When a band decides they want to re-record a collection of their songs and put it out as an album, it can be a dicey affair, due to the ardent supporters of the band living and breathing the band’s music for years.  It’s one thing to re-record an older song and place it as a bonus song on an album, such as Suffocation who have been re-recording each of their Breeding the Spawn songs for some time now and each new version ending up on a new Suffo album and their re-recorded songs, are quite excellent.

This is not always the case though, for example Exodus re-recording their classic debut Bonded By Blood with the Let There Be Blood album to showcase, Rob Dukes, their vocalist at the time.  I also remember main man Gary Holt going on record as saying it was not meant as a replacement of that album, but rather an updated version of what the songs have morphed into, when played live, now.  The production on that release and musicianship were quite great and Dukes did nice vocal work, however, the album was unnecessary.  Missing was the evilness of the original recording, as well as the atmosphere.

As a whole, the only band, I feel who have crushed their old stuff with a re-recording would be Cuba’s Gothic/Black Metal act Mephisto.  They have recently dropped the re-recorded album of their 2000 debut Carpathian Tales, as well as re-recording a bunch of songs from their 2016 second album Reborn from Ashes.  This new version of Carpathian Tales destroys their prior material in terms of brutality, production, musicianship, songwriting and is now easily the best release the band has ever released.

I love Pestilence and Levels of Perception, even before its release started a wave of flack for the band.  As IM sure you heard, Pestilence opted for an album cover done with A.I. art and capturing each band member, on the front, in some sort of biomechanical cartoon design.  I actually thought the cover was pretty cool, but the metal scene went out and blasted the band and the band retracted the album cover and replaced it with a cover with live shots of the band and if you did not know any of this, would think this new album cover was a live concert recording.

Pestilence ultimately wanted their music to get out to the masses and did not want an album cover to detract from buyers etc..But I gotta be honest here, while I was looking forward to hearing new renditions of classic Pestilence songs, I could not have been more let down.  This collection of songs is stripped down in terms of production and reimagined quality.  The sound is quite rough, sounding more like a rehearsal tape, and lacking power.  Just what the F is going on here, has been my thoughts ever since listening to this and a multitude of fellow writers feel the same.  Take for example “Out of the Body” off the amazing 1989 Consuming Impulse album.

When Patrick put Pestilence back together and put out the stunning 2009 comeback album Resurrection Macabre, if you were lucky to score the deluxe version, the band re-recorded 3 classic songs, one of which is “Out of the Body”.  That newer version, while it did not best the original, was updated in sound and Patrick sounds fantastic on it and the song is played with a lot of power just like the brand new songs on the album.  Then this re-re-recorded version of  “Out of the Body” is devoid of power, although Patrick sounds better on this newer version than the 2009 version, because he continues to get better as a vocalist, which I love.

Another classic song from Consuming Impulse, “Dehydrated”, is marred by a lack of power, but also some of the timing is changed with vocal phrasing and drum patterns.  “Dehydrated” happens to be my favorite Pestilence song of all time and the new stop-on-a-dime drum patterns in the very beginning are a bit off putting to these ears, but the slow down moment with the “Vultures Circling in the Sky…lyrics-one of the best parts in all of death metal, is changed and not for the betterment.  The weird drum signature time changes during this slow part and the differing vocal pattern, has me scratching my head.  Patrick’s vocals do sound great, but the slight variation in phrasing and drum patterns makes this song sound like it was more of an unfinished product, with the band working through the kinks, before an official release.

“Multi Dimensional” is a terrific song from the 2018 Hadeon album and this version sounds similar, but when this newer version is placed next to the original things like the production and power are truly evident and the various tweaks in the structure are negligible at best…I’m unsure about the inclusion of this song and “Horror Detox”, from that wonderful comeback album in 2009, is re-recorded here, again lacking in power and conviction from the truly crushing original.  Not every album here is represented with re-recordings, such as their 1988 killer debut, Mallevs Maleficarvm, maybe that is for the best.

All in all, unless you’re a completist, I’m unsure re-recording songs, in this manner, with low production/power qualities and some questionable structural changes, is something the die-hard Pestilence fan is going to want to listen to.  The original songs in all of the above were untouchable.  Maybe newer Pestilence fans??  I don’t know, these re-recordings, of terrific songs, are not my thing at all.

With Pestilence on a new label over the last several years, Agonia Records, the label decided to do brand new reissues, sounds redundant, I know.  I only have the digital downloads of these and it appears there was no bonus material added to these reissues.  The main goal of Pestilence mainman, Patrick Mameli, for these new reissues, was to be able to go back to the source material in order to get the best possible sound out of these four original masterpieces.  The remastered sound significantly improves on the overall audio quality of past reissues. The remastering was done by Satanic Audio (Behemoth, Azarath).  So let me talk about each of these albums individually in brief spurts and I will go on record as saying the album which benefited the most from these new remasters is Spheres.

After a few demos Netherlands based act Pestilence, were signed to R/C Records and the debut album Malleus Maleficarum was released in 1988.  10 songs of pretty intense death/thrash metal that put the band on the map.  The Netherlands would become a hotbed for death metal with the likes of Gorefest, Asphyx, Thanatos, and many more, and is still one of my favorite areas for extreme metal.  This album really started the whole hybrid death/thrash movement, if you ask me.  The title track is a damn good instrumental which went right into “Antropomorphia”.  Newcomer to the vocal scene Martin v. Drunen had a quick snappy snarling vocal delivery and yes he sounded like Obituary’s John Tardy, or is it the other way around??  Hmmm, because this album dropped a year prior to Obit’s debut, Slowly We Rot.

Regardless the music displayed on this album, at times is unbridled, unrestrained, and a little sloppy, but this all added to the charm- “Extreme Unction” I am looking at you, ya bastid.  Many other songs were fleshed out more, such as “Bacterial Surgery”, with some excellent double bass drums, courtesy of Mr. Marco Foddis.  The guitar work of Patrick and Randy Meinhard was still impressive and the music goes perfectly with the torture driven album cover.  The remaster is louder, more in your face than past reissues and crisper.  Check out the power of the remaster, especially on the last track “Systematic Instruction”.  The song has speed, power and some mid-paced moments and the drums hit hard with the remaster, as does the vocals and instruments.

This album got Pestilence noticed and then a year later the proverbial atom bomb dropped with Consuming Impulse, the band’s second album.  Minhard was out and Patrick Uterwijk, a better guitarist, entered the picture and this album went full-throttle death metal and still is one of the heaviest death metal albums ever.  10 songs again and this was actually my introduction to Pestilence.  I was at a show in NY and a friend of mine had ripped it from a cd onto cassette and he let me hear some of it on his Walkman.  I was like holy crap this is heavy AF.  Then while going to a show my friend bought the album on cassette and we listened to it while going to the show.  The next day I purchased it on cd, then I found out a few weeks later about their debut album and picked that up a few months later.

This album is a perfect death metal album and “Dehydrated” wasted no time, as it marched out of the starting gates, with a heavier guitar sound, Martin using lower vocal registers and Pestilence adding some doom to the mix.  When the slow down happens with some of the best vocal patterns known to man – look out!: Vultures circling in the sky, Peeling the flesh from a corpse, Blankened bones are all that’s left, Dehydration as the death cause.  This is quoted from my memory and over 30 years later every fucking time I hear this part I pick up houses, curl them and then launch them into outer space.  This part is untouchable.  It’s not like the rest of the album did not kill as well, the next song “The Process of Suffocation” with the scorching opening drum patterns and varying tempo shifts to “Out of the Body”, which is still played live to this day, really Pestilence out did themselves on this and the album cover with the ants on the dudes face is still considered one of the most striking album covers.  The new remaster pushes the guitar sound to the front a bit more and the drums have an even more resonating deep bass sound to them.

Testimony of the Ancients dropped in 1991 and some line-up shifts took center stage with Van Drunen rolling out to Asphyx and Tony Choy entering in to take over the bass guitar duties and Patrick taking on the vocals, which he continues to present day.  I love all the Pestilence albums – ALL of them, but it seems like Testimony is considered, by many to be their finest album.  For me, with the shifts in line-up, the band progressing in their song writing and musical ability, this album was the natural progression for them and the shift they needed to make in order to stay relevant in the ever increasing and saturated death metal scene.  Going down to Florida’s legendary Morrisound Studios fleshed out a tighter and crisper Pestilence and Patrick’s vocals, maybe had a flair of Chuck Schuldiner to them, but also did not stray too far from Van Drunen.

Nevertheless, I was a first day buyer of this cd and I was like hot damn Patrick has a set of pipes, damnit.  The band included multiple intrumentals/interludes on the album with a whopping 16 tracks, which was pretty much unheard of in the death metal community, at the time.  The interludes were short and the album’s run time at 43 minutes was perfect.   “The Secrecies of Horror” crushing right out of the starting gates and the band becoming even catchier with their song writing and the main opening riff and Patrick’s growl before getting right into the song, is pure classic and set the stage that Patrick loved this band and with the shifts in line-ups was not about to have the band fold.  He was a man with a mission and there is so much genius on this album, with the ethereal guitar soloing on “Twisted Truth” or the crushing opening of “Prophetic Revelations”, almost a little poly-rhythmic in nature, this opening is one of the most memorable moments in death metal, I feel.  Every song rules and “Stigmatized” is still one of the best Pestilence songs ever recorded.  The album cover went towards a more spacey feeling and away from the typical death metal covers, at the time, and was perfect with the new and improved technical sound of Pestilence.  This remaster makes the crispness of the original recording even more biting, much louder and the solos, which were already upped in the original mix, will decapitate anyone within a 2 inch radius of a speaker.

Spheres dropped in 1993 and the Pestilence fanbase became torn as Patrick went into a more hybrid mix of technical jazz fusion death metal.  I will go on record as saying I did not like this album when it was released.  Maybe it was due to the raw production, but my brother, who was a guitarist, loved the album.  To be perfectly honest with you it took me 10 years to finally appreciate the genius of this album.  In 2003, I have no idea why, I flipped on the album and it clicked, so for the last 20 years I have made up for that 10 year span I did not listen to Spheres, 100 fold, trust me.  Jeroen Paul Thesseling entered as the new bassist and Pestilence disbanded in 1994 because the public was so hyper critical of the album, in reviews and the fans as well.  The guitar synths really benefit from this new remaster.  Listen to the opener “Mind Reflections” to hear them buzzing through your speakers.  A thing of beauty.

The music on Spheres is still energetic and fast, but also mellower moments.  “Personal Energy” with the spacey feeling and emotive atmosphere is actually a beautiful musical piece with varying vocal tones.  Listen to this song in the summertime, at night and gaze up at the stars, if it’s a clear sky.  I have done this multiple times in the last 2 decades and you will see what I mean when I say this is a beautiful musical piece with some of the most intricate drumming by Marco Foddis and from the melodies, vocal patterns, synths, the musical landscape, of this track, makes this a top 10 Pestilence song for me.  The original artwork, by Dan Seagrave, was rejected by the band, but made its way as the cover for the MetalMind gold disc remaster in 2007.  I like the original cover, but it was a little too cartoony, and the eventual cover the band went with, for me, was the way to go.  As I stated earlier Spheres sounds crushing with this remaster and there are so many nuances and sounds that just cut through so much more now.  I was so thrilled when Pestilence burst back onto the scene in 2008 and the 2009 reunion album Resurrection Macabre was a crushing album and destroyed everything in the solar system.

So there you have it.  If you do not own the Hammerheart deluxe reissues, you may not want these new remasters.  I am not here to tell you how to spend your money with these albums, which have been reissued several times in the past.  What I can definitively tell you is these first four legendary Pestilence albums never sounded better and hopefully this does not become a George Lucas type of thing where Lucas seems to always tinker with the original Star Wars Trilogy.  These are landmark death metal albums and each album is different from the next.  Great band and great sounding reissues!

A few years back when I came back to touring with Internal Bleeding, since I was no longer 22 years old anymore – he was an individual in my corner, giving me some vocal tips, with me being older.  Not only did the tips greatly help me, I still use some of them, when recording vocals and in general – it was sage and sound advice.  So much so, I know, I can continue to tour/play live, should I receive future calls.  Anyone who knows me, knows I take things like his advice to heart and my respect for what he did, I will never, ever forget – thank you Mr. Mameli.  Exitivm is the ninth full-length Pestilence album and if you have been a fan of Pestilence since Patrick put the pieces back together in 2008 and the more modern sound, you will enjoy Exitivm.  Patrick has a new line-up as well with: Joost van der Graaf/bass, Rutger van Noordenburg/guitars and Michiel van der Plicht/drums.

Exitivm consists of 12 songs which include an intro and outro with the 10 songs wedged between them.  The intro, “In Omnibvs”, is not a mere 1 minute or so, but a whopping 2.50, which is a lengthy intro….I’m just like, c’mon let’s get this party started already.. The intro has a space-themed style and slowly builds…and builds…and it’s kinda like a slow burn horror movie from the 1970’s…and the slow burn continues as the intro bleeds into “Morbvs Propagationem”, until the song bursts through 14 seconds in and the sound is massive.  The mid-paced part 20 seconds later is destructive and vicious.  The sound is super angry and Patrick sounds killer-his vintage self.  The bass guitar plucking and guitar riffing is exceptional and drums are pummeling.  Excellent guitar melodies and then a solo comes ripping in to take your soul sphere and crush it 1,000 times.  OOOOHHHHH Darkkkkkk Lord-the Holy Shit part is the part to end all parts.  The mid-paced rumbling comes in, then goes into the vintage 90’s Pestilence speed – equipped with the death/thrashing gallop, but then at the 1.50 part, a little isolated guitar, then vocal part and BOOM! Right into a scathing and rip-roaring blast beat.  When Pestilence came back to the scene and the reunion album Resurrection Macabre was unleashed in 2009 the blast beats were a new element the band used.  This really was quite the enhancement and I love when they blast.  Anyway this particular blast is so goddamned fast and after the blast the atmospherics with the synths/keys is exceptional.  The song goes back into the pummeling mid-paced part and then into the galloping speed, before a little blast beat is thrown in. “Morbvs Propagationem” needs to be their new live opener, from now on,- this is one of the best Pestilence songs ever written.

“Deificvs” is up next and is slower and the double bass is thunderous.  Excellent atmospherics and Patrick’s vocals really sound angry AF.  Nice start n start riffing, whereas, a little polyrhythmic section will throw you off balance.  Excellent riffing, soloing and great to have the start n stop section return to end the track, with the soloing.

“Internicionem” brings more of the speed back, really having a Testimony of the Ancients feel to it and excellent vocal patterns.  “Mortifervm” is an interesting song.  More of a mid-paced vicious tune with the polyrhythmic moments.  This is a pretty complex tune…I’ll say…as far as the music is concerned, this Pestilence album may be the most complex album Patrick has ever written…but don’t worry, it’s still catchy.  Anyway, back to the tune..the song is pummeling, and for some reason reminds me of when I listen to “Bleed” from Meshuggah.  A constant mid-paced barrage of rolling heaviness, which is both complex as it is ferocious-that is “Mortifervm”.  This song is another stand-out and is non-stop pummeling heaviness.

The next several songs, kinda stay in neutral.  More of the mid-paced stuff and I did want to hear a few more fast numbers, but we have to wait until “Immortvos”.  This song has excellent riffing, speed and solos and a terrific ending and then “Personatvs Mortem” is the outro to end the album.  More atmospheric space noises and shit…it’s serene and calm.

Exitivm sounds fantastic – the production rules and this is 110% a Pestilence album.  The songwriting is extremely complex and varied and although there are plenty of catchy moments I do find the previous effort Hadeon catchier.  Patrick sounds vicious on this, like he’s murdering someone’s soul-really killer..pun intended.  I would have liked a few more fast songs on this album, to be honest.  But as I stated there is a lot of varied instrumentation and sounds on Exitivm.   The pummeling mid-paced parts are played with such conviction – it’s really something new to a Pestilence album, in terms of how vicious some of these moments stand out.  The album cover with the space and Lovecraftian imagery is striking and goes perfectly with the soundscape of this album.  Menacing, brutal, atmospheric and otherworldly.  Exitivm  is a helluva album and one of the best releases for 2021, no doubt!

With Hadeon being the 8th full-length from Pestilence how does this stack up to the prior albums?? Pretty freaking killer, actually.  After a 2 minute intro, “Non Physical Existent”  comes in with a nice punchy sound, with a bass guitar heavy rhythm section.  Patrick’s vocals are killer and he gets into some lower gutturals and some killer quick blasting interwoven.  If you’ve been a fan of the newer records, which started with Resurrection Macabre, you will certainly enjoy this, very much so, but quite a lot of the sound is focused on more of the technique Pestilence were using with the classic Testimony of the Ancients time era, hence. Therefore, this will bring some of the older fans out of the woodwork a little more.  “Multi Dimensional” is up next and starts slow before erupting into a nice death thrash pace with some extraordinarily fast guitar riffing.  Quite a nice guitar solo afterwards and I enjoy Patrick growling the song title as the chorus.  Simple, yet effective.  “Oversoul” has an awesome beginning with some killer bass guitar lines and the slower, jazz parts are reminding me of the Spheres era, but mix in more of the newer Pestilence sound and punishing production.  This track is killer and Patrick is spitting forth some extra piss ‘n vinegar vocals.  The phase shifter, like vocal effects during the chorus part with the growls going in and out are creative and the guitar solos are ethereal and well done.  This song also has some monster crunch stylized guitar riffing.  Excellent song.

“Manifestations’” opening bass guitar is all over the place and is thumping and I love the bouncy feeling.  The song picks up to a classic death/thrash beat and the rhythm section is ultra-strong during the guitar solos and faster paced parts.  The mid-paced groove is so heavy and punishing.  It’s a real fun song with the bouncy rhythm and I would imagine this would be a real fun song to play live and see the crowd moving like a sea of mangled bodies, entangled with shards of sinewy bone shards exploding all over crowd.  “Discarnate Entity” begins with some spacey guitar soloing and then right into a classic 1991 death metal gallop with Patrick growling out the title track, which is something he has been doing since Resurrection Macabre, and there are some excellent drumming moments when the faster parts slows down to almost some poly-rhythm’s and wonderful usage of cymbals.  “Electro Magnetic” ends the album with an outstanding opening moment which goes into some quick blast beats and the groove swoops in to lop your head off from miles away before Pestilence is off to the races again with the faster section and quick blasting.   The 2.29 part is the Holy Shit section with the guitar solo ripping through your speakers and then the blasts coming in.  Fantastic.  The song trails off and then booya, Hadeon is over.

Hadeon’s production is crisp, clear, heavy and 100% Pestilence.  Patrick and I were in communication not too long ago and he stated the album really brings together elements of their newer records, as well as their past efforts.  The man was spot on.  It’s like 1991 and 2018 collided together to form the awesomeness, which is Hadeon.  A few quick observations.  Some douchebag had leaked the album some time ago and the original Hadeon artwork was scrapped and this is the newer cover, which is the perfect album cover for Hadeon, as it fits the tying in of the older and newer Pestilence.  The musicianship is terrific and Hammerheart are offering up a variety of package deals along with the format of your choice.  Pestilence are back, with hopefully no more hiatuses and this is a no brainer buy or die!

In 1988 Malleus Maleficarum took the underground death/thrash scene by storm.  I was quite blown away and to this day it blows away a lot of other debut albums.  Aggressive, but still retaining quite a bit of melody, this album was way ahead of its time. Tunes like “Subordinate to the Domination”, “Chemotherapy” and “Extreme Unction”, were and are still brutal but played with an extraordinary amount of musicianship for a debut album.  The album was blending death metal with their high intensity thrash sound. Van Drunen was still honing his vocals and has such a rage to his vocals. Foddis pounds the drums and Randy played some good rhythm guitar.  Patrick injected some nice solos and his riffs, super catchy. My fave song has always been “Systematic Instruction”.  Perfect album closer. Erwin Hermsen has done a remarkable remastering job with Patrick assisting in the process.  You get a sound that crushes the MetalMind reissue from years ago. Sound is louder, crisper, in your face, while still preserving its original authenticity.  Disc2 contains the Dysentery demo which Patrick sang on and The Penance with Martin, as well as another bonus track. The demos have been facelifted with the remastering and I’m so impressed with the barely audible hiss, thanks to this remastering.  There are some rather strong songs and you can see how the band were still developing their craft. The booklet contains: liners, lyrics, photos and flyers. The cd is housed in a slipcase. Outstanding and worthy of your collection.

In 1989 I was driving to a metal show and my friend whipped out the Consuming Impulse cassette and I loved the cover. We could not stop listening to it.  It crushed.  Pestilence went full on death metal and the heaviness increased to the point making it one of the heaviest albums of that time.  Even by today’s standards it blows away most death metal. This is true organic heaviness. I went to this place in Long Island called Adventureland.  Glass pane for all the people outside to see while they created a video for you. I did “Dehydrated” while playing guitar and doing vocals. I lip synced the song pretty well and thrashed all over the place. People thought I was a weirdo with my shorts and metal shirt and mullet.  Fuck ‘em.  This is one of the best death metal songs. That slow down where Martin sings “vultures circling in the sky, peeling the flesh from a corpse…” omg yes I know the lyrics backwards and forwards, this part is so lethal.  How about “Out of the Body”?  That opening riff and then Martin comes in with the bass slide, Foddis hits the toms and Martin lets out a devastating growl.  It’s perfection.  Patrick Uterwijk was the new guitarist and alongside Mameli they were an unstoppable force.  Pestilence had visa issues and missed the Carcass/Death tour date I was going to see them on but I bought the poster with their logo. It sucked cause I wanted to see Pestilence. Hopefully someday so I can buy Mr. Mameli a beer and thank him personally for creating one of the best death metal albums ever.

This 2CD slipcase edition is the first remastering Consuming Impulse has received. The same remastering guru again and the album punches you in the face with loudness and clarity. It is phenomenal.  Disc 2 are live shows which have been spit shined and polished to sound great.  Lyrics, liners, photos, flyers and the original rejected brutal cannibalistic album cover encompass the terrific booklet. These reissues are both Buy or Die. Utterly perfect and most respectful to one of the pioneering bands in the death metal scene.
 

Enter in Obsideo and I will say this is one of their strongest albums ever and one of my favorites for 2013.  The best way to describe this is take the technical and atmospheric sounds of Testimony of the Ancients and combine that with the sheer brutality of Resurrection Macabre and some Spheres like moments and there you have it.  The blast beats have returned ten fold and new drummer David Haley is incredible on this.  The title track opens the album with a scorching blast beat and Mameli’s vox sound very similar to TOTA, he sounds incredible!  Nice little ditty of a guitar solo at the 2.50 mark then right into a blast beat.  Groove comes in next with fast double bass.  “Displaced” is one of Pestilences’ finest songs and opens with a killer old school thrash beat, coupled with blast beats.  A minute and a half later some killer keyboards, nice guitar solos and the alternating tempos, which are on this song and the rest of the album are incredible to hear.  This tune has some killer heavy grooves too.  “Necromorph” sees Mr. Haley taking center stage with his fills, blast beats and really tasty drumming.  Heavy tune with some killer effects thrown in.  Mameli sings in a higher register on this song, that is similar to what he did on Doctrine, but not as grating.  You also have other highlights like on the tune “Soulrot” with its killer guitar riff, brutal blast beats and guitar melodies and “Transition” which brings forth the eerie keyboards again with ferociously heavy, punishing start/stop riffing.

The entire album slays and the songs are really short, which I’m ok with.  My only complaint, and it’s a small one, is the fact that a few songs end rather abruptly, like they just stopped playing without a proper ending.  But really the album is 110% Pestilence sounding, awesomely brutal and creative.  The musicianship and production are top notch.  Killer album cover, with a nice booklet equipped with pics and lyrics.  No brainer; Obsideo is one of the best this year.  Buy or Die!!!!!!!

The band comments, “PESTILENCE is very excited to announce that they have signed a recording deal with Candlelight Records. We feel that our new material is very special and innovative and that it needs the back up of a solid company like Candlelight to get it out there to the metal world.”

Obsideo will feature band mastermind Mameli and long-time partner guitarist Patrick Uterwijk with new German bassist George Maier and Australian drummer Dave Haley. Mameli notes, “PESTILENCE is chuffed to have Dave Haley in the lineup. Dave is one of the five best extreme drummers in the world, and his talent brings PESTILENCE to new levels that couldn’t be reached otherwise. Georg Maier is a young and talented bass player that will turn some heads. Both guys are really down to earth and real easy going. Of course, Patrick Uterwijk is my most respectable and long-going friend and musician.”

Formed in 1986, PESTILENCE took influence from early American and German thrash metal to cultivate its now signature death metal sound. Four albums would see release and continued worldwide growth for the band before members decided to go separate ways in 1994. Fourteen years later, the band would reform and in 2009 released Resurrection Macabre (Mascot). On review, noted website Chronicles Of Chaos said, “Mameli and company chose to steer this effort down paths previously unexplored whilst maintaining their unmistakably vintage essence.” Blabbermouth added, “distinctive and unique… a diverse and satisfying metal experience.”

In recent years, PESTILENCE has also returned to the live stage; their first North American tour in over 16 years commenced at the annual Maryland Death Fest May 30, 2010. Commenting to Noisecreep after announcement of the 18-city tour, Mameli said, “we will put our heart and soul into these upcoming shows and hope to make lots of fans happy with both old and new material.” PESTILENCE was a featured performer on the second annual 70,000 Tons of Metal Cruise that left Miami on January 23, 2012. The band performed two sets on the popular Caribbean cruise that also featured Cannibal Corpse, Crowbar, My Dying Bride, Samael, Overkill, and Venom among others.

Check out Doctrine‘s Marko Saarelainen cover art HERE.

Doctrine Track Listing:

01. The Predication
02. Amgod
03. Doctrine
04. Salvation
05. Dissolve
06. Absolution
07. Sinister
08. Divinity
09. Deception
10. Malignant
11. Confusion
PESTILENCE started in 1986 and were initially influenced by American and German thrash. By the time of their second album however, 1989’s Consuming Impulse, the band had developed its own brand of brutal death metal. In the years that followed, PESTILENCE became one of the prime bands in the international death metal scene. The group toured relentlessly, further honing their skills and absorbing outside influences. This inevitably lead to 1993’s timeless Spheres full-length, on which founding member Mameli combined his well-loved death metal sound with a new musical passion: fusion. The album was an artistic triumph, but was also many years ahead of its time. In 1994 PESTILENCE disbanded and Mameli withdrew from the music scene.

The band announced its comeback in 2008. Any possible skepticism was blown away when, in 2009, new album, Resurrection Macabre, hit streets. PESTILENCE‘s still-loyal fan-base was treated to a production that had all the classic ingredients, but showcased even more musicianship than before. The international lineup consisted of singer/guitarist Mameli, bassist Tony Choy, drummer Peter Wildoer and guitarist Patrick Uterwijk. Following its release, the band toured Europe, the US and South America, playing for old and new fans alike. “The magic was there again,” says Mameli, looking back.

Never a band to rest on its proverbial laurels, PESTILENCE returns with Doctrine. Dominated by the eight-string guitar work of Mameli and Uterwijk, songs burn with brutal, low-edged sound that sets a new standard in extreme metal. “The eight-string guitar opened a lot of new doors for us,” says Mameli. “It gives us lots of new musical options and allows us to make the music sound more brutal than ever before. At the same time, it forced me to sing in a higher pitch, because I didn’t want to get my vocals in the way of the low-tuned guitar parts. It was a blessing in disguise. My vocals sound more intense and manic than before.”

Doctrine features a partly new lineup that is entirely Dutch again. Obscura bassist Jeroen Paul Thesseling, who was already around during the Spheres days, rejoins the fold in addition to new recruit, 23-year-old drummer Yuma van Eekelen, who is also making his name as a member of The New Dominion. “It was partly out of idealism that I returned in 2008 with an international lineup,” Mameli recalls. “It was a great experience, but it was very hard to really work together due to the distance and time. For instance, we never had the possibility to practice on a regular basis. We do now. We exchange ideas, go out together and tell each other which cool albums to check out. Just like in the old tape-trader days. It’s great. PESTILENCE finally feels like a real band again.”

To check out the songs “Sinister” and “Salvation” off Doctrine, visit THIS LOCATION.

To check out a video interview with Thesseling, who talks with De Bassist at length about his expert use of his seven-string, fretless bass, point your browser HERE.

http://www.pestilence.nl

It was, I guess, a big misunderstanding.  We were under the impression that…since we have new people, since the last time we’ve been to the States, things had changed visa-wise.  So, we were under the impression that our paperwork was okay, and then when we came over there, some information was missing.  And since 9-11, things have changed so much in that we were just sent back, you know.  That’s it.  Long flight, and then we were just sent on the next plane.  We were interrogated for four hours or something like that, like criminals, and, well, we don’t want to have that happening again.  We were just approved; we can just go and get our stamp at the American consulate, and everything will be just fine.

Perfect.  That’s got to be a huge relief, to know that you will finally be able to come back.

Oh, yeah.

When was the last time that you actually played in the United States?

I think it was on a tour with Death, I think.  That’s already a very, very long time ago.  Yeah, I mean, we’ve been there a bunch of times, I think three or four times that we came over.  But like I said, it’s been so many years; things probably have changed. Maybe not, I don’t know.  But we are very eager and anxious to come over and play.

I’m hoping to catch you on the tour; I don’t know if it’s going to happen or not, because [I’m] not necessarily close to any of the tour stops, but I’m going to try and make it happen.

Well, hopefully, yeah.  That would be nice to speak with you in person, and chit chat some more, of course.  A lot of people don’t realize that when you do the routing of a tour, you know, when some dates get confirmed, other dates have to follow in that whole scheme.  It has to be on the way, or it can’t be out of the way, and blah-blah-blah.  Some parts, we really wanted to go to, but because the routing, it was kind of impossible.  So, you just have to be happy with what you’ve got.  I understand that we can’t be everywhere, and especially now that I have my family, I’ve got my job, so I can’t be going away for months like back in the old days.  But hopefully we can still come in and destroy, and make a lot of people happy.

Oh, I’m sure that will be the case.  To hear that Pestilence was getting back together, and then to hear that you guys were creating new material, that was really exciting.

Oh, definitely.  And also, it might be difficult to live [up] to people’s expectations; it’s very difficult.  You know, people know Pestilence from way back, and you’ve got newer fans that haven’t heard about Pestilence at all, that first album that they hear is Resurrection Macabre, so, hopefully we can live up to those expectations that people have of us, especially now that the lineup has changed again.  It’s not the Resurrection Macabre lineup anymore.  Hopefully, again, we can live up to expectations.

What will the setlist look like for the North American tour?

Well, actually, we’re still working on that, because we want to have a healthy mixture of old and new.  It’ll probably be almost 50/50 of old songs and new songs.  We will definitely be playing some classic cuts, and but also, a good amount of new material, so I think it’s very important that we can serve, also, the older fans that have expectations.  On the other hand, we’re there to promote the Resurrection Macabre album, so we can’t neglect that.

Speaking about Resurrection Macabre, it was released in the U.S. a little over a year ago.  You’ve said in interviews that the material was kind of a cross between Testimony of the Ancients and Spheres, and I’m inclined to agree.  That’s pretty much exactly what it sounds like.  To me, it sounds like a modern version of Pestilence.

Yeah, that’s absolutely very correct.  That’s what I’m thinking as well.  I mean, nothing has changed — maybe the lineup — but nothing really has changed that much in the whole Pestilence thing.  It’s just a little bit fresher, a newer, maybe better, sound, better musicianship.  Still, the same kind of style is still there, you know?  We stay true to style, not listening to too much death metal, and trying to create some good Pestilence songs.  We’ve always followed with the same style and tradition, so nothing really has changed that much.  It’s been pretty much a constant factor, the Pestilence riffing.  Well, you know, with Resurrection now, we kind of incorporate now the blast beat.  That is a little bit new to us, but we kind of wanted to do that.  When Morbid Angel came out with Altars of Madness, and their demos before that, they were blasting, and we already wanted to do that then.  Our drummer back then, he just didn’t feel like doing it.  He didn’t want to do it, so we kind of took it for what it was.  That’s the only kind of new thing in Pestilence, the blast beat, but we’re not doing it too much, not overdo[ing] it.  We like to do it with good taste.

Going back to what you said about the newest album being a cross between Testimony and Spheres, Spheres still followed the Pestilence formula somewhat — and I hesitate to say formula — but obviously it was quite a bit different.  Whose decision was that to switch things around and go toward the direction of Spheres?

Well, it was not something that was really thought of.  We just didn’t want to come back and sound totally rehashed, or something that we’ve done in the past, but we wanted to stay true to the style.  It was not like, ‘Okay, let’s look at Spheres, and then try to come up with a mixture of that.’  I guess it was just like a natural progression.  Like I said, we never practice together — well, for the upcoming tour, we will do some practicing — but I like to keep it fresh, so when we come together, everybody brings their knowledge into Pestilence.  When we recorded Resurrection Macabre, I did not know what to expect going into the studio.  I did not know what Peter Wildoer was going to do.  It was very interesting for me to be in the studio, and just to stand in awe of what this guy was doing.

So, how does it feel going back into the studio and recording new Pestilence material?

Well, like I said, it’s going to be one big surprise for everybody.  I don’t know what’s going to happen.  We’ve got five songs written already for the new album, so, everybody’s getting my files through the mail, and everybody’s just doing their work on it.  I don’t want to hear it.  By the time we get into the studio, it’s going to be a blast.  I’m going to be there, and be like, ‘Damn, this is great.’  It’s not like, over-practiced and no enthusiasm anymore because you played that song 10,000 times before, you know?  It’s going to be a blast recording the new album, definitely.  I’m looking forward to do so.  There’s nothing as cool as going into a studio and letting those songs come alive.

HOLLYWOOD, CA (May 24, 2009) – The innovators of Death Metal, Pestilence will not headline today, May 24, 2009, at the Maryland DeatFest due to their detainment at the US border. Band leader Patrick Mameli and guitarist Patrick Uterwyck were kept in custody for several hours and sent back to the Netherlands late yesterday.

Upon entering the US and stopping at customs they discovered their paper work, which was sent to them, for their travels was not properly completed for the required working visas. Originally they were told all was in order and to proceed on the trip to the US. They spent a total of 44 hours in flights and detainment – The two artists had flown the day before to give the USA metal-heads a skull-crushing performance only to be disappointed.

“We are extremely sad and disappointed not being able to perform on the MDF. Not having received the proper information on our visa application, we were under the impression that what we received from the securing visas and working permits office was the actual working permits,” explains band leader Patrick Mameli. “We were kept under custody by the border security police for 4 hours trying to do everything in our power to let us pass, but all our efforts failed. They sent us home on the next plane. Hopefully we will be given another chance to perform for you, our fans!”

For updated news on Pestilence click on http://www.myspace.com/pestilenceofficial

The question burning in the minds of the average Pestilence devotee surely revolves around how Resurrection Macabre compares to albums like Consuming Impulse, Testimony of the Ancients, or Spheres. I’ll spare you such a boring exercise, except to say it is nothing along the lines of Spheres and it is as in-your-face and heavy as Consuming Impulse, albeit with more of a technical bent. Happy now? The bottom line is that Resurrection Macabre is quite brutal and compositionally angular, but it is not an over the top exercise in tech-death wankery.

What that means is that Mameli – who wrote all music and lyrics – creates numerous knotted, gnarly, and sideways riffs, yet ones that are still direct and rather hooky. (By the way, guitarist Patrick Uterwijk joins Mameli on guitar). As one might expect, the riffs twist, poke, and prod on songs like the excellent “Synthetic Grotesque,” which happens to feature an off-kilter riff that would be annoying if it weren’t so damn cool. In fact, almost every tune features a distinctive riff, while the spiraling solos do skim the extraterrestrial surface, spilling over the sides and splashing over the top, when they aren’t leaping out of the mix.

Coupled with the tough, taut, and exceedingly muscular rhythm section of uber bassist Tony Choy and drummer Peter Wildoer (Darkane), the music hits with atom-smashing force. There are some incredibly destructive rhythm patterns on the album and I don’t mean just straight blast beats either. Mameli’s mid-range strep-throat vocals are mostly intelligible and more than sufficient, if not especially powerful. Jacob Hansen’s engineering, mixing, and mastering gives the album one hell of a punch and that includes his penchant for harnessing a bone-dry riff tone and crisp/precise/hard-hitting drum sound.

Resurrection Macabre is also a classic grower. I’m currently listening to it for probably the sixth or seventh time and end up liking it more with each listen. A different tune seems to grab me each time. Initial spins of the disc resulted in my thinking that there was a moderately irksome degree of redundancy in the melody patterns, mainly the practice of simply repeating the song title during chorus, a few slight alterations notwithstanding (e.g. “In Sickness and Death,” “Hate Suicide”) . As I listened more though, nuances began to surface and I began to hear more of an identity in each song. Little things, like the pre-chorus line of “I see you – for what you are” on “Y2H” (the acronym meaning “Year to Hate”) have a way of crawling through the ear holes, burrowing into the brain, and staying there. I can appreciate an album with those qualities. Finally, the bonus track re-recordings of classics “Chemo Therapy,” “Out of the Body,” and “Lost Souls” are a treat to hear with Jacob Hansen’s stellar studio treatment.

I can’t say I’m a long-time Pestilence fan, though I’ve rediscovered the early works these past couple of years. What I can say is that Resurrection Macabre is deserving of attention from the death metal community in general and the Pestilence posse specifically.