Metal bars are not simply made, they are forged in the dark hearts of hard music fans, hammered into reality by loyal hordes.
Shanghai’s metal scene, which seemed to lay dormant for nearly two years, now has a trifecta of starless caverns to provide all our skull-splitting needs.
The third location of this triangulation – after CAVE and REAPER – is bursting from a mall basement in Changning District, and named after a Norse god: FENRIR.
READ MORE: New Metal Bar REAPER: A Phoenix from the Inferno
Black mass around the Xmas tree. Image courtesy of FENRIR.
Time for some mischief. Image courtesy of FENRIR.
Flowers as black as a metalhead's heart. Photo by Heather Millet.
In the old tales, Fenrir is a humongous wolf, born from a giantess and Loki, the troublemaking brother of Thor.
Legend has that when this colossal wolf god was chained, he bit off the hand of the deity that chained him, and was thus gagged with a sword as well as bound to a boulder, waiting for the day of Ragnarök (doomsday) to break his bonds.
Based on this namesake, this cellar-dwelling bar is prepared to provide plenty of mischief and howling.
Lloyd Huang, owner of FENRIR, playing with local metal band Blood of Life. Image courtesy of FENRIR.
The venue is owned by lost metal bar Inferno's ex bartender, Lloyd Huang, who is himself a kind of giant, hairy beast.
In the days of Inferno, Lloyd was best known for pouring whisky down everyone’s throats, throwing Mobikes to defend the bar from men who harass women, and eating noodles in the corner before his shift.
Opening his own metal bar was a dream of Lloyd’s, finally realized to mass proportions.
Lloyd Huang, owner of FENRIR (and sometimes bike-tossing berserker). Image courtesy of FENRIR.
We now find him watching carefully over his new venue. And while there will no longer be any bike-tossing, there will still be plenty of whisky (and possibly some pre-shift noodles).
FENRIR bar's décor features a Viking-modern mix of horns, longship shot holders, and motorcycles around the edges.
Metalheads enjoying hookah under the glow of antler lamps and red light. Photo by Heather Millet.
Shot glass holders at FENRIR. Image courtesy of FENRIR.
And what about the howling? That comes in the form of regular live music, with a stage and area to accommodate an audience of over 60 metalheads, plus a proper circle pit (similar to a mosh pit).
FENRIR stage smoke test. Image courtesy of FENRIR.
Part of Lloyd’s motivation in opening FENRIR was for “a space for dark, heavy music and art, with a better sound system and bigger venue.”
Joyfully, there is once more a location for the metal bands in town to consistently play, and a destination for international heavy music bands to gig in Shanghai.
Local metal band Soulitude, testing sound and setup in anticipation of the FENRIR official opening. Image courtesy of FENRIR.
Local metal band lead singers of Chimera Cult (left) and Soulitude (right). Photo by Heather Millet.
Lloyd and the metal community have strong connections to bands in Canada and Europe, while from China it is the bands that utilize Mongolian throat singing combined with metal that will be a favorite.
If you haven’t heard this kind of music, it sounds like the rage of the earth, filling a room in deep echo and entrancing vibration.
There will also be regular DJ nights and theme nights, or genre nights – meaning sub-genres of metal, which are innumerable.
FENRIR is “a space for dark, heavy music and art.” Image courtesy of FENRIR.
Singing, shouting, bellowing and growling metalheads need plenty of grease for their vocal chords, so the bar provides deals such as their Asahi Free Flow (RMB108) from 8-11pm.
Classic cocktails are on the menu, with a range from top shelf to gutter liquors, bending the prices to suit any black leather coin purse.
Hookah is also available at the bar in the usual range of fruity flavors, and the ceiling is high enough to dissipate the smoke for those less inclined.
Hairy metalheads enjoying Hookah at FENRIR. Photo by Heather Millet.
Metalheads are an amicable tribe and – though garbed in spikes or charcoal hues – their goal is actually to build the heavy music community.
As such, across the scene everyone happily connects between the three major metal bars in town.
Metalhead posing by a hardcore Xmas tree under the FENRIR sign. Image courtesy of FENRIR.
FENRIR displays a relic from the last Inferno, a plaque signed by musicians that came through the old metal scene over many years, and Lloyd says they are proud to “keep the Inferno spirit going.”
Plaque from Inferno. Image courtesy of FENRIR.
Shanghai's latest metal bar is scheduled to officially open this weekend (or at least imminently – like waiting for the breakdown of a doom metal song).
It is at last possible to bar-hop the metal scene around the city.
As the Norse gods will it, so shall it be!
Tue-Thu, 8pm-2am, Fri-Sun 8pm-4am
FENRIR, B103, B1, No.55, Lane 222, Panyu Lu, Changning District 上海市长宁区番禺路222弄55号B103室
[Cover image courtesy of FENRIR]
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