Let Us Pray is the debut album from the American Death Metal Band Vital Remains. Prior to this experience, they were unknown to me, but if you’re used to reading what I write about, you’ll know by now that I find great joy in discovering new things, regardless of whether it’s music, films, or books.
Whenever I imagine death metal, I imagine superfast guitars and machingun like drumming. I guess that comes from me being around when the genre was first created. I was into more melodic “ordinary” metal back then, and this whole new “extreme” metal genre was a bit too much for me. Nowadays, I have come to realize that it’s not all about the superfast music, which doesn’t even need to be superfast. It’s more about the energy and what kind of riffs are going on with the guitars. Not just speed.
I have, ever since the beginning, had a hard time with the growling, though. I like it when I can actually hear the lyrics. But at my old age (well, not that old), I’ve come to terms with that as well. I can treat the voice as another instrument and completely ignore the lyrics. The only way for me to catch them anyway is to read them, and I’m too lazy for that haha!
Anyway, there are definitely parts in Let Us Pray that are very fast and furious. But it’s not like that all the way through. There are dynamics that I like, and tempo variations. On some tracks, there’s even what I would call symphonic elements. I think it suits the sound very well. The tempo variations give the music more depth and meaning. But to tell the truth, I didn’t really notice it until I listened to it the second time.
It’s hard, and it’s heavy, almost doomish metal at times. I think it’s a fine album! Will I listen to it a lot? Probably not. But I’m glad I got an introduction to Vital Remains.
