This is the debut album from Italian black metal band Blutsauger.
Nocturnal Blood Tyrants contains 34 minutes of primal, atavistic black metal. Blutsauger play it hard, nasty, and grim. It may be 2025, but around these parts it’s 1993. I liked this one a lot.
Cold and old, this is raw black metal played with spit and venom. It’s dark and aggressive, built on the Darkthrone template, but with a touch of Mütiilation’s otherworldly eeriness and Azaghal‘s scuzzy attitude.
Blutsauger carry a frosted violence in their black hearts, and use malevolent atmosphere like a weapon. Nocturnal Blood Tyrants is packed with frozen riffs that will have you thrashing around like a blood-covered maniac, but also builds threatening icebound soundscapes that will freeze you to a standstill. The band’s mix of harsh aggression and grim atmosphere is a compelling one, especially when paired with the malicious vocals that spew forth from the songs like harbingers of diseased cruelty.
All very good, but the thing that elevates Nocturnal Blood Tyrants is the songwriting. The musicians’ performances are strong across the board, but it’s the fact that these eight tracks are actually well-written and song-focused, with riffs, hooks, and depth of personality, that really makes this album as enjoyable as it is.
Ultimately this is 90s black metal, and if you’re unconvinced by the style, you likely won’t get too much out of this. However, for adherents of the genre, Nocturnal Blood Tyrants is a particularly strong and enjoyable example of raw second wave darkness. Blutsauger have put out a strong debut album, and I look forward to seeing where they go from here.
Very highly recommended.
Wonderbox Metal 