Review by Sam on January 26, 2026.

Good, better, best. Never let it rest. Until the good gets better and the better gets the best. Sorry, had to. However, the mantra of first-year Chicago Bears head coach Ben Johnson can also apply to music. In this case, it’s Argentina’s Horrendum Vermis. Here, with their sophomore effort, Rites Of Invocation To The Ancients, the dudes have dialed up the intensity considerably compared to their debut, with a more vicious, melodic, and dare I say blackened attack.

Drummer Marcos Lacalle has made the most dramatic improvement on this second effort from the brutal death ensemble. Even though I have a soft spot for slow blast beats, which were prevalent on 2016’s Portals To Horrific Pandemonium, they have been done away with here in favor of a more aggressive double bass approach. Lacalle still does his share of blasting, but he has improved in every facet of his game, from fills to footwork. Also, the louder, clearer, and more focused production of this record is vastly better than that of the first.

One thing that Horrendum Vermis specializes in is creating an evil aura. Vocalist and guitarist Matias Carrasco bellows with the belligerence of a certified priest of hell. His register is low and menacing, perfectly suited for the downtuned guitars and Lovecraftian subject matter. Dude can also create a malevolent atmosphere with his shredding capabilities. Guitar solos are a regular feature of the album, but the ones on 'Vortex To Dead Worlds Of Nyarlathotep' and 'Black Parallel Universe' are of particular note. I love the intellectual song titles that appear throughout Horrendum’s catalog.

If you scanned the track listing to Rites Of Invocation To The Ancients, you may have noticed the title of the sixth song. I got excited at first because I thought these Argentine assassins might be attempting a cover of my favorite Sabbath song. This 'Into The Void' is most certainly not that, but it is a frantic, devastating, and multifaceted brutal death metal beast. Here you’ll get everything from ripping Slayer beats to double bass beatdowns to support the ferocious riffage and explosive shred. I used the term “blackened” to describe this record, and this adjective came to mind with the opening instrumental 'At The Gates Of R’lyeh'. It’s just got this vibe of infernal damnation to it, created with dissonant riffing and some sickening tremolo picking. The mid-tempo double kick assault is the quintessential vehicle for this introductory foray into the chasms of evil that lie in wait. The vocals of Carrasco are most definitely guttural death, but it’s the omnipresence of diabolism throughout Rites Of Invocation that to me lend to it a subtle blackening. With 'The Call Of The Unknown', his voice seems to descend another octave or so as the guys crush our souls with some damnable doom destruction in between an incinerator of warp speed warfare.

Did I mention that this band is iniquitous? This aspect is demonstrated in myriad ways for the duration, but it’s perhaps no more apparent than in the instrumental 'Eternal Sleep Of Kadath'. The otherworldly background synths set the eldritch tone for the cleanly picked and chilling guitar that dabbles in a Phrygian mode of expression. This track is proof that less is more, artistically speaking, and it’s the ideal way to set the stage for the two closing tracks to seal the vault of this tomb.

Rating: 8 out of 10