English
Genre: Technical Death Metal, Progressive
Country: The Netherlands
Label: Agonia Records
Year: 2021
Whatever new direction Pestilence have taken in their second or better saying third stage of their career always have in mind that we are talking about the band that have released “Consuming Impulse”, “Testimony of the Ancients” and “Spheres”.
I keep following the band all of these years and tried to stay close to their changes that really worked as they kept my interest in every record even though this time the new sound isn’t exactly what I have as a music preference. Still I see that this new hybrid of deathcore and OSDM can create a new fan base but mostly it can fit with the bands’s only surviving member, guitarist Patrick Mameli. Their previous album 2018’s “Hadeon” was a bit leaning to old school song writing formula and definitely more straightforward. Now with a new line up, actually a totally new line up consisting except Mameli, features ex- Dew Scented and ex-Sinister Joost van der Graaf in bass, Rutger van Noordenburgin lead guitars and ex-God Dethroned Michiel van der Plicht in drums.
Pestilence return to 2013’s “Obsideo” approaching that was flirting with modern motives and deathcore patterns. Though the final resuly actually sounds like a keyboard- oriented thrashing technical death metal album, nevertheless.
The tempo changes, the ups and downs the breaks or the chugging riffing that is followed by blasting rhythms, twisted solos, weird guitars, high speed grooves and the over technical instrumentation and playing are interesting followed by some symphonic parts and orchestration that create a haunting atmosphere.
“Exitvm” features a 10+2 songs in only 40 minutes long, but has too many information for the listener. Of course it’s up to you if this is a good or a bad thing and this exactly the factor that can make this album great or weak to your ears. By the way I would prefer that the use of Latin words in the titles of the songs would hide a story behind it but unfortunately is just for the sake of sounding cool and has nothing to do with something epic or historical. The lyrics deal with modern man’s problems such as the climate change, natural disasters, new world order /politics and human isolation.
This is their 9th studio album and probably songs like “Deificvs”, “Mortifervm”,“Morbvs Propagationem” and “Sempiternvs” makes it already their greatest moment the last 12 years, since 2008 that Mameli reformed them. I wouldn’t dare to compare it with their early works though with all the respect to their vision.
It is already out via Agonia Records (25.06.2021).
