SANGUIS IMPEREM/NOCTURNAL BLOOD SPLIT LP

(Description by J. Campbell)

Despite decades of evidence to the contrary, there is an often-voiced misconception that the environment of Southern California is not conducive to the creation of sincerely dark Black and Death Metal. Seen through the camera lens, the Los Angeles area appears too commercial, too sterile, and too artificial. Yet beneath the sun drenched skies, the entire geographical region seethes with the violence and sickness of a region that is awaiting the first outbreak of the impending apocalypse. Disease ridden and consumed by warfare, this area has already welcomed the coming dark age and radiates nihilistic decadence unlike any other geographic region in the world. This atmosphere is perfectly captured by the two bands on this split release, and the image it produces is of a world precariously balanced at the precipice of its own ruin. Importantly, the bands on this split have contributed extraordinarily strong material for this release. Perhaps it is because both bands are still in their primordial stages and therefore still feel the need to prove themselves with every release or perhaps it is because of the close relationship between the members of Nocturnal Blood and Sanguis Imperem; whatever the reason, the music presented here is the finest that both bands have yet unleashed. Although the foci of the bands may be distinct, there is an intensity that unifies the two and makes for a cohesive split LP. Nocturnal Blood is another outpouring of malefic energy by the same tormented mind that created Hate Kommand and Nuclear Desecration. With this release, Nocturnal Blood pushes this vision of unrelenting evil ever forward beyond anything the band has previously concocted. This is among the most unsettling and atrocious Black Death that the U.S. has produced in years. Sanguis Imperem, members of which often perform as live session members for Nocturnal Blood (which is otherwise a one-man project) and behind Damon Bloodstorm for the Holocaust Wolves of the Apocalypse gigs in the United States, has been among the most promising U.S. death Metal acts since the release of their incredible mCD, “The Stagnation of Centuries.” With the tracks on this release, Sanguis Imperem continue to construct intricate and impenetrable walls of Death Metal terror in their uniquely martial style. Clearly drawing inspiration from Incantation and Disciples of Mockery, Sanguis Imperem integrate into their work a sense of strength and warfare that renders it among the most powerful in the current Death Metal scene. The result is epic, victorious, and devastating and the tracks on this split expand the boundaries of Sanguis Imperem’s conquests. Both of these bands are poised to dominate the U.S. scene in coming years and this split presents each at the apex of their power.

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