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Every show of Dogma's debut UK headline tour has been sold out for months. The mysterious band of metal nuns have followed in the footsteps of Ghost and Sleep Token in turning a distinctive image and catchy tunes into something that can properly stoke the imagination, tracks on their self-titled debut album earning millions of streams and translating into sold-out shows and big crowds at festivals like Wacken and Bloodstock.
Only there's a catch: this isn't the Dogma you might've seen before. A public statement put out in October last year revealed three members of the group had departed, alleging "manipulation and mistreatment". They've since gone on to form the group Vindicta, with other anonymous musicians donning the habits and performing under the Dogma banner.
If there are any misgivings about this at KK's Steel Mill in Wolverhampton, it doesn't show. The venue is already full when supports South Of Salem - a band who sold this venue out on their own previously - come on. There's a general buzz of excitement from the crowd that persists throughout the night, several people already dressed up in their own take on Dogma's distinctive corpse-painted nun aesthetic.
Article continues belowWhen they do arrive, it all comes together. The punchy 80s metal of Forbidden Zone and Feel The Zeal is an easy winner to get heads banging and while it's probably still a bit too early to get big singalongs going, the hooks are certainly there. But right now all attention is on the performance of the nuns on-stage as they strut and drop with a practiced energy that isn't quite choreography, but not a million miles away either.
The most obvious change in performance comes in the between-songs patter.
“Welcome to a carnival of sin,” declares vocalist Lilith, this iteration taking on a much more playful, teasing tone similar to the one adopted by Tobias Forge in his "dapper Papa" guise as Papa Emeritus III.
It adds a more interactive element of the show that plays up to fan engagement. When introducing Father I Have Sinned, Lilith rhetorically asks if there is a father in the house, only for a bloke to step up looking like he's come from Powerwolf in full priestly gear with a tattered black bible and corpsepaint of his own. She's clearly delighted and can't resist jumping down to take a picture with him, heightening the sense of the surreal.
With more than a few catchy tunes -including new songs like Fate Unblinds and the unreleased My Matricidal - and some sparkling pyro, the show is exactly the kind of myth-building that, controversy aside, could help Dogma seriously blow up in future. Whether they do or not will likely rest on what happens next.
Dogma Setlist @ KK's Steel Mill April 30 2026
- Forbidden Zone
- Feel The Zeal
- My First Peak
- Made Her Mine
- Banned
- Fate Unblinds
- Carnal Liberation
- Free Yourself
- Bare To The Bones
- Like A Prayer
- Make Us Proud
- My Matricidal
- Mariachi
- Pleasure From Pain
- Father I Have Sinned
- The Dark Messiah
