Let Us Pray

What’s remarkable about this debut from Rhode Island’s finest death metal warriors is how damn developed their material was at this stage of their development. Yeah, sure the band had recorded their share of demo material, and had some clear scholarship in death metal, but damn!


Right from the nearly eight minute towering “War In Paradise,” these highly composed and carefully paced tracks put the band right alongside Morbid Angel as being among the genre’s most capable composers. Key is guitarist Tony Lazaro, who’s rock solid rhythm guitars underpin the entire sound, as well as providing eerie melodies throughout. Not content to merely blast like maniacs, Vital choose to use grinding speed as a tool to accentuate their songs, not make it their end all and be all. In turn, Jeff Grusin provides a gruff but hardly hyperbolic vocal approach, which works perfectly with this sort of impressively laid out material. Best moment has gotta be “Malevolent Invocation,” which manages to sound like it’s influenced by Morbid Angel (clearly a major touchstone for the band’s approach) without sounding like a rip-off or slavish copy.


Good sound (lousy cover illustration, though) and sterling musicianship add to the overall strength of this release, and it’s far from the last time Vital Remains would offer us such an impressive scripture of death.