Customer Reviews

Consuming Impulse

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4 star:		(1)
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Finally, after I don't know how many years of unavailablity, Pestilence's 2nd senses shattering disc is available for the unaquainted. Not being a huge fan of their debut cd ("Malleus Malficarum"), I bought this on cd format(!), in mid 1990, along with Possessed's "Beyond the Gates" and Exodus' "Bonded By Blood" (the cd frenzy got to me big time as I re-bought everything that was available on cd format). To put it mildly, I was blow away by the band's agressiveness, compostion skills, and by Martin Van Drunen's quite inhuman vocal roar. Other than Death and Obituary, there weren't very many vocalists quite like Martin. His voice was on of a rabid grizzly bear, bellowing and quite nerve wracking, but at the same time his phrasing was excellent and the lyrics (which were way ahead of their time) quite clear. And the songs! "Deify Thy Master", "Chronic Infection", and "Out Of the Body" are tremendous, straight ahead death metal classics, with a dose of technicality and wild, improvisational/jazz-like soloing. Each song hit you like a slab of concrete; hard, fast and with deadly intentions.

It's hard to imagine that this monstrous cd is 11 years old now, but like fine wine, this cd just gets better with time. Their follow-up disc was the even better "Testimony of the Ancients", a dizzing array of death metal, fused with jazzy rhythms and containing magnificent musical interludes between each song. A fabulous testament to a very influential and very creative band. Let's see some record company put out re-issues of Exciter, Razor and Purgatory. Long live the underground (and the Great Thrash Movement of the 80's!).

Wow, this was more than slightly disturbing on first listen all those years ago! Such was the anguish and pain in Martin Van Drunen's voice as he squeezed out these strangled words; it was almost possible to believe there was a colony of er... cockroaches or maggots living inside him. It put a chill up my spine anyway...

In 'Consuming Impulse', Pestilence created their greatest, most complete album, successfully marrying the primitive brutality of their previous effort 'Maleus Maleficarum' with the technicality of their later releases.

While this was Pestilence's second album, the band was still constantly learning about dynamics and how to play their instruments. This album predates the blast beat cliché, but Pestilence could hit the turbocharger when needed, judiciously using faster passages, accenting the mid-paced sections. This was incredibly heavy for it's time, as guitarists Patrick Mameli and Patrick Uterwijk (classy first names there!) had developed a technique playing in tandem where they would let a chord ring on at the end of a riff, creating some chunky harmonics as the guitar sounds merged. Not being a musician, I don't know if this is a technically accurate description of what they were doing, but as a Death Metal fan, I do know it makes your hair stand on end!

Lyrically, Pestilence showed a good grasp of English for a Dutch band, but a lack of imagination in subject matter. They fell back on the trusty old faithfuls of gore, God, and doing nasty things to people. The previously mentioned "Out Of The Body" and lead off track "Dehydration" are probably the most convincingly executed. The instrumental "Proliferous Souls" is unusual in that it is not the normal acoustic guitar mood piece, instead staying fully electric and conjuring up images of spirits drifting in the wind across the landscape in search of a final resting place.

Martin Van Drunen later left the band to front the far less complex Asphyx, while Pestilence took the space cadet/ultra technical jazz/prog direction. This is both Pestilence and Van Drunen at their best.

Pestilence played blistering, vital death metal for one album only. This is a bracing, poisonous record, mixing the uncontrollable extreme thrash of 'Reign in Blood' with the detuned pummelling of 'Scream Bloody Gore'. Deranged screams of audible agony bellow out macabre portraits of death, whilst maniacal, torturous leads are threaded through punishing hypnotic rhythms.

Foremost, this is an intense, frightening experience to numb the senses, but it also possesses surprising subtlety. 'Consuming Impulse' is actually far more progressive than the overly calculated 'Testimony of the Ancients'. The songs here are dense, complex, and make creative use of keyboards and effects; the break in 'The Trauma' showing a clear precursor to Norwegian Black Metal. Of course, it is also far more entertaining; 'Out of the Body' is utterly incredible. Four and a half minutes of unrestrained chaos, a string of devastating riffs and solos, with lyrics matching the harrowing cover art.

The production is perfect; clear but tough and jagged, perfectly capturing the band's old school thrashing fury inside a barrage of newfound death metal heaviness. This gives it a harsh feel that sets it apart from the muddier sounds of their Florida contemporaries. `Consuming Impulse' is more relentless than 'Leprosy', more intricate than 'Deicide', more consistent than 'Slowly We Rot' and more fun than 'Altars of Madness'. If Pestilence had been from Florida, this would be in your collection already.

With so much garbage music out there today, it would be refreshing to see a Pestilence reunion.
As for Consuming? Fast, heavy, brutal, MEMORABLE!!!
Great production for its time. Amazing vocals,guitars,drums.
Nice keyboard parts thrown into a few songs for added atmosphere.
In todays metal world every band seems obsessed with who can play the fastest and most technical. Yawn. None of these bands seem to care about writing good,memorable music with atmosphere.
There are no weak tracks on this disc.
A must have for extreme metal fans, and one of the best albums the genre has produced.

If you're looking for swift, unrelenting, well produced death/thrash metal..look no further. Although I am a big fan of Testimony of the Ancients this disc has a much rougher, tougher edge with little sacrificed for sound quality. For fans of early Demoliton Hammer or early Death...I believe this too be Pestilences most aggressive effort on recording.

This CD is really intense, that is, if you're a fan of amazing thrash metal. Unlike most thrash metal, there are so many varying elements that keep the music switched up, yet in a constant state of high gear at the same time. For example, the drumwork - though staying somewhere inside a generic pace of the music, vary's unline most thrash metal drumwork. Slow down's, speed up's... all of it. The vocals are a little bit strange to get used to, but once you get completely in key of the vocalist, you won't be able to put this album down. The guitar work is somewhat generic, but very technical, and quite fast, 2 things that are a little hard to merge into one band. The bass is mixed pretty well for being a 1989 release (which happens to be my birthdate). All in all, you're looking at an amazingly original, and a highly entertaning thrash metal release. BUY IT!!

Hell yes this is brutal! I agree with all the other reviews on here... if you are a death metal fan, it is mandatory that it be in your collection. The 3rd album "Testomony of the Ancients" is great too, but not as raw... & definitly not as brutal! It starts out with the furious "Dehydrated," & goes from there. Songs 1-4 just KILL, & the brutality doesnt end there! It all ends with "Reduced to Ashes," which starts out kinda slow and then suddenly gets fast again! I LOVE it! Listening to this CD is like getting a brutal beating... great stuff here! I'd say get this CD or that re-release double pack "2 From the Vault" which has this album & "Testomony" with it. Get on it!!!!!!!!!!

I thought I would never find this brutal lp on cd again after so many years of it not being available and finally have it in my hands since my tape wore out years ago from playin it so much.....Any true fan of old school death metal will love this cd...from the opening track "Dehydrated" to the closing track "Reduced to Ashes" is a total onslaught of some of the heaviest death metal ever released....to bad this band is no longer together...R.I.P....Definitely a legendary cd...Essential to any deathmetal collection

Pestilence's second album, "Consvming Impvlse" (as it says on the cover haha), is a vicious swarm full of energy and riffs. It crosses the line between the thrash assault they had with Malleus Maleficarum and the beginnings of death metal that was carried on by Death, Obituary, Possessed and the like. Nonetheless, "Consuming Impulse" is a must have for fans of either genre. The riffs are nothing short of amazing, whether it would be that speedy intro to "Dehydrated" or the trademark riff on "Out of the Body", there is plenty of them to be found on this album. The solos will also bring a smile to your face if you love them fast and blistering. However, if there is anything else that this album deserves, it's the vocal delivery by the legendary Martin Van Drunen. His tortured cries only enhance everything that was splendid on this masterpiece. This is nothing short of amazing; this is an overwhelming and destructive assault and, in my opinion, the pinnacle of Pestilence's career.

Simply one of the most underrated bands and albums ever. This is a great mix of death/thrash metal and I love the anguished, hoarse vocals. I highly recommend this for anyone who calls themselves a fan of metal. Why are you still reading this? Go on now, buy it!