Pestilence – Resurrection Macabre

Given Moses’ mountain downward spiral with 2 stones of scribes and this Resurrection Macabre mean slab as the choice between fact or fiction, I will definitely opt for the latter over the former. With a career interrupted 14 years ago via less fan-receptive Spheres, a release that nonetheless justifiably showcased Mameli’s phrasing talents at par with jazz gurus Holdsworth & Metheny, PESTILENCE return with a hell of an album in Resurrection Macabre, indeed a resurrection that balances the sonic timbre of Testimony, the fear-inducing horror of Consuming and the thankfully unforgotten aforementioned soloing skill of Spheres, all in good measure here on Resurrection Macabre.

That said, Resurrection Macabre comes onto its listener as a fresh album, indeed with references to the past, yet with an in-your-face approach that matches all the current contenders of extreme metal done extreme i.e. endowed by riffs whose very nature grab you by their shock value of horror at one moment, yet thereafter challenge you with some other feeling, case in point being my fave track Synthetic Grotesque whose main riff could have easily been a Consuming leftover, but here broken up with a Testimony-type bridge with a lush jazzy solo splashed all over it till the main shocking riff returns.

Yet all this great guitar work would be null and void had it not been for the rhythmic magic carpet the numerous off-beat joie lay down. Intense to a double-bass drumming in the ilks of Sandoval (MORBID ANGEL) when necessary, keeping it doomy and simple at others, then again balancing it with a thrashy - at times groovy, at times hardcore punky – pace, Wildoer’s contribution here is indeed that of a will-doer. Where there is a will there is a way, and each time he found the best way!

One final commendation is the re-make of Chemo Therapy (Malleus Maleficarum), Out of the Body (Consuming) & Lost Souls (Testimony), all having an aura of songwriting from a different period, yet benefiting from a re-recording timbre leveling them up to the rest of the album, especially Out of the Body off Consuming Impulse, which goes to prove to what extent this album is more death metal than any of the other experimentations PESTILENCE are known to have ventured in before.

1. Devouring Frenzy
2. Horror Detox
3. Fiend
4. Hate Suicide
5. Synthetic Grotesque
6. Neuro Dissonance
7. Dehrydated II
8. Resurrection Macabre
9. Hangman
10. Y2h
11. In Sickness And Death
12. Chemo Therapy (bonus)
13. Out Of The Body (bonus)
14. Lost Souls (bonus)
Mascot Records
Reviewer: necrogool
Jun 26, 2009

Share this: