The suddenly very productive and quality laden Portuguese metal scene (Goldenpyre, Prayers of Sanity, An Ominous Circle, Switchtense, Primal Attack), has kicked out a dose of old school death metal with the debut from Pestifer, a no frills Deicide, Altars of Madness era Morbid Angel influenced band.
There’s not much else to say really, Execration Diatribes is a solid no frill affair that needs little fluff to review. The production is a perfect balance of sharpness and a old school clarity of thrash, which also has a little bit of an influence here as much of the early 9os death metal did. This influence becomes even more obvious for the many wailing leads that litter the songs (i.e. “Nothing Remains”). The blast beat are aplenty, but they are never into more broodle realms, just a solid, raw savagery as heard on the likes of “Confront Death” and “Riding the Storms of Hate MMXVI” (both with more wailing lead work).
Of note, the vocals of Pedro Silva have a nice clear cadence and delivery that’s part black metal, part thrash, but also keeps the release more in thrash rather than pure death metal realms. It’s a nice break from gurgling or inhaled vocals.
That all said, it’s not a release I’m coming back to or band I’ll be actively seeking out. Still, this is the kind of old school death/thrash metal that would have been perfect for Dark Descent’s Unspeakable Axe subdivision, not quite full on grizzled death metal, not quite thrash, but a well executed mix of both.
