Trapped in the Pentagram isn’t an entirely new production, though both recordings are. The title track is a fresh composition, capturing the rawer tone that accentuates the underground Black Metal sound at it’s youngest and most primal. Catchy Nordic grooves laced with sinister early Darkthrone atmospheres and hostility, especially in the vocals, really make this largely mid-tempo performance full of sudden tempo changes an interesting, sometimes eccentric experience from start to finish that refuses to let go.
On the other side we find “Desecration Rites” emerging once more. The 2013 single is re-recorded to keep with the established sound, and it befeits greatly from that early first wave approach, throwing some Thrash Heavy riffs into what would eventually become the standard for the style. Immediate comparisons to Venom and even initial Sodom releases can be made at times, though more the former than the latter. Between the two songs presented here, this is the more venomous and enthusiastic, and it’s a welcome addition if you happened to miss the track the first time around.
While you’re only really getting one new song, this vinyl EP is an excellent label debut for this Brooklyn-based duo. While both songs are well executed, Spite‘s most impressive strength lies in the latter of the two songs and how well they incorporate some Thrash Metal into the mix. Clearly influenced by the style at it’s earliest to most prolific (mid-eighties to early nineties), Trapped in the Pentagram is yet another fantastic offering in the American Black Metal world that puts fans of the style as a whole on notice.