Pestilence started in 1986 as a thrash band (as everyone did back in the day) and by the time they released their first album 'Malleus Maleficarum' their style had moved more into the death metal territory. Their 3rd album 1991's 'Testimony of the Ancients' saw their style shift even further to incorporate some jazzy (yet subtle) elements.
The band's final album 'Spheres' released in 1993 was a revolutionary album in fully incorporating the jazz elements hinted at in the previous album. While there were a few bands that had already incorporated jazz stylings within the death metal genre (Cynic and Atheist notably) pretty well every one of these bands had a different approach and an entirely different sound. The sound on this is predominantly guitar driven, the guitar sound is very dense and chunky and the vocals are fairly harsh and aggressive (as opposed to guttural). This is where a lot of the comparisons to standard death metal end, the elements that really set this album apart are the seemingly comparatively simple yet syncopated and polyrhythmic drums, the guitar synth and the well considered jazzy and emotive guitar solos. They make for a very conflicted yet amazing listening experience and songs like 'Personal Energy' completely blur the line between jazz fusion and death metal while the frantic synth chord chorus of 'Demise of Time' is almost beyond description emotively.
It's very tough to explain albums like this one as there is so much that is open to interpretation and due to the conflicted nature of the music the best way to find out what it's about is to listen to it! This is the first of several jazz influenced metal releases I intend to post here and it's a gem of an album although it's definitely some form of acquired taste.
Track Listings
1. Mind Reflections (3:21)
2. Multiple Beings (4:05)
3. The Level Of Perception (3:49)
4. Aurian Eyes (1:32)
5. Soul Search (3:19)
6. Personal Energy (4:09)
7. Voices From Within (1:12)
8. Spheres (3:29)
9. Changing Perspectives (3:24)
10. Phileas (1:17)
11. Demise Of Time (3:40)
Total Time: 33:17
2 comments:
This reads like it could be very interesting.
Thank you.
It is nice to see a blog whose primary concerns are krautrock and vintage metal.
Keep it up!
Thank you very much man.
With tastes like yours, the world isn't still doomed!
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