25/12/2024
As we mark just over 3 years under the Death Prayer Records banner we thought we'd celebrate this period by going back to the start.
Back in 2021 we dropped our first seven releases:
DPR-01 - Grave Pilgrim – 'Grave Pilgrim'
DPR-02 - Ancient Mastery – 'The Chosen One'
DPR-03 - Czux Raboth – 'Selfdestruct & Coping'
DPR-04 - Alloxylon – 'Flammeum II'
DPR-05 - Lamp Of Murmuur – 'Chasing The Path Of The Hidden Master'
DPR-06 - Lamp Of Murmuur – 'Cursed Deambulations Of The Nocturnal'
DPR-07 - Unknown Artist – 'Untitled II'
Over the course of the next days/week we'll revisit a series of releases from the back catalog.
Lets start, with the first release, Grave Pilgrim's debut self-titled album.
As many of you know, DPR was the joining of Goatprayer Records & Death Kvlt Productions.
After a combined 15 years of running our own labels we made the hard choice to combine both under one new banner.
(A story for another day...)
Many would have though it to be to great of a risk, to start the new label merger with a new band that nobody knew.
Prior to the release of the Grave Pilgrim's debut album the band only had a singular track out as a demo.
That track was the original recording of 'Hard to be a God', which later got re-recorded and is now the epic closure to the follow-up EP 'Molten Hands Reach West' - and Christ does it do its well as this!
Despite this, the 'Hard to be a God' demo showed a sound that was new, fresh and absolutely unique with the USBM soundscape.
So after some conversing with CM & TB, a pact was sealed for Death Prayer Records to handle the debut Grave Pilgrim album.
A bold move on the bands part, to go straight from a singular demo track to writing a full-length.
However, what came out was a cascade of mid to frantic tempo US black metal riffage that held a unique Americano/Western sound behind every riff.
Think, if Thin Lizzy grew up as a bunch of real life cowboys (....not that of the Dubliner variant which they is clearly paid homage to more often than not in the bands approach) with lax guns laws and a mouth full of spite.
Then this is almost certainly what you would have got, some how joining the harmonies and writing styles of Eric Bell, Scott Gorham and Gary Moore into one player whilst drawing down further on influences from across the pond in the French scene and the talents in the homegrown Black Twilight Circle.
As a result their debut self titled album gave six tracks of a Americano overlord riffage from the Vagabonds of the Black Metal world, starting from the all out 'Plague Commando' assault to the hypnotic 'Spear of Destiny', what is on display here is a clear ex*****on of American History from the US cult duo.
Much like John McLoughlin offered the last shop on the Oregon Trail, Grave Pilgrim quickly become the last Portland band you need to stop off and listen too!
In the end, this debut release sold out in a matter of moments of its initial Tape release.
Later we went on to press this on Vinyl and CD. Of course the Vinyl is long sold out, but there are copies of the CD available on our Bandcamp store, along with Digital.
For those of you lucky enough to read to the end of the post, grab a free download code below in the comments!!
