Wrathprayer - Enkoimeterion cassette tape

ANTI-GOTH 743

(Description by J. Campbell)

In this era of hyper-connection and instant gratification, the few artists who operate methodically, deliberately, and with painstaking attention to detail are those most likely to produce meritorious and enduring work. Though sparse, Wrathprayer’s output over the last 15 years has been among the most consistently impressive. Formed in 2006, the duo of guitarist and vocalist God of Torment and drummer Pestifer Fides released their demo in 2009 and, three years later, their debut full-length, The Sun of Moloch, co-released by NWN! and R. Forster’s Ross Bay Cult label. With that album, Wrathprayer, along with bands like Teitanblood and Necros Christos, helped usher in a wave of esoteric Black/Death metal—a novel synthesis of the two genres, infusing the plodding and intricate brutality of death metal with the occult disposition of black metal. Their last recordings were completed in 2014 but remained unreleased until they appeared on the 2017 split release with fellow Chileans Force of Darkness. After lying dormant for a decade, Wrathprayer now reemerge with a malevolent masterpiece entitled Enkoimeterion or the Enlivening of the Spiritual Heirs to Amalek, which finds the band advancing further toward the dark horizon of their sound. Written in 2019-2020 and recorded live in the studio two years later, Enkoimeterion, their second full-length release, showcases masterful composition and enhanced sound quality, far surpassing the band’s earlier work. The title refers to the abaton, or sleep chamber, located within the healing temples dedicated to the Greek god Asclepius, who visited the somnolent guests in their dreams to diagnose their illnesses and reveal the cures—a therapeutic approach to dreaming known as “incubation.” Wrathprayer’s invocation of such arcane concepts is neither haphazard nor ironic; their lyrics offer philosophical and metaphysical insight woven together with poetic fervor. Those inclined can pore over the body of lyrics presented here, untangling and deciphering the various themes, searching for the locus of meaning within. The music is likewise evocative and complex. After opening with a short symphonic excerpt from a work by the modern Chilean composer Prospero Bisquertt Prado, Wrathprayer descend into cavernous regions, immersed in a deep darkness illuminated by hallucinatory visions. Permeating the album is a striated network of bold labyrinthine riffs, sharp-edged and steeped in crimson, drawn taut across the roiling percussive frenzy of the drums. The six new tracks presented here coalesce into something greater, a composite whole that feels complete and expertly composed—an album that stands out amid the uninspired detritus produced in the last decade. As with Wrathprayer’s debut album, Enkoimeterion bears the imprimatur of one of the most visionary occult artists of the last century, Denis Forkas, whose cover art provides the final element, connecting the tripartite presentation of idea, imagery, and sound.