Pretty certain this is the first album from Ecuador I’ve reviewed, and raw black metal is the calling these three guys have. And yes I do mean calling; you don’t play this kind of music for fame, let alone fortune. You have to breathe it. They may have been in existence for under two years, and this may be their debut full length but they have released an avalanche of demos, splits and EPs already. So… Let’s raise some hell…

‘Ancient Spectres Of The Forlorn Forest’ reaches out with eerie, old piano notes and sinister organ in a seventies horror soundtrack style, quite enthrallingly before the riff blasts in. Ok before anything more, I have no problem with lo-fi. None. And this is. But the drum sound, the snare, is so dead. Shame as the drumming itself is rather fine. So is the riff, surging on and pulling a melancholy touch of ragged melody from the pit whence it came. ‘As Light Is Absorbed By Darkness’ goes on to consolidate this with a drop in tempo, a rise in the 80s feel and some excellent varied howls and rasps and screams.

Yeah, they got some fine raw chops here, no doubt at all.

‘Tyrants Blood’ another speedster, has that lightly punkish edge to the headlong riff that reminds me of Hellhammer and early Celtic Frost, a little Mayhem too. All good roots and it’s an unsubtle, barbed little head ripper. I will say the tracks do err on the long side at five to eight minutes and while they don’t outstay their welcome I do wonder if a little more condensing might help, particularly on the title track. It’s a nicely varied epic, but it may well be an occasion when a pinch less could be more.

‘Grim Funeral Inside The Dusty Dungeons Of Time’ on the other hand highlights how well they do use time. Imagine a raw, lo-fi version of early Emperor with some gloriously sinister melodies and lead work, a twisting surge powered on by some powerful drumming and you’re close.

Closing gargantuan twelve minute track ‘Under An Amethyst Sky’ is ok. Again, their touch with raw melody works but it’s probably the one track where my attention wanders. Shame but no big thing.

This is a very ambitious album, and mostly I believe it succeeds well. Wampyric Rites have vision, they can write in fine tempo changes, pull off ragged, melancholy melody from the muck and there is a lot to like here.

Hell, even the cover is excellent.

Into raw black metal, give this a serious look, I think you might like it.

(7.5/10 Gizmo)

https://infernaprofundusrecords.bandcamp.com/album/the-eternal-melancholy-of-the-wampyre