The Sun of Moloch: The Sublimation of Sulphur's Essence Which Spawned Death and Life

South American black metal is not known for its subtlety and the Chilean band Wrathprayer seems to put a point of honor to confirm this prejudice. After six years of existence and two demos, these brutes from Rancagua finally launch a first full-length, simply titled The Sun of Moloch: The Sublimation of Sulphur's Essence Which Spawned Death and Life (2012). Hmm, I'll be perfectly honest: even before a first listen, I was about to demolish this release, which presents all the characteristics that I love to hate. This band plays war / bestial black metal, like other nullities known as Proclamation or Anal Blasphemy. This usually means a really crappy sound and laughable songwriting. Furthermore, distribution of the album is provided by the American label Nuclear War Now! Productions, which specializes in everything I despise in the black metal realm. Yet despite these premises, the result is not so bad.

From the outset, Wrathprayer reveals its intentions with In Visceribus Bestiae: it will be heavy and nasty. Forget symphonic or stylistic niceties. It is forty minutes of fat and filthy black / death hell that are swung unceremoniously to listeners. We can almost feel a guilty pleasure listening to such songs. They hold no refinement, none of the new avant-garde who abound in the world of black metal, particularly in Scandinavia and France. This is direct and prehistoric! Songs like The Darkest Fyre or Sun of Moloch are perfect examples, while avoiding the trap of being too much linear, real plague of this black metal sub-genre. However, production is too muffled and it would have been greater if clearer, even more blatant. It sometimes feels like being in a cave, which is perhaps an effect sought by the three australopithecines which form the band.

Repeated listening of this album leaves me in a strange paradoxical situation, to say the least. First, all my prejudices against Latin American black metal are confirmed, but on the other hand, this finding does not alter the relative pleasure I had discovering Wrathprayer debut album. I guess that, deep inside any dark metal fan, even among those who boast some sophistication, there is a bully who likes war cries. 6/10

Originally written for Métal Obscur.