Shrieking the crows away from the copse and cracking the graveyard grounds apart Trier, Germany-based witching metal quartet NUCTEMERON grip upon the timeless diabolism of first-wave Satanic speed metal on this promising debut full-length album. ‘Demonic Sceptre‘ practically wields itself at this point as the possessed wares on offer here are familiar enough in their motions yet delivered with the fiery accost of doomed souls. That is to suggest that you’ve likely heard it all before but any fan of this sub-genre should appreciate the maniac energy flowing through veins alight as these fellowes curse, cut and scrape their way through.

Nuctemeron formed mid-2014 by way of drummer Christhunter (JT Ripper, Devour the Sun) and vocalist/bassist Lunatic Aggressor (ex-Dark Decade) with the intention to create their own vision of “black witching blitz metal of Satan“, or, Satanic speed metal perpetuated by the German/Scandinavian realms. With the addition of guitarist Exterminator their first strike came in the form of a righteous 7″ (‘Knights of Hell‘, 2016) where their sound reflected interest in early Sodom, Bathory and Nifelheim most readily. It wasn’t their breakout moment so much as a blueprint for their own grip upon the niche’s inherent ferality, a bestial summon you’ll find more loudly embraced on their second EP (‘Beastfuck‘, 2020) after their stance as a quartet had fleshed into being. Quite a few years, a live album and a compilation later their second 7″ (‘Rape from the Grave‘, 2025) was essentially a single in preview of what this album would provide including the titular work as well as a Venom cover, both of which appear on ‘Demonic Sceptre‘. What’d impressed me about that single was their heavier ratio of 80’s induced vision and how carefully they’d raised the temperature to a ‘Nifelheim‘ level of violence.

No matter the format or length of the release Nuctemeron always take the time to set their scene with a proper introductory piece and in this case “Fresh Blood for the 13th Coffin” finds us in the midst of a dark night’s storm: Rain assailing stone and thunder cracking louder with every moment as the bells above resound throughout the hall. Their ringing calls actually carry over into the actual fire-up of opener “The Bat” an otherwise fairly straightforward speed metal piece sure to ping the senses of fans of earliest Running Wild or even just related act Diabolic Night. The riff change which hits around ~2:39 minutes into the song marks one of the first points of interest which suggests these folks have paid closer attention than past than most and conjured that interruptive, course-changing muse from Teutonic classics. For my taste there are certainly better songs here, such as the more raving cut through “After Violent Storm” afterwards, but you should have a clear window to their world within minutes of cracking ‘Demonic Sceptre‘ open.

Although the prospect of an anthemic heavy metal gait braced by melodic leads doesn’t describe the razor’s edge here in terms of black/speed metal violence the vocal performances provided by ser Lunatic Aggressor are biting enough to excuse some of the more standard-handed riffs chopped through on the first several pieces. The greater success of ‘Demonic Sceptre‘ is that it reinforces the energy their earlier work had promised and now expands that vision into songs intending singular status. They really don’t hit the mark for my taste until the obnoxious “Fuck Off!!! (In the Name of Evil)” angles in its own extremity, kicks up the blasts and swaps out the boilerplate rhythmic language that’d introduced the album. This is where the Nifelheim and Sodom inspired part of Nuctemeron‘s brains really pop and the action lights up the graveyard in truth. Repetitious as “Burn My Skin to Leather” is it still manages enough spectacle to captivate with some of the more militant riffs and howls on the album.

In these moments of true mayhemic charge Nuctemeron make their point but resist controlling themselves and as a result a slap to the face soon turns toward shattered teeth, a cruel extra blow or two after the bell, as we find in the number of times they repeat “Fuck you!” mid-album. Within the confines of highly specialized tradition this level of sadistic stab helps to infuse some manner of diabolic personality beyond the usual quasi-Satanic puppetry speed metal often serves in jest. I’m not sure they’re a threat or inciting an aura of danger through-and-through but when the threats fail to land a strong sense of heavy metal ‘tude yet arrives, particularly as they scratch together a few burners nearby the end of Side B. Of these songs it was “Metallic Thunder” that’d stood out best and would eventually sort as my favorite of the lot, I’d felt the need to double check and make sure it wasn’t a debut-era Iron Angel song repurposed more than once.

Black/speed metal might’ve been commodified to hell, writ into trope-after-trope and squeezed of its feral power by overabundance but that doesn’t stop the basal level of this craft from inspiring on some level. In this sense even the rote portions of ‘Demonic Sceptre‘ offer precision wrath in the name of the old ways. Where I’d found Nuctemeron convinced and impressed admittedly had more to do with bursts of intensity, points of maniac high-speed riffcraft… extreme rhythmic shuffling that’d created their own diabolic effect beyond the status quo. Without a doubt this is an album for the black/thrash/speed metal fan but especially those with great reverence for both 80’s and some relevant 90’s acts in this style, a fairly young band who smartly look to the past rather than over their peers shoulders, and I’d felt this evident enough in their writing. A moderately high recommendation.

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