Sturmkaiser
Mors Tua, Vita Mea

"MEMENTO AVDERE SEMPER"
Gabriele D'Annunzio

Those among us who have attentively observed the horizons of the black metal scene, both temporally and spatially, will have noticed the signs of profound change sweeping through it in recent years. While the seminal Scandinavian scene has reached creative stasis since the start of the new millennium, there's an underground tumult in Central Europe that's ever-growing and prolific, bolstered by echoes of hordes from the East. A new legion emerges to join the French, German, and Russian-Ukrainian forces at the forefront of the Black Flame army.

The ideological, cultural, and consequently musical ferment of an extremely elitist nature on an intellectual level, yet with broad reach, that pervades our country establishes the Italian scene as the most promising in Europe and beyond. Specifically, we aren't talking about the greats like Forgotten Tomb or Spite Extreme Wing but about one of the many fascinating realities submerged in the underground.

The group consists of Kirion on guitar and drum programming, Finster on bass, and Svafnir on vocals (also the singer for Draugr), joined live by drummer Nifelheim, already part of Dictatoreyes under the name Jonny, and guitarist Triumphator, also a member of Draugr.
The project in question is called Sturmkaiser, and their first full-length "Mors Tua, Vita Mea" is a punch to the stomach that rivals more well-known colleagues from beyond the Alps.

Epic and exhilarating atmospheres, moments of uncontrollable fury, passages with a martial flavor alternate in a display of technical competence and total compositional originality in ten tracks of pure sonic massacre. An elaborately varied riffing, which constitutes the structural backbone of the album, unfolds in developments rich in aggressive and intoxicating pathos, where Svafnir's vocal performance plays a pivotal role, establishing him as the best voice on our scene: his scream is impressively high, hoarse and angry, surprisingly powerful, capable of astounding tonal variations. The drum machine setup is also excellent, with consistently breakneck speeds but accompanied by numerous tempo changes that enrich the structure of the songs.

Conceptually speaking, the band doesn't seem to stray much from the themes dear to War Black Metal, such as the celebration of war or the cult of hate and intolerance, conveyed through descriptions of battles and massacres. However, a closer analysis reveals how the same militaristic concept of the band is accompanied by a primitive, instinctual superman philosophy. Ultimately, Sturmkaiser doesn’t get lost in speculations about the Heraclitean "polemos" or will to power but becomes the spokesperson for that animal instinct which is the desire for supremacy, expressed both through the lyrics and the music in an inseparable combination. Try it to believe it: songs like "Sturmkaiser", perhaps the best track on the album, in its martial splendor and the furious epic nature of its final choruses, will explain much better than my words. Another episode worth mentioning is "Craven", a song written on the occasion of the terrorist attack of September 11, 2001, a manifesto of revenge against the attack on Western society, pervaded in every exhilarating riff by a bestial hate, ridden by Svafnir's hellish voice that makes it a true gem. On the same coordinates are "Defend Our Kingdom", which vaguely draws influences from the Impaled Nazarene school, and the grand "HV" (Hail Victory N.d.A), a raging guitar gallop punctuated by explosions that replace the drums in moments of pure musical genius.

"Mors Tua, Vita Mea" presents itself among recent releases as a warning from Sturmkaiser, from Italy, to all of Europe: the Empire rises again.