Vehemency Wrathprayer, hailing from Chile, reeks of death on their first demo ”In Utter Darkness”. They play morbid, bestial black / death infusion with a very reverb-filled production, probably aiming to create a cavernous atmosphere - and succeeds in it. If naming musical influences, I can’t help hearing lots of Nocturnal Blood and perhaps Teitanblood, but more on the aesthetic level.

Mysterious, low growls, blast beats and down-tuned, simple yet hellish riffs. Sudden slower moments until it’s time to savage again, reminding me of Archgoat. It all works nicely and the title fits the music most perfectly, but there’s still a lack of any seriously great compositions. The atmosphere itself makes ”In Utter Darkness” worth hearing in case you enjoy this kind of bestial and extremely morbid music, but it is not enough to make a great demo.

”In Utter Darkness” is promising but not perfect. If they manage to keep the same atmosphere on their upcoming releases and come up with more interesting compositions, I’m all for it. And I don’t mean they should go avant-garde or anything; the band is clearly rooted in the original, primitive black / death metal values and I respect that, but even inside those lines it’s possible to create something more innovative - right now the band seems to heavily utilize the styles of other bands.