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Chilean underground Death/Thrashers Praise The Flame may have only been together for three years, but the seasoned musicians in this line up (whose members are drawn from fellow underground outfits; Death Yell, Megiddo, Insorcist, and Occidens), will give any of the more mainstream, big-name bands a good run for their money, in terms of content and quality.
‘Manifest Rebellion’ is their first full-length, following an EP and a split with ‘Abrekadaver’, and is a blackened chunk of chaotic and tempestuous Death/Thrash that adds up to an exciting listen.
The nine track, forty-five minute chunk of brutality begins with ‘Thanatognomonic’, a two minute intro that builds in volume and intensity over two minutes, complete with vocal roars, that almost, but not quite, prepares you for the pummelling onslaught of ‘Fire Forces of Hate’, with its manic riffs and resonating growls and a midpoint shred, which heralds a quickening of the tempo for the greater part of the second half.
‘Manifest Rebellion’ is initially slow and sinister, with ground-shaking growls, then a couple of minutes in, and the tempo starts to quicken, but the slower pace returns in the second half… briefly. I was pleased about this, because I loved the dark and classic feel to it, this time accompanied by squealing guitars.
You get the full works on ‘The Burial Urns Of Grief’. A full range of tempos, from slow to fast, and all that lies in between, along with a little teaser of crazy shredding, all dynamically arranged in a way that keeps you surprised and guessing .
With its dramatic, almost epic, opening, ‘Sepulchral Haze’ quickly breaks into pummelling drums and intensely fast riffing. The rasping growls cut through like a rusty knife, and despite the full on intensity, it’s a well-punctuated track, with pauses, drops, and a very ample mid-point shred, and there’s no letting up with the pace on the next track ‘Endless Scourge’ either. The only difference is you get two lots of shredding, at the mid-point and at the end, so double the fun.
The vocals really go one step further on ‘Venomous Tyranny’. Great drawn out rasping roars and extended delivery to the lyrics adding a lot of impact, along with the most dramatic tempo switches so far. Slower, sinister builds, and swift, crushing segments where the hammering riffs and pummelling drums practically pin you to the wall, but only so you can fully appreciate that closing shred.
‘Rise The Witchpower’ has a magnificent opening that is sinister, yet grandiose, drawing you in with its dark repeat riff and flamboyant drum patterns, then normal chaos resumes, and you are trampled beneath waves of unrelenting drum work and riffing. It does return to that slower, darker, and sinister mood of the intro, and of course, some latter-part shredding.
Final track ‘Cryptic Sovereign Death’ doesn’t bring any surprises, just the tried and tested formula that has worked so well on the previous tracks… furious riffing, a battery of drumming, rasping, rusty vocals and………. SHREDDING!!
‘Manifest Rebellion’ is available from Memento Mori. It’s powerfully delivered, well produced and definitely worth a few listens.
Review: Jools Green
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