UMUR
"Rotten Bowel of Pestigore" is a compilation album by Finnish death metal act Pestigore. The compilation was released through Headsplit Records in April 2023. Pestigore formed in 1990 and released a string of demos (five to be exact) before disbanding in 1993. All material from the demos recorded between 1990-1993 have been compiled and re-released on "Rotten Bowel of Pestigore".
The contemporary early 90s Finnish scene spawned a couple of well known names like Amorphis, Demilich, Convulse, Xysma, Funebre, Sentenced...etc., but Pestigore is one of the lesser known acts from the era (and country). Possibly because they never managed to release anything on a label (not even a split or an EP), but after listening to all five demos featured on "Rotten Bowel of Pestigore" I think it has something to do with the quality of the output too. Starting your career with releasing three rehearsal demos, which all feature lo-fi sound qualities, and then following it up with a studio demo ("Twisted Perversions... Unbearable Delight" from March 1992), which features a sound production which is only a notch better than the sound productions of the three preceding rehearsal demos, and then ending with a two-track promo tape, which does feature a near professional sound production, but which completely loses the soul of the band´s music, is not a well functioning career plan.
There is a reason why Pestigore never got a label deal, and it´s not only the bad quality sound productions of their output, but it´s also the songwriting and the rather organic and loose musicianship, which makes for a sometimes chaotic listening experience. They simply sound like amateurs on waters way too deep for them to navigate in. A 2.5 star (50%) rating is warranted. Not all forgotten old school death metal acts are forgotten gems...