Rites of the Black Mass

The funny thing is Acheron had stronger demos then their debut would have you think. The Acheron demos evoked a dark emotion through the riffs and overall song writing (which reminded me of Morbid Angel at times).

Instead, Rites of the Black Mass attempts (and for the most part fails) to create a dark atmosphere with ambient and satanic chanting tracks that often, if not always, feels disconnected and out of place. While the meat of the song writing is very average simplistic Death Metal at an average pace. The riffs are at times catchy, but mostly wonders in circles like a wounded animal. Sure the solos here and there bring some life into a otherwise uneventful album, but solos do not make a Death Metal album. Rites of the Black Mass's problems also are compounded by the dry and tame production. The vocals are not as powerful and evil sounding as, lets say, Altars of Madness or Dawn of Possession... not even close.

What the album does offer is Satanism and more Satanism. Baphomet check, inverted crosses check, occult lyrics check and double check. Vincent writing is the strong point and he is a knowlegeable source of LaVey(an) Satanism, but this is not a book review. The main draw for most people interested in Acheron is the imagery and content. Under all of that lies some average sounding Death Metal with some underwhelming production values. Rites has its moments, but you are better off with Acheron demos or some of their later albums.