ALBUM REVIEW: Pestilence, "Hadeon"

By: Richard Maw

Album Type: Full Length

Date Released: 05/03/2018

Label: Hammerheart Records

As early as the third track, “Multi Dimensional”, it is certain that Pestilence are well and truly back and firing on all cylinders.  “Hadeon” is business as usual and for Pestilence, business is good

“Hadeon” CD//DD//LP track listing:

1. Unholy Transcript
2. Non Physical Existent
3. Multi Dimensional
4. Oversoul
5. Materialization
6. Astral Projection
7. Discarnate Entity
8. Subvisions
9. Manifestations
10. Timeless
11. Ultra Demons
12. Layers Of Reality
13. Electro Magnetic

The Review:

Since 2013's “Obsideo”, Pestilencehas once again become defunct and been reactivated. The Dutch troupe that made “Testimony Of The Anicents” and “Consuming Impulse” have their place in death metal history assured, so why continue at this point? Well, Patrick Mameli obviously still feels that he still has something to say in the genre, despite his protestations that he no longer listens to metal.

It would be fair to say that this picks up where “Obsideo”left off. The band (or Mameli and cohorts) retains its angular and technical sound. “Astral Projection” is a somewhat unusual example of something different in that it features a robotic sounding voice and some almost jazz like verse sections. The album is not all experimentation, though. “Manifestations”sounds much more like business as usual for Pestilence. There are a couple of extra tracks on here in comparison to “Obsideo”, but they are instrumental interludes and the main tracks such as “Materialization” remain as focused as ever. Once again, Mameli has focused on short running times, bags of riffs and loads going on in each three minute piece. It certainly makes the album easier to listen to from a fan's perspective. You can engage with the sound and songs (or not) fairly quickly.

There are really riffs galore and Mameli has retained the distinctly Euro-death feel that the band has always had- along with a technical approach. One thing to note is that to these ears Pestilence sound nowhere near as extreme as they once did. Maybe this is because times have moved on and extreme metal has only got more extreme, or maybe it is because Pestilence have always been quite a listenable band- even early on. I'll leave that for you to decide.

There are enough adrenaline inducing tracks such as the closing “Electro Magnetic” to keep the die hards happy, while there are enough textures to keep more progressive or tech death fans content as well. The shredding solos of “Layers of Reality” are a joy, the all out assault of “Timeless” a visceral delight. As early as the third track, “Multi Dimensional”, it is certain that Pestilenceare well and truly back and firing on all cylinders. The mix is much better than “Obsideo” with the snare in particular being much less intrusive, but overall there is not too much to split the two records to my ears. I think this is superior to “Obsideo” and sounds more pleasing to boot. “Hadeon” is business as usual and for Pestilence, business is good

“Hadeon” is available here

Band info: bandcamp|| facebook