Everyone is constantly moving, crossing paths, circling each other like sharks, this goes for the band and the whole crowd. It genuinely felt like it is one long, unstable choreography that no one knows they are really part of.
By the end of the set, Thekla feels completely under the spell of these demonic nuns. Dogma doesn’t just mix modern metal, pop, 80s glam and thrash, they utterly smash them into each other and somehow make it feel like one unified, slightly unhinged
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