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WRATHPRAYER
Enkoimeterion

Nuclear War Now! Productions (2024)
Rating: 9/10

In 2009 a mysterious demo entitled In Utter Darkness spiralled from the Chilean underground like black wisps of toxic smoke. The creators of such a cacophony were the elusive God Of Torment and Pestifer Fides who, three years later, produced the debut full-length The Sun Of Moloch: The Sublimation Of Sulphur’s Essence Which Spawned Death And Life, and then they vanished. However, in 2017 the duo were involved in the The Wrath Of Darkness split project with fellow countrymen Force Of Darkness.

Typical of Wrathprayer they disappeared again, but have now returned from slumber with a deeply esoteric and atmospheric sophomore effort. With its obscure artwork and thick, belching sound, Enkoimeterion is the album I wanted it to be, squirming like some filthy demonic behemoth that has existed in its own silt.

After the ‘Lord Of Agony’ instrumental drifts by, the absolute horror of ‘Seeds Of Corruption’ erupts like a thick, choking fog of evil spewed from the deepest depths of Hell. In fact, for the six minute duration I considered several times ditching the headphones to escape such foul, flatulent churning. Imagine if you will a pit of boiling liquid, bubbling and emitting a sulphuric scent, while the ghastly plumes form leaden, poisonous clouds above. The vocals are harrowing, unnerving growls not of this Earth as the merry God Of Torment moans through morose storms of cloying ash.

This is black-death at its most miserable and disconcerting – dense and suffocating – and with each passing track this is accompanied by the soundtrack of creaks upon my stairs. ‘Mercy Begets Savagery’ is the equivalent to a vast sodden blanket of terror being thrown over a filthy wall of grinding riffs. It’s harrowing and consuming blackness daubed in a veil of grasping humidity, but if you are brave enough to peel back the squalid folds you will hear those tweaks of melody which act as points of light. ‘Seelenabgründ’ is a stifling example of the ever thickening gloop that occasionally gives up its segments of sanity which may present themselves as a wailing solo or guttural churn.

As the album unravels, one feels as if the sounds which emanate are the result of the twosome drilling into the floor of Hell. Previously uncharted depths are explored as ‘Harpagisometha’ erupts like a repulsive cloud of opaque smog, impenetrable in its soupy abhorrence as repugnant riffs seethe against loathsome raging percussion. ‘Man’s Obsolescence’ is like a rush of dirty wind charging headlong down black corridors of filth. Bass flurries are turbulent, forever grinding like oxidized machinery eructating like some gaseous geyser.

With each step of trepidation I tip toe through each song wondering what hellish discord await and with some relief I reach the closing track, the colossal abyssal rattle that is ‘Caliginous Ecstasy’. More slithering horrors reside beneath blustery, organic ripples staged as tumultuous riffs and percussive patterns. Again, those vocal smirks drizzle themselves over the swirling layers of silt as I envisage grotesque entities grappling within smog whirlwinds of evil.

When the album falls silent the recovery process is lengthy, but the surrounding darkness remains like a scowling, mocking presence. Wrathprayer have created evil on record, so approach not just with caution but also holy water.

Neil Arnold

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