Martin Ciappra from Malta and registered for his work with Lustre (from Turkey), Black Vulture and Luciferian Blood, has released the 4th full-length of Prayer of the Dying, his solo Black/Death metal band. Besides the 4 full-lengths, he also made 6 splits, 2 demos and 1 EP, so Martin isn’t a rookie. Personally I’m always a bit sceptic towards one-man bands, within the Black Metal scene it’s quite common and can be successful, but within Death Metal I can’t say it’s a good thing to do. Not a lot succeed. The blend of Black and Death Metal is quite melodic and has some nice leads. For me it’s obvious Martin sees Quorthon as a huge inspiration as some leads and song structures are in the Bathory vein during the “Viking” days. There is also a Quorthon tribute/in memoriam on this album. All though it has nothing to do with the well-known Atmospheric Black Metal bands, atmosphere is an important issue here. All the tracks are songs on their own and Ciappra tries to capture the atmosphere with pace changes, leads female vocals and chants etc. The participation of many guest musicians certainly enhance this. The only two things which I consider “so-so” are the drums (could use some more variation, except on the Quorthon tribute…he nailed it there) and the distorted voice (not really an asset and necessary concerning the music). This album has everything of the Exxxtreme worlds within Metal and can be considered as a solid album. (Ricardo)
Prayer of the Dying – God’s Failed Creation
Info
- Bands: Prayer of the Dying
- Labels: Self-Released
- Release Formats: CD
- Release Years: 2013
- Review Date: May 1, 2017
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