[Photo Credit: Marc van Peski]
Dutch death metal icons PESTILENCE have unveiled a new song ‘Deificvs’ with the accompanying music video, filmed by Grupa 13 (Kreator, Behemoth, Amon Amarth). The song is the second single off the band’s upcoming album Exitivm, following ‘Morbvs Propagationem’. The album is set to be released on June 25th via Agonia Records. Watch the video, here:
A new album, on a new label armed with a whole new line-up and a new dynamic: no matter what, PESTILENCE – or more specifically their maestro Patrizio Mameli – is like the phoenix, rising from the ashes, over and over again. An official website has been launched for Exitivm, providing access to all relevant information surrounding the new album, at www.exitivm.com.
Back in 1986, in the small town of Enschede in the Netherlands, nearby the German border, a true metal phenomenon was born. More than three decades later, not only is PESTILENCE alive and well, but about to once again reaffirm their place in the extreme metal pantheon, with their ninth studio album entitled Exitivm, which is Latin for “total destruction”.
As controversial as he can be to some, nobody will ever deny the band’s undisputable driving force, Patrizio Mameli, and his constant ability to reinvent himself. Unlike most of the bands in the scene, PESTILENCE just keeps evolving. From the raging thrash leanings of their cult 1988 debut Malleus Maleficarum to the jazz-infused versatility of 1993’s Spheres or 2009’s Resurrection Macabre frontal assault, not to mention the fans’ favorite and Scott Burns-produced Testimony Of The Ancients from 1991, he never did the same record twice. No matter who plays with him on any PESTILENCE album, Mameli always gets the best out of the musicians he is working with. But first and foremost, the man has a one-of-a-kind vision, instantly recognizable style and yet always stretching musical boundaries. And it’s never more true than on Exitivm.
After a vast reissue campaign in between 2015 and 2018 and an acclaimed new album Hadeon, the band got seemingly stopped in their mission to conquer the Death Metal scene in early 2020, like everybody else, by the global pandemic, going as far as forcing some of the band’s Hadeon line-up members to throw in the towel. But what doesn’t kill you only makes you stronger and instead of letting that whole situation drag him down, Mameli chose to do the exact opposite and write the best and darkest album possible to date. And he just did that. With its ambitious lyrical concept about “global domination”, “induced mental illness”, “inner and outer demons” and malicious external entities, Exitivm is propelling the band one again to the forefront of the Death Metal movement with yet another original and brilliant artistic overhaul.
Mind you, as soon as you’re past the very cinematic introduction ‘In Omnibvs’, you’re instantly caught up by ‘Morbvs Propagationem’ whose intense riffing will take back to the Testimony… days. Except that their core sound has been revived, with now extra layers of ominous soundscapes ingeniously suggesting an atmosphere of suspence and horror, boosted by Mameli’s jazz-fusion impressive solo works and a renewed sense of urgency. This rejuvenation, with emphasis on “new musical landscapes but also sick and twisted riffs” as stated by Mameli himself, is no accident though. Not only has Mameli been extremely inspired by the turmoil humanity had to face since March 2020 but with a line-up once again, entirely based in the Netherlands and made up of only super-seasoned players – besides former Dew Scented and Creepmime’s Joost van der Graaf on bass and Bleeding Gods’ Rutger van Noordenburg on lead guitar, former God Dethroned Michiel van der Plicht joined on drums last year – PESTILENCE is more than ever a band where everybody feeds off of each other’s musical talent. And it definitely shows.
Tracklist:
- In Omnibvs (Intro)
- Morbvs Propagationem
- Deificvs
- Sempiternvs
- Internicionem
- Mortifervm
- Dominatvi Svbmissa
- Pericvlvm Externvm
- Inficiat
- Exitivm
- Immortvos
- Personatvs Mortem (Outro)
PESTILENCE Online:
Official Site
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