Time Signature
Wrath of Baal...
Genre: black metal
Hailing from the productive, yet relatively obscure, Bolivian metal scene, Satanic Bloodspraying represent the more aggressive and hate-filled end of the local black metal scene.
The aptly titled "At the Mercy of Satan" is a 24-minute package of aggressive black metal evil. With the eight songs being based on simple guitar figures that fall somewhere between punk and black metal and which are accompanied by simple, but hyper fast, polka-thrash drums as well as old school black metal blastbeats, we are dealing with music that appeals to the inner beast in man just awaiting to be unleashed to wreak havoc upon the world. While relatively one-dimensional (which is obviously something Satanic Bloodspraying deliberately have aimed for), there are a couple of instances of variation - most notably the nicely heavy introductions to 'Tetragrammaton' as well as the near-epic opening of 'March of the Dead' (which is a heavier affair). Another heavy track is 'The Day the Earth Stood Still' which also has an epic feel to it.
Now, one might expect the production to be lo-fi to the point of being unlistenable, but that is actually not the case. "At the Mercy of Satan" is actually surprisingly well produced, with the guitars and drums having a crisp sound, while the bass provides a heavy bottom. The vocals are neatly separated from the instrumentation, and everything is fairly well balanced.
Normally, this type of primitive type of black metal does not really appeal to me, but this album does. It took me half a listen to get sucked into the aggression and evil that characterizes this album, and I ended up enjoying every minute of it. Maybe it's the production. Maybe its the music. Chances are that it is both.
"At the Mercy of Satan" is aggressive and evil, if you are into in-yer-face black metal hatred, then you should do yourself a favor and check out this black metal attack.