Pestilence Resurrection Macabre
by Alissa Ordabai
Staff Writer
Pestilence’s first original studio album in 15 years marks the start of a resurrection of the cult technical death metal band after their split in mid-Nineties amidst internal disagreements and general disappointment with the state of the metal scene.
“Resurrection” proves to be the key word both in the new album’s title as well as for the reasons behind its creation, as singer / guitarist Patrick Mameli, the driving force behind the comeback, has repeatedly stressed that it should not be seen as a reunion. Indeed, apart from Mameli himself, the only other past Pestilence member recruited this time around is bassist Tony Choy.
Regardless of the absence of other previous members, especially the uniquely charismatic ex-singer Martin van Drunen, the new record presents as hard-hitting and convincing a version of the band’s style as it was done on the their seminal late Eighties – early Nineties releases. Take out the experimental “Spheres,” the band’s last album released back in 1993, and the progression of Pestilence’s approach to death metal will prove to be as natural and organic as it is persuasive.
The polished sound and self-assured orthodox songwriting are introduced by the opener “Devouring Frenzy” from the word go to continue their relentless pace for the rest of the album. Tracks that follow are in-your-face, simple, and assertive – based on simple ideas and the simplest of riffs, but making up for what they lack in dimension with plenty of practiced panache and ball-breaking energy. Experiments in fusion are left behind, but Mameli’s laconic solos (two to four bars in length on average) still bear the stamp of jazz, bringing a new dimension to those tracks, if only to illuminate them with a light from a different world just for a few seconds.
Standouts are “Dehydrated II”, a perfectly formed, blistering follow-up to “Dehydrated” off the band’s 1989 record “Consuming Impulse” as well as the title track, the magnum opus of the album boasting an evocative guitar riff and a dazzling solo, demonstrating that this genre, is, after all, capable to engage both the heart and the brain while deploying plenty of imagination and complexity.
Label: Mascot Records
Track Listing:
1. Devouring Frenzy
2. Horror Detox
3. Fiend
4. Hate Suicide
5. Synthetic Grotesque
6. Neuro Dissonance
7. Dehydrated II
8. Resurrection Macabre
9. HangMan
10. Y2H
11. In Sickness and Death
12. Chemo Therapy (Bonus Track)
13. Out of the Body (Bonus Track)
14. Lost Souls (Bonus Track)
Hardrock Haven rating: 6.5/10