Sanguinaria

Morcolac - “Sanguinaria” 2025

To understand the Vampire, one must also understand desolation and longing - torn from the sanctity of a once-thriving existence and awakened into a soulless eternity - yearning for but one moment of life, of warmth… For some Black Metal artists, Vampirism is their sole source of inspiration: Finland’s Order of Nosferat and Italy’s Morcolac for example, whose modus operandi runs a bit deeper than misanthropy or Devil worship. Into the grip of a most chilling eternity do we now venture. One beholden to the romancing of the unholy night and to the killing lust.

Morcolac visionary and multi-instrumentalist, Sadomaster, is an honorable student of Black Metal, whose talents in journalizing the genre have only been superseded by the magisterial nature of his very own music, which is dedicated solely to the fabled Wampyr. Two and soon to be three LPs do make up Morcolac’s modest discography as we await the coming of “Sanguinaria”, scheduled for a March 28 release via Dusktone.

Let us now relinquish ourselves over to the organ’s deathly lullaby as the torch is lit with the opening titular track. What a complexly interwoven sonic tapestry do we have here. Almost symphonic in its grandeur on one end and blast-beat/tremolo-ridden on the other. And when these two ends of the spectrum mesh together, mystification’s gate is opened and it’s into the romanticized realm of the undead that we expedite. It has a thrilling type of energy to it; urgent and subtly whimsical as I imagine myself being somehow propelled as if by spirits through torchlit castle corridors and ancient forlorn catacombs. “Blacklight Torches From Below” hits a lot like something off of Morcolac’s previous EP release, “Drawbridge to Citadel of No More Dawn”: riff-inspired and heavy metal tempo’d with melody standing paramount.

Black Metal is very much about the capturing of the vibe, the essence or even the ethos, and “Sanguinaria” just sounds like Vampiric BM, from the aforementioned organs to the vocals, the melancholy and just the downright somber nature of some of these passages as they unfold, bolstered by staunch Scandinavian influences, and yet sounding so Italian at the same time… Brilliant! Sadomaster and Morcolac putting ingenuity on display once again. With “Sanguinaria”, Morcolac takes you on a fantastical excursion through some of Black Metal’s most celebrated concepts and into some of its many classic styles. An album that will most certainly appeal to connoisseurs of both symphonic and conventional Black Metals, all the while as it appeases all the Clamato juice in wine glass drinkers out there…

Throughout this gem of a record, you’ll feel as the Vampire feels, and through highly visual parts, you’ll see as the Vampire sees. You’ll taste the crisp night air and behold clouds of silver as they backdrop the forest canopy from the solitude of your keep - senses honed for the kill and yet weeping on the inside for those living days of olde - frigid cold demeanor to guise an otherwise desperate soul. You’ll discover Black Metal of the world-class variety and quite possibly an entirely new sub-genre of BM that you never knew existed. But for the seasoned enthusiast, this is the equivalent to a bold and complex IPA, as opposed to some of the stripped-down, no imagination, early ‘90’s carbon copy Budweiser swill out there. Bottoms up!

8/10

~Jeger

Experience “Ominous Castledusk” from “Sanguinaria” by Morcolac right here as presented by Dusktone:

https://youtu.be/HAPO0A7labU?si=8ibU4yOuVk_2avms