Let Us Pray

Vital Remains has long been one of the forefathers in the Death Metal scene, having debuted in 1989 with their classic "Reduced To Ashes" demo. However, it seems like Let Us Pray, their debut album on Deaf/Peaceville Records in 1992 (Released domestically on Grind Core International), never really got a lot of attention from many fans in the scene. You'd always hear people espousing the virtues of bands like Cannibal Corpse (whose first three albums, in my opinion, can't even come closing to touching VR's debut), and all of the other clone shit bands that were popping up during that time period. Let Us Pray is one of those albums that makes you proud to be a Death Metal fan. First and foremost, there's no "3 minute grind and growl" nonsense tracks on this release. Most of the songs range anywhere from 4 minutes, to 7 plus minutes, which is always a huge thumbs up in my book. Also, VR chose to go another path on their debut. While everyone was singing the praises of corpse molestation, necrophilia, and the walking dead during this timeframe, VR spoke of Satanism from a mythological standpoint. There aren't 15 tracks on here with names like, "I Love Satan," "Satan Controls Me," "Rape Your Local Archdiocese," etc. Judging from the titles (I don't have the lyrics), and other later VR lyrics, the band focuses on a more, if there is such a term, "Mature Satanic Approach." Regardless, it beats hearing, "I raped the nun and severed her head" for the 4 billionth time.

The music on Let Us Pray is tight as can be, and everything falls into place nicely. Jeff Gruslin's vocals are harsh and deep, but way more understandable then many of his counterparts in the scene back then. VR focused more on song structure and an even flow, unlike many bands that just recorded the same song 10 times, slapped a gory cover on the front of it, and hailed themselves as kings of the scene (ironically they now work at Burger King, but that's another story). I only have one small complaint about this release, that being the cover art. It just looks really goofy to me, especially that one guy up close in the foreground, under where the album title is in blood. He looks way too much like Butt-Head of Beavis and Butt-Head fame for my tastes. That however, is a minor complaint.

When it comes right down to it, if you're looking for Death Metal as heavy and as brutal as it comes, and the thought of an album going almost an hour doesn't turn you off, then by all means you need to get your hands on a copy of Let Us Pray. You won't be sorry.

I had heard from a rather credible "source" some 12 years ago that the version of this album released domestically by Grind Core featured different cover art and packaging then that of the one released internationally by Deaf/Peaceville. However, I have never seen this alleged different artwork, so if it does exist, it's rather rare. The original versions of this album are long gone (thankfully found mine in a second hand shop some years back), but fret not. The good folks at Peaceville/Snapper Records have re-released this masterpiece in digipak format as of 12 days ago (ironically a little less then 12 years after it's debut) from this writing. The import price may be a tad high, but this one is worth getting before it heads off into obscurity once more.