Search - Pestilence :: Resurrection Macabre

Strong, Technical and BRUTAL 3.75

Don C | Albany, NY | 06/16/2009

(4 out of 5 stars)

"I liked Pestilence back in the 80's. Had the first 2 discs. 'Consuming Impulse' was a blistering and tight death metal album. I really liked it for its intensity. I didnt buy the 2 following discs as of yet, so the review is based less on their experimental sound. Seems as if they went back to the Death metal delivery full force on this, but they did it with many more modern influences.



To tell the truth, it is very well executed, but pretty much what I expected. The sound of the Vocal and Bass drum is great! The songs are avg. Length (4 Min Avg) and Speed intensive, but very controlled. Not too long to bore you and many sick riffs with structure changes. Comes across as a mix of early (Bloody Gore, Leprosy era) Death, Blood Red Throne, Possessed and add touch of Coroner's technicality along with some guttural vocal and toxic waste(literally). I cant say enough about the good quality recording, especially for this style of music which can be hit or miss. It does crank.



The songs themselves are technical but not to the point of overkill. Basic riffs abound and hold your interest long enough to get to the more complex song structures, very 'off' Guitar riffs, good Solo's and incredible Drumming. The blast beats really give this band a kick in the as*.



The music itself isn't groundbreaking, it is just executed well. Has a very fresh/updated sound, but man, the twisted sounding riffs really do get to you. Really dark stuff. The Vocal delivery is what it is, SICK. But perfect for this genre of music. Its more about Brutality than Originality on this comeback disc.



Upon repeated listenings, it only gets better.



Best tracks are 'Hangman'(Brutal), 'Y2H', 'Fiend' (Sick and twisted song with many layers and structures), 'Neuro Dissonance'(intense and blistering blast-beat drumming)'the Title track has a really cool mid-section and 'In Sickness and Death'.



The other tracks are good as well. Really no throw outs and no surprises once 'Devouring Frenzy' kicks in.



'Synthetic Grotesque' is a Drummers track, as they are incredible here. Very intense. In fact, if anything, this disc has brutal drumming throughout and they are more prominent and dominant in the mix than on the bands older material. Maybe its just better technology seeing the older stuff wasn't the best sounding, but they are crystal clear on this disc, and extremely well done.



The Bonus tracks are great! A new version of 'Out of The Body' is on here and sounds much different. I like the updated style and clear production. The vocals are actually clean! Classic track that kills. Probably my favorite overall Pestilence song.



'Lost Souls' sounds a lot like (Scream Bloody Gore style) early Death/Obituary. Its a re-make off of their 'Testimony of the Ancients' disc that I never bought. I may have to pick it up after all.



'Chemo Therapy' is a good as well. Remake from their debut album. Their first disc was good, but lacked in terms of sound quality (like so many albums of that time did). This is a welcome update. Seldom do you find quality with bonus tracks.



A good Disc from a good band. This style of music is really limited, but Pestilence delivers the goods on this. Technically proficient and well executed. Buy it if you like Death Metal. One of the better releases for the Genre this year.









"

Fantastic and Brutal Comeback!!!

Frank Rini | Maryland | 06/19/2009

(4 out of 5 stars)

"OK I will admit I was a bitter at Patrick Mameli when he slagged death metal fans and insulted the intelligence of the very people that buy his music-but I tried putting it in perspective that maybe he was just upset at the scene or industry in general, so I am giving him the benefit of the doubt. I loved Pestilence's first 3 cd's-brutal, technical and fairly original pieces of death metal. I hated Spheres, I know alot of people liked it due to the fusion of jazz and technicality, I on the other hand found it boring and too much fusion for my taste. Resurrection Macabre is a combination of Consuming Impulse/Testimony of the Ancients with a fusion of blast beats. I find the inclusion of the brutal blast beats to actually enhance the band and add to the overall brutality of the disc. Tracks like Horror Detox, Y2H and Devouring Frenzy are brutal fast and pummel the listener. The title track might actually be my fave song. It's a slow very heavy song that just crushes. The thing that makes Pestilence still stand out from some other bands is that they have a signature sound that is Pestilence and their songs are catchy and memorable. Their are guitar solos and the band is still technical, but about as techy as Testimony, none of that Spheres junk. I would have like to hear Tony Choy's bass a little more in the mix, though. Overall the cd is very heavy, incredible production and the introduction of the blast beats adds rather than detracts from the sound. The only reason I feel this is not a 5 is the fact that they re-recorded 3 old classics-Chemo-therapy, Out of the Body and Lost Souls. Both excellent songs in the original versions. I was hoping for the band to mix it up a bit and record the versions as the band sounds now- with the brutal blast beats and kinda make them new again. What the band chose to do was to play the songs note for note, pretty much exactly as they were originally recorded with Patrick doing a really bad Martin van Drunen impersonation on the songs. The result is they sound boring and pale in comparison to the originals. If they would have incorporated their new sound in approaching these tracks the songs would sound better, I feel. Overall a minor complaint when the rest of the disc just crushes and mauls!! Buy or Die!!!"

Pestilence making a comeback!

metal Mike | St. Louis, MO | 11/12/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"What a surprise this cd was. I honestly didn't expect a whole lot after not hearing a release from them in so long. I never thought I'd say this, but this is actually as good as Consuming Impulse. I thought the vocals were great, even if it wasn't Martin singing. So many bands from the 90's have lost their originality and have gotten boring over the years, but not Pestilence. This sounds more like the Consuming Impulse cd than Spheres and Testimony, which would be good news to a lot of people. Production is good too. A very complete cd with no fillers. It's not too often you hear a cd nowadays where every song is good. It's nice to see Tony Choy back in the band as well. I got this cd the week and came out and back then I said it was the cd of the year and I still feel that way."