Tuesday, February 23, 2010

Pestilence - Malleus Maleficarum (1988)

Now usually I don't do this, but uh, I'm gonna post two metal albums in a row. Pestilence's Consuming Impulse has been on my internally moderated "favorite death metal albums" list for quite some time now, but, as much as I've liked Malleus Maleficarum in the past, it hasn't gotten the same number of plays. Recently, I've been completely obsessed with this record. Even despite it's absolutely godawful cover art! That is like the worst color green of all time!

Aesop posted something about not liking the transition between Slayer and Morbid Angel a little while ago over on Cosmic Hearse, but this is one of the stepping stones between thrash and death metal that is fucking gloriously excellent. There is an awful lot of palm-muting going on, and melodies have an awful lot of notes. At some level, I prefer the more distilled down, heavier material to come later, but there is something to be said for this fucking flurry. I can't even imagine recording the vocals on "Parricide." So many syllables.

Also, Pestilence use major thirds as a primary melodic vector, which is a sound that really grinds my goat off. (Megadeth and Merauder have also used this technique to great effect).

Download

PS It's my birthday. Comment and make me happy, you fucking lurkers.

5 comments:

Born Hens said...

Todd,

As an amateur connoisseur of extreme music - in addition to the other genres that appear here - your blogging is relevant to my interests. Happy birthday.

Ben

Idol Threat: Warning Shots at the Mainstream said...

Well happy birthday mang, mine was this month too. You can never have too many metal posts in a row. I try to not put 3 posts in a row of the same genre myself though so I know what you mean.

Shelby Cobras said...

Too much metal! BOOOOOOO! Post some indie rock or something, jeez.

Happy Bday blogbro

Caleb Goman said...

just discovered your blog and i'm digging it very much. wouldn't have commented if it wasn't your birthday and felt obliged to say both happy birthday and thanks for your efforts.

all of this metal? it is no problem to me at all.

Todd said...

Thanks motherlickers, I appreciate the ego stroke.