PESTILENTIAL SHADOWS - Devil’s Hammer review

 

PESTILENTIAL SHADOWS - Devil’s Hammer

Northern Silence Productions

Just for the record as far as Australian black metal goes I have three favorite bands from that nation. They are DESTROYER 666, NAZXUL and PESTILENTIAL SHADOWS. I became a fan of PESTILENTIAL SHADOWS simply because Balam (aka: Luke Mills) was in NAZXUL. Mills started this band in 2003 and has been the mainman ever since, just keeping his blackened dream alive. 

I got into PESTILENTIAL SHADOWS back in 2009 with their In Memoriam Ill Omen full length. And from that release I've been a fan ever since. I've got all of their releases now. What I always liked about PESTILENTIAL SHADOWS is that they were more complex musically then what NAZXUL had done. Instead of being overwhelmed with blackened intensity. It's more of an invitation to cool sounding compositions which have you sitting back and going hell yeah.

Devil’s Hammer is the band's seventh full length and it just might be their best ever. The inclusion of guitarists Krvna & Mourn (both of whom joined the band in 2022) have definitely added to the total riff package be it cold cruel or melodic. Add to that from start to finish drummer John McLaughlin does an amazing job throughout. 

This album fills out with a fierce threatening gallop of tremolo picked riffs. The vocals come across like belligerent rants from a drunken priest. There's tons of discharge from melodic harmonies to full on assaults or atmospheric touches. The bottom line is that this release is a cool listening pleasure. My favorite black metal album of the year so far. 

https://store.northern-silence.de/en

LISTEN HERE:

https://pestilentialshadows-northernsilence.bandcamp.com/album/devils-hammer 

THE SLOW DEATH - Siege review

 

THE SLOW DEATH - Siege 

Transcending Obscurity Records

What we have here true believers in the realm of death doom is an Australian super group of sorts. A bunch of these musicians play in or have played in bands I'm quite familiar with. For example there's drummer Yonn McLaughlin who's in NAZXUL and PESTILENTIAL SHADOWS. One of their vocalists (she also does keyboards), Mandy Andresen, was in MURKRAT. I was a huge fan of her vocal style back in 2008 when their self titled debut came out. Now I know where she went.

So when I said that Mandy Andresen is one of this band's vocalists then you figured out the obvious. Mandy sings the clean vocals and their male vocalist, Gamaliel, does the growls. But hey it's death doom with Mandy adding some airy keyboard melody which carries along the rhythms as a backdrop. The heavy handed guitars are the staple throughout. Add to that a suffocating atmosphere which is to a point haunting as well as dream inducing. 

Trust me on that one, I had my eyes closed during the song "Pestilence" and I saw trails of Hell behind my eyelids. I guess the safe bet here is that if you're into MOURNFUL CONGREGATION, which this band's guitarist Stuart Prickett use to perform with, then you'll like this. Siege is four songs spanning over an hour's time. But every second I hear Mandy Andresen vocals is worth it. 

https://tometal.com/

LISTEN HERE:

https://theslowdeathband.bandcamp.com/album/siege-atmospheric-death-doom-metal