Customer Reviews

Resurrection Macabre

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This release came really unexpected after so many years and necessarily in such a situation there was the question, whether it would still sound like the "old" Pestilence (whatever that may be, as Pestilence have actually changed their style dramatically even in their earlier years). To me this CD sounds mostly like "Consuming Impulse", which has always been my favorite Pestilence record. That's probably why I like it so much. The tracks are extremely brutal, Patrick Mameli's vocals are great (I actually didn't like them too much on Testimony ...) and the music is technically at the highest possible level. The production of the CD is awesome. You rarely find such good production in this genre. All in all, it's definitely worth to purchase. To me it's the Death Metal release of the year! Oh, and before I forget it, the material includes 3 re-recordings of older songs as bonus tracks, one of which is "Out of the Body" from "Consuming Impulse". This was one of my favorite songs of Pestilence and I was initially very sceptical on whether they should have re-recorded that. However, listening into it, I cannot say anything else, but that it simply rocks, rocks, rocks ... It combines all the brutality of the original track with awesome vocals from Mameli (I actually never thought that I would ever say that ...) and top-sound quality. Alone to have this single track, it would already be worth to buy this CD ...

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.

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.

Welcome back indeed, old friends. These guys have been away too long. A stagnant death metal scene really needs this shot in the head! Patrick Mameli(Mameli played all guitars and vocals), Patrick Uterwijk(Uterwijk is pictured but does not play on the tracks) and returning to the group Tony Choy and introducing a new drummer Peter Wildoer who turns up the energy level. Now the performance of this new music is more powerful and more intense than the any of the previous releases. This is not thinking man's death metal like the older chin stroking jazz-prog moments of the older material they left us with. This is like "Consuming Impulse" on mega-steroids,very heavy assault to the body, every song pummels you and you just sit there and take it, Why? 'Cause its awesome! Fans will miss the soothing sounds of their earlier productions but you can't help being impressed with this stuff, bigger, tougher, fatter, balder and uglier than ever. Highly recommended for extreme metal heads, old fans might dig the 3 bonus tracks of older songs redone.

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!!!

Ok, I've heard this album already and I can say so with good conscious because I pre-ordered the disc. I'm not a crook!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! With that out of the way, let me just say that I never imagined Pestilence would put out another record. I mean - fifteen years! That's a long time. Well worth the time lapse though - well, well, worth it. This album spanks any death metal record I've heard since the early nineties. If you are a longtime fan then it'll blow you away. Great riffs, awesome production and the hired drummer from Darkane is spectacular as well. Vocals are just as brutal as the old records. Probably the album of the year for me. I can only hope that it won't be another fifteen years before they put out something again. Also, if you are a youngster and have never heard of this band then pick yourself up a copy of this and be schooled in what real death metal is supposed to sound like!

Man what a suprise to hear one of my favorite metal bands from back in metals heydey make a new album!And its not a prog/puss jazz cd!This is soooo much better then what I consider the most disappointing follow up album (Testimony)in history!There are to me obvious Blessed are the Sick similarities but what the hell is wrong with that!This is what one of the sickest death metal pioneers shoulda sounded like after Van Drunen left!I would have still been a fan.Very crisp solid riffs and change ups,the vocals are finally truly brutal again,and some very proficiant percussion work (for a change)I personally would have dug a few spooky synth sounds in the mix again and definitly would have rather heard the couple of remade songs at the end redone by this incarnation of Pestilence.For the record Consuming Impulse was a classic opus right up there with Alters of Madness,Left hand Path and Deicide so I hope to hear more from one of my three favorite ole school metal bands of all time Morbid,Pestilence,Deicide.Definitly worthy of five stars!!!

Ok, I know I'm posting a review for a cd that came out almost a year ago which may not even be read by anyone. However, the recent Pestilence release deserves as many five-star ratings as it can get because it has gotten some flak for not being progressive. Pestilence started out as pure death/thrash, experimented with guitar synth on Testimony, then went full-bore with the progressive elements on Spheres, eliminating almost all brutality from their sound. While I loved Spheres, I'm happy to see them bring some brutal death metal back into the sound. The thing is, at least half the songs still have progressive elements in them. The guitar synth is gone completely, but the weird riffs and structures are still there in songs like Fiend, Hate Suicide, Synthetic Grotesque, and Neuro Dissonance. Percentage-wise, I'd say the cd is about 75% death metal and about 25% prog, whereas Spheres was about 95% prog and 5% death metal. The bottom line is that if you got into Pestilence anytime between Malleus and Testimony, you should love the new album. If Spheres was your favorite Pestilence effort, you probably aren't crazy about their older material and won't like this one much either.

This is how death metal is done!!!! Pestilence has not lost a step in the last 15 years. Go out and buy this asap. Please ignore the 2nd review. He has no idea where Pestilence came from. Hell Yeah!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

If you ever loved the Pestilence's death-fusion innovation and were hoping for another masterpiece from this dutch ensemble, well, you've waited in vain...
Their last effort lacks completely the progressive sounds of SPHERES (but even of TESTIMONY, maybe the departure of Foddis is the problem) to become an honest hardcore-brutal-death album. Hear this from a band that 15 years ago invented a new genere it's a real pain.