Ever since the demise of Inferno, metalheads have been seen aimlessly wandering the streets of Shanghai in search of a new haven. CAVE has answered their guttural cries for help.

Located below the underpass just north of the Hongqiao subway station on Line 4 (and more importantly just south of the seasoned Yuyintang) - Cave has been operating since the beginning of November like most good establishments do - through good ol’ word of mouth. Run by established metalhead - of death metal act Holokastrial and label Dienysian - their credentials are confirmed immediately as soon as you walk in the door and take in their merch table - stacks of albums from local metal acts and black tees galore.

And that kind of sums up the vibe - with walls plastered with concert posters and no-frills one-page lamented menus - Cave is very much a local bar - one that doesn’t come at you with any outlandish ticks or tacks - save for what I have deemed the ‘Metal Pit’ where customers can vote on their favorite genre via ping pong ball that comes when they spend over 100RMB (which also comes with a song request).

Similarly, drinks are impressively cheap - 25RMB for draft Kirin; 20RMB for bottles of Asahi and Singa; 40RMB for mixed drinks; 60RMB for cocktails, and 25RMB for shots of all ilk. There is talk of bringing in some domestic craft breweries - so expect more beers on tap in the future.

Like Inferno before them, the place steadily fills up after 11 as more shows wrap up, with plenty of conversation revolving around, of course, metal. But musical tastes aside, Cave, much like the genre and its fanbase, is as welcoming a bar as they come.