Time Signature Devouring frenzy...

Genre: death metal

When "Resurrection Macabre" came out, I was very disappointed with it. The big mistake I did was to expect the album to be like "Spheres" or "Testimony of the Ancients", and, of course, it was like neither album, because the band focused on being brutal rather than innovative, drawing more on "Consuming Impulse" in terms of style, but with many modern death metal elements added. Another problem that I had was that a lot of the tracks struck me as being repetitive in the sense that the main approach of many of them was to take a typical Pestilence style compact riff and then just repeat it a crapload of times. I also had problems with the vocals which I, having never been a big fan Pestilence vocals, thought were very annoying.

Now, a couple of years down the line, the album has grown on me, and I actually quite like it. I see now that the repetition of riffs really works well in terms of adding intensity to the music, and I also like the introduction of more modern elements like blastbeats into the Pestilence style. I have gotten used to the vocals, although I probably never will be able to appreciate the death grunts that serve as the introduction to the first track "Devouring Frenzy". Interestingly, that track was my least favorite track off the album, but now it is actually, along with "Fiend", my favorite track on "Resurrection Macabre".

In a way, I can understand where the flak that this album has received came from - it originated in the unfulfilled expectations of this being like "Spheres", but this album deserves to be defined, not in relation to "Spheres" but in its own right as a death metal album, and as a death metal album, it is not brilliant, but it certainly is not bad either.

UMUR "Resurrection Macabre" is the 5th full-length studio album by Dutch death metal act Pestilence. The album was released through Mascot Records in March 2009. It´s been 16 years since the release of "Spheres (1993)" which is the predecessor to "Resurrection Macabre" and a lot of water has run under the bridge in those years. The only remaining original member in the lineup is lead vocalist/guitarist Patrick Mameli while bassist Tony Choy (Cynic, Atheist, C-187) who also played on "Testimony of the Ancients (1991)" (and on the subsequent tour for that album) returns for another stint with Pestilence. Peter Wildoer ( Darkane, Arc Enemy, Agretator, Armageddon, Majestic, Silver Seraph, Time Requiem, Electrocution 250, Non-Human Level, Rusty Flores, Grimmark) is new on the drums in this three-piece version of Pestilence.

Pestilence went out with a bang with "Spheres (1993)" in my opinion and that album is still widely considered a seminal progressive death metal album from the nineties. Therefore it was natural to assume that they would continue where they left off. As it turns out that assumption couldn´t be more wrong. You have to remember that "Spheres (1993)" is an album that´s become known as a seminal progressive death metal release in retrospect, because upon release it was a commercial failure for Pestilence and it alienated quite a few of the band´s fans. With "Resurrection Macabre" it´s obvious that Pestilence were determined to win back some of those estranged fans.

The music style on "Resurrection Macabre" is rooted in old school death metal (with some technical twists and dissonant notes). I count only a few jazz influenced guitar solos as progressive on this album. The rest sound more like Pestilence sounded on "Consuming Impulse (1989)" just not quite as inspired or fresh as that album sounded back then. Patrick Mameli especially sounds a bit tired here and his vocals are over-processed. I would have prefered a reunion with original vocalist Martin Van Drunen who I´m sure could have breathed some life into some of the tracks on "Resurrection Macabre". While there´s nothing wrong with the musicianship or the Jacob Hansen production "Resurrection Macabre" becomes monotone and a bit tedious after a while. The tracks generally don´t stick out much and few feature memorable hooks. When that is said "Resurrection Macabre" is still a couple of notches more interesting than the most standard death metal albums out there and Pestilence do receive the praise that they have a signature sound, which is a rarity in death metal.

On the limited edition of the album there are re-recorded versions of "Chemo Therapy", "Out of the Body" and "Lost Souls" where former guitarist Patrick Uterwijk guest on lead guitar. The re-recorded versions are decent but I prefer the originals.

To my ears "Resurrection Macabre" is not the expected triumphant return of one of the most important progressive death metal bands from the nineties. It´s not that I can´t appreciate good old school death metal but "Resurrection Macabre" simply can´t compete with the best contemporary acts in that genre or their own early output for that matter. It´s just above average at best. A 2.5 - 3 star (55%) rating is warranted. I´ll take out my old Pestilence vinyl copies of "Consuming Impulse (1989)" and "Testimony of the Ancients (1991)" any day before listening to "Resurrection Macabre" and that´s never a good sign.