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I just grabbed this because it was on My Graveyard Productions, and it looked cool. Berserker are an Epic Metal band from Italy who have set some kind of record for dues-paying, as they have released no fewer than ten demos without getting signed — one every year since frigging 1989. So Blood Of the Warriors is their proper debut after almost 20 years of slugging away. I was hoping for some Heavy/Epic Metal in the Wotan vein, and that's pretty much what I got.

Berserker have obvious kinship with Brocas Helm, featuring the same rough-hewn riffs and unremarkable vocals. There's nothing that really stands out about this as awesome at first blush, and despite some cool riffs, opener "Fighting The Fear" is pretty dull. After that, however, things get good with bigger riffs and less by-the-numbers songwriting. "Blood of the Warriors and Icy Look of Death" is much better, and "Walkyries" manages to be both catchy and epic at the same time. The recording job is rough, but the guitar sound is good and thick. Alessandro Alioto's vocals aren't going to win any prizes, but he gets you there, and when he gets harsher and more pissed-off he sounds much stronger.

This album starts out badly, but gets much better as it goes on, piling up into a very dense and old school slab of Epic Metal from a veteran band. This won't redefine the genre, and there are much better bands, but if you like other Greek/Italian True Metal like Valor, Battle Ram, and Wotan, or their spiritual ancestor Brocas Helm, then this is an album worth getting.