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Pestilence > Spheres > Reviews
Pestilence - Spheres

Prog-jazz Pestilence - 100%

Hames_Jetfield, June 12th, 2021

The (r)evolution line of Dutch Pestilence until 1993 could make a really huge impression how brilliant the band was, ranging from thrash/death to technical death metal. In each of these styles, they created brilliant cds, perfectly composed and distinguished by considerable originality. Against the background of the discussed "Spheres"...the previous three albums, seem to be like the substitute of the Dutch possibilities! The fourth Pestilence lp brought the music of Patrick Mameli and the rest of the band in such unusual and imaginative regions, that the album was immediately met with a total incomprehension and disapproval from everywhere, but also with doubts on the part of the musicians in the further activity of the band.

I am not going to try to find the meaning (and rational answers) in it, but one thing is certain, to this day it's my favorite album from Pestilence, absolutely underestimated and showing a lot of parochialism of the publisher/listeners at that time! Yes, the music of the Dutch has become very demanding, extraordinary and not easy to listen to, so disappointed listeners by "Testimony Of The Ancients" will not understand the main idea of ​​"Spheres" at all, but there is "something" on this album that almost immediately attracts attention and makes that you are dealing with something unique, which makes you want to torture your hearing more and more. The Dutch simply managed to bring a lot of risky and intriguing novelties to their music, and at the same time, not to forget where the essence of their style was.

The first thing that catches the ears is the sound. These became claustrophobic, (seemingly) unfriendly, alienated - perfectly shot into the concept of the cover. One has the impression that the band seriously closed themselves in a capsule and recorded all the material there. Second thing - guitar synthesizers. They perfectly imitate keyboards (which is clearly indicated for doubters in the note in the booklet: "there are no keyboards on this album") and they were also perfectly used in the form of solos (!). The effect is amazing. Another - the appearance of bassist Jeroen Paul Thesseling. His parts are much more interesting than Choy, accompanies other instruments much more clearly and decorate the music with jazz patents even more nicely. Going further, the genius of "Spheres" manifests itself from the more hysterical Mameli vocals, more ideas and the atmosphere of progressive metal (something as if referring to Voivod), giving a cosmic respite to interludes (in such "Personal Energy" something similar also occurs), twisted guitar solos by both Patrick's and a slightly more "mechanical" drumming by Marco Foddis. And all this without displacing the death metal face of Pestilence's music (similar to Nocturnus), such as "Soul Search", "Changing Persepctives", "The Level Of Perception" or "Demise Of Time" show.

On "Spheres", the Dutch revealed for the last time as a phenomenal band and so boldly modifying their style. Despite the general omission and alleged accusations of over-combining, "Spheres" is - similarly to "Focus" or "Elements" - a brilliant cd, perfectly combining space with death metal sound, and at the same time well ahead of its time. It's a pity that such a unique album put out the band's activity for many years.

Originally on: https://subiektywnymetal.blogspot.com/2021/06/pestilence-spheres-1993.html

Ruined by dichotomy - 47%

Gas_Snake, June 2nd, 2020

What are the possible implications of a metal band changing to a more progressive sound? Some bands do this to add more depth and substance to their songs. Others simply attempt to sound like other bands that are labeled as "prog". There are even those who find their own unique sound and spawn dozens of imitators by doing so. Such a question can also be raised in relation to the 90's output of Dutch death metal band Pestilence, who released two amazing albums before shifting their style towards jazz-influenced technical death metal similar to Death, Atheist and Cynic. Unfortunately, this change of style did not lead them to create any great music, and their fourth album "Spheres" is a prime example of progression gone wrong.

Both this album and "Testimony of the Ancients" greatly suffer from a lack of cohesion. The latter did so because it was a transitional point between brutality and progression, yet was sorely lacking in both of those areas - it didn't have an identity of its own. "Spheres" is a complete mess for a different reason - it knows what it wants to be, it has a unique sound, but the instruments that comprise said sound clash horribly with each other, making it difficult to immerse the listener in its atmosphere. Compare this to "Consuming Impulse", which does a brilliant job of making you FEEL its sickening stench because the individual parts of its sound fit together so well, and it becomes clear which output is superior.

The guitars don't stand out much, as they are relegated to passable technical death/thrash riffs and jazz-inspired solos. However, the real problems of this album begin with the synths. They are used frequently throughout the album with the intent of creating a kind of "space exploration" sound, but they don't fit with the other instruments at all, constantly clashing with the guitars and vocals. Even by themselves, they struggle to convey the proper feelings - the instrumental track "Aurian Eyes" is something that I'd expect to hear in a Saturday morning cartoon, not a death metal album. For another example, listen to the intro of "The Level of Perception", which does not fit with the rest of the song at all, as if it was simply thrown in there with no regards to its place in the song.

The other thing which sounds out of place on this album is Patrick Mameli's vocals. His throaty death growls do not work well with the jazzy rhythmic structures, nor do they give weight to the introspective lyrics. When he holds a note, it sounds like he's trying too hard to sound desperate, and failing miserably. The rest of the time he simply sounds like a third-rate Chuck Schuldiner. I understand that "Spheres" is technically a death metal album, but I honestly believe that it could've greatly benefited from a cleaner vocalist, such as Snake from Voivod. This would strip it of nearly all death metal elements, but at least the vocals would actually fit the music and the mood that it's trying to project. Furthermore, Mameli was set on moving away from brutality and metal in general, so he might have considered the option of hiring a clean vocalist to fit the music better.

Somewhere in here is an almost good prog metal album waiting to get out, but its direction is utterly neutered by the dichotomy of the instruments. I have yet to listen to any post-reunion Pestilence albums, but I consider this to be one of their worst. If you want to hear what this band is really capable of, get their first two albums. If you're intrigued by the idea of metal with a "cosmos" aesthetic, then I highly recommend Voivod's music (though their sound is very different from the one present here). If you want to hear a better example of technical death metal from this era, their peers Death and Atheist have you covered. Either way, there is little reason to bother with this record.

Where's the feeling? - 60%

we hope you die, April 29th, 2020

The history of Pestilence from the late 1980s to mid-90s is – much like Death – a pretty neat allegory for the history of death metal as a whole around this time. From primitive, thrashy beginnings to the harder, fully formed death metal of ‘Consuming Impulse’, and then a quest to develop this music further, to remain relevant. Whilst some like At the Gates chose to gradually dilute their sound with elements that pandered to a more commercial ear, many looked to prog and jazz as worthy new dimensions for this music to evolve into. The results were….mixed. And Pestilence’s effort of 1993 known as ‘Spheres’, rather than being an unadulterated pleasure to listen to, is more an historical curiosity. This is because it manages to demonstrate the very best and the very worst of progressive death metal. Unlike ‘Unquestionable Presence’ which is a near flawless album in the same field, and unlike Cynic’s ‘Focus’, which is too over-indulgent and pleased with itself to say anything, ‘Spheres’ is a confusing, schizophrenic release. It’s so dense that in the same thirty second stretch are some genuinely intriguing moments and some ideas that just don’t come off. For this reason it leaves me thinking…’they tried’.

Production is clear and crisp to the point of being mechanical. This album wastes no time in revealing its true intentions, with the choppy staccato guitars immediately jumping out of the speakers with a much cleaner tone, fully showcasing the more unorthodox (by death metal standards) direction the riffs will be taking. The same can be said of the bass tone, which cuts through the mix like a razor blade, and has all but abandoned metal techniques in favour of jazz. The drums, despite raising the game required for this style, are actually the least altered of the instruments, grounding the music in more conventional beats, or else hiding the odd time signatures with some clever accenting. The other thing to note is the ‘not keyboard’ effects. And this is where we enter the hit and miss territory. Nocturnus used keyboards sure, and sure it felt like a gimmick at the time. But on ‘The Key’, although they did not add anything to the music, they were not much of a distraction either, being either inaudible or at best enhancing the guitar leads. On ‘Spheres’ the ‘not keyboards’ jump out at odd intervals with little regard for tension, build, or the general mood or emotion that the rest of the music is currently settled on.

And that brings us on to the real problem with ‘Spheres’, and a lot of death metal’s early attempts to transcend itself via the progressive route. The clue is in the terms ‘mood’ and ‘emotion’. For all the music packed into ‘Spheres’ I’m still not sure what the band are trying to say. What are they conveying, beyond opening a box of technical curiosities? Not being that technically minded I could honestly listen to it for days and still uncover nooks and crannies within that are certainly noteworthy. But this would be an academic pursuit, not an artistic one. For all the techniques chucked into ‘Spheres’, the final work is static, a dead end of both human and mechanical ingenuity. There is character and heart to this music, it feels like an honest attempt at a higher aim. But it seems that they were so caught up in what they could achieve that the real heart was sucked out. All that remains is a series of unconnected ideas that are more for the benefit of the musicians and enthusiasts of the technical aspects of music theory than the impassioned ear pounding we received on ‘Consuming Impulse’.

The mid-1990s were death metal’s awkward teen years for all intents and purposes. And one of the defining features of adolescence is experimentation. But of course, by nature, experiments sometimes fail, in fact they fail most of the time. But the odd thing about ‘Spheres’ – given just how far Pestilence attempted to push death metal into the realms of jazz and the like – is how they neither succeeded nor failed. It’s a fine album despite its flaws and almost garish need to demonstrate just how out there it is. But one cannot help notice that, for all the discussion we could have around this album’s success or failure, the true artistic meaning behind this rarely comes into the picture, if it even exists at all. The ‘what is it trying to say’ beyond technique and experimentation remains elusive.

Originally published Hate Meditations

Even Reflections of the Mind Can Produce Miracles - 94%

bayern, February 8th, 2019

I bought this cassette despite fellow metalheads’ warning that this would be very different from anything the band had created earlier; well, it was Patrick Mameli and Pestilence, for crying out loud; it wasn’t going to be a suckfest, of course, although a major reason for this consuming impulse of mine was also the cover: amazing stuff, can’t possibly be wrapping something lesser than at least a half-masterpiece.

This opus was an early, premature reflection of what was occurring on the other side of the Atlantic, the transformational process within the death metal roster which literally overnight produced three outstanding alterations: Cynic’s “Focus”, Atheist’s Elements”, and this splendid… sorry, “spherical” oddity here. Yeah, the world of our favourite death metal wasn’t going to be the same after those as another polemical question that arose almost immediately was how much longer the genre would last sounding appropriate in order to be labelled as such. Cause there were quite a few ingredients that didn’t smell brutality and aggression embedded into its canvas; on the contrary, they were actually taking the genre into milder, not previously traversed trajectories where our beloved death was shaking hands with strangers, some of them maybe not that jovial…

strangers like jazz and fusion that peppered these three works, making them a not very comfortable listen for the more scholastic fraction of the fanbase who may have been pulled off by the album reviewed here the most as this is the least death metal-fixated offering of the three. In fact, there isn’t much death metal here if we exclude Mameli’s aggressive, weirdly echoing vocals; thrash has been brought back although its role isn’t that prominent, either, reminiscent of its service on the late-80’s Voivod instalments, and especially on DBC’s trippy hallucinogenic wonder “Universe”.

The effort here recalls the latter work in more ways than one, but there’s another album that has to be mentioned here, the one that first introduced the jazz/fusion elements into the metal template, and the one to which all Cynics, Atheists, etc. owe a lot, Sieges Even’s “Steps” (the album-title here may also be a more or less covert reference to it). The Pestilence recording comes very close to its far-reaching grandiosity although again it doesn’t completely avoid the “thrash” tag like that one, what with the surreal guitarisms ala Mekong Delta and Target detected on “Mind Reflections”, a most disorienting inauguration with the outlandish riffage creeping minimalistically, creating alien dystopian atmosphere quite akin to the one on the mentioned DBC work as well. Although a couple of cuts (“Multiple Beings”, “The Level of Perception”) later follow this “thrash for the new millennium and beyond’s generation” approach, there’s still this pressing deathy urgency to be detected on the trippy “Soul Search”, an expansive template that may have been heard more than just a few times by contemporary “beyond death” outfits like Obliteration, Morbus Chron, Tribulation, Beheaded Zombie, etc.

However, it’s on the more delineated from the pure thrash/death metal formula moments where this opus really comes outside the box in marvellous ways, like on the psychedelic dreamy Pink Floyd-ian “Personal Energy” and the more dynamic but equally spacey and abstract title-track, plus the several short ambient all-instrumental interludes the latter sounding way more idyllic than the ones from “Testimony of the Ancients”. Although the band don’t dwell on these mind-expanding tunes too much here, they invariably leave their trace throughout this opus with “Changing Perspectives” being a particularly impressive jarring, keyboard-peppered schizoid thrasher, total Nomicon and Mekong Delta-sque insanity; and “Demise of Time” indulging in overlapping labyrinthine spirals, with great twisted leads circling around adding to the extra-terrestrial, boundary-transcending listening experience with genre categorizations becoming ultimately redundant by the end of this superb, from-out-of-space visitation.

Yes, the testimony has been altered as a farewell signature gesture, but in a way that only increased the band’s stature regardless of how many fans simply refused to listen to it due to its utterly weird, not very accessible at times, nature. The death metal roster was entering new unexplored territories at the time and thanks to all the mentioned acts, alongside other less known ones (Pavor, Violent Dirge, Agretator, etc.), it embarked on a very adventurous ride that pushed its borders to the limit, testing the audience’s threshold of tolerance. In the Pestilence case this wasn’t done in such drastic ways as both the thrashy and the jazz/fusion expletives were already familiar from the several previously mentioned albums, at least to the more expert side of the fanbase; it’s just that it was difficult to envisage this direction that Mameli and Co. took after the grandiose predecessor… minimalistic spacey abstractism didn’t seem like the most logical follow-up to it as again compared to the Cynic and Atheist efforts this one was the biggest departure from death metal, to these ears thankfully all for the better.

Alas, the fans’ ears, or rather minds, were not that wide open at the time for the strange, mind-expanding sounds of the Universe and this opus was largely crucified for the radical musical metamorphosis. Which is quite sad as I’m pretty sure that Mameli already had a few more pieces of similar trippy psychedelic soundscapes as an immediate follow-up… which he had to tuck away on the shelves due to the minimal positive response he received for this one. He gave it another go after the reformation, though, on “Doctrine”, but the modern abrasive boost the jazzy/fusion template had been embellished with didn’t have the same lofty effect anymore. A spherical oddity of the kind can only be cooked once, I guess. Still, the Universe keeps beckoning, and the Dutch maestro has already proven himself as one of the few who can tap into those elusive beckoning frequencies; so…

Ironically The Best Pestilence Record to Date - 100%

Frenetic Zetetic, September 16th, 2018
Written based on this version: 1993, CD, Roadrunner Records

In 1993 "Spheres" was unleashed upon a sea of bloodthirsty - yet confused - traditional extreme metal fans. It broke the mold in every way imaginable, from adding guitar synths (the band vehemently asserts they are NOT synthesizers, despite sounding exactly the same as synthesizers), to a "stripped" guitar tone (a plus, as we'll see shortly) - this is secretly Pestilence's finest, most creative, unorthodox moment to date.

The production is clear and all instruments are easily heard. The bleeps and bloops of the layered guitar synth sound incredible with a pair of good studio headphones. The songs themselves are composed of several catchy, technical riffs that flow very well. The album itself is incredibly short, and usually lends itself to multiple spins per sitting.

The guitar tone that everyone complains about is actually quite good for what they were going for here. Dry, scooped, and in your face. The riffs come through perfectly. The fretless bass sounds massive. Marco Foddis is at his all time best on drums here. Guitar leads are perfectly jazzy yet still metal at the same time. This is arguably some of the best fusion metal from '93.

In hindsight, this feels like the album Pestilence was reaching for on the (abysmal) Testimony of The Ancients album a year and a half prior. They also seem to be "re-aiming" for this type of sound on their last few abysmal records. Whilst Testimony and the recent recordings seem unable to make up their mind on whether they are thrash, death, or fusion recordings, "Spheres" eliminates any confusion and introduces itself as straight out fusion metal. This means there are tons of wonderful jazz motifs, themes, and cadences throughout.

This also means your average metal listener will absolutely despise the content therein.

Unfortunately for those in said camp, breaking the rules is sort of an unwritten prerequisite to progressing genres and creating new sounds. Fusion is an excellent addition to extreme metal in my honest opinion, and all the better, more technically savvy bands were introducing elements of fusion at this time, whether consciously or unconsciously.

Pestilence had the right idea by bringing a new idea to the table, and sticking to it. For this unorthodox jazz metal outing, I remain grateful.

An Imperfect Reality - 91%

Evershifting, November 29th, 2017
Written based on this version: 1993, 12" vinyl, Roadrunner Records

Surprisingly for such a progressive album there isn't a lot of time changes in the structure to quite a few songs, take the opener for example. Stringing along at one (albeit weird) pace for most the duration which doesn't make it very appealing for most listeners of progressive music, one the other hand this is a metal(ish) album and should be judged in such a manner. For the ever present metal trope of riffs, riffs and more fucking riffs this really does work well; multiple hard hitting riffs per song make this for an entertaining half hour.

Someone give the drummer a damn medal by the way, to keep up with the cannon volley of riffs Mameli can chuck out. Even adding a little taste of lovely fills and killer rolls to the background to spice up the rhythm (try the bridge of "The Level of Perception" for some tighter rolls than you'll find in a Swiss cake shop). Mentioning chucking out reminded me, Patrick Mameli sounds a lot like Chuck Schuldiner circa 1992 although add a (surprisingly small) European accent (not even Dutch he controlled it so well). Unfortunately for the bass it does get buried a lot by the mix, the production itself means you can make it out clearly (the bridge of "Changing Perspective" is a good chance to hear Thesseling's fingers jumping about the non-existent frets). It is so nice to find an album with technical bass lines that doesn't have "DiGiorgio waz 'ere" plastered all over it. Like the drummer he is a real credit to the rhythm of the record, it would lose so much of it's majesty without these two.

Looking at the other reviews for this album; a lot of people say they don't remember it at all. I don't blame them however, but I will say it's so cool to go through a killer song like "Soul Search" with the sharp fast riffing and get all nostalgic. Being the most thrashy song present is kinda cool too, though that title is fought for by "Demise of Time". Listening to this album and visiting the cool passages of "Mind Reflections" and that drum smash fest that is the title track does make me glad I don't remember all the songs properly so the record doesn't become jaded or predictable. I suppose a lot of reason for the hate is that Mameli was getting further and further from the moshing idiot horde of standard death metal fans and more jazzy. Sadly a pursuit to his own demise; changing your style because you don't like your fans means you need to make a damn hard splash in another genre or make your own crushing brand (cue the mighty fucking Bathory), Mameli did neither so was put to commercial death by the labels.

Speaking of Mameli he has another fantastic performance with his leads (try Testimony of the Ancients for the other great example); just like Skolnick era Testament, Pestilence have always had great solos. This isn't Testimony so the solos aren't quite as strong but are still more NWOBHM/classically metal styled than sweep picked wankery tech death leads. However even "Over the Wall" (Skolnick's best) pales against Paul Quinn's Magnum Opus...

Highlights: "Soul Search", "Spheres", "Changing Perspective" and "Demise of Time" hold high positions here, evocative and beautifully constructed, these actually can hold a candle to tech-prog masterpieces like "Veil of Maya", "Scavenger of Human Sorrow" and "Mother Man" which is surprising but not unwelcome. Best song (and the most unique) though is definitely "Personal Energy" the delayed, layered and reduced vocals force you to concentrate on the little licks scattered throughout the song. Cap that off with a dreamy solo thanks to properly used (insert middle finger pointing at JP's Turbo) synth guitars. Remaining tight and controlled without sounding uber technical really makes this sound fresh. Get the LP for your collection, it's great.

The tragedy of genius - 92%

SoundsofDecay, May 22nd, 2015
Written based on this version: 1993, CD, Roadrunner Records

Spheres, the fourth and final album by the original lineup of Dutch death metal legends Pestilence, is one of the most criminally misunderstood and underrated albums in the history of metal. Largely reviled at the time of release, the bad reaction was demoralizing enough for mainman Patrick Mameli to split up the band and keep it on ice for around fifteen years. In the typical fashion of idiot trendy music journalists and fickle metal listeners to not recognize something groundbreaking for what it is until well after the fact, Spheres has been given something of a critical re-appraisal the last few years. Granted, it is a very odd album, and not exactly easy to get into, but the seeds sowed by albums like this have had a profound influence on today's technical/ jazz influenced death metal bands.

The early 90s was a time of enormous change in death metal. The basic formula wasn't cutting it anymore, and many bands began to branch out into strange new territories such as funk and fusion. Death did it. Atheist did it too. So did Cynic. And of course, so did Pestilence. 1992's Testimony of the Ancients had already displayed a noticeable shift in style for the band. The songwriting became much more technical, and also more open to the use of textures and atmosphere. Lyrical subjects became less about insects burrowing through your skin to more thoughtful reflections on consciousness and abstract themes (with a dose of religion for good measure). A subtle, yet noticeable fusion influence crept its way into the overall style, most notably in Mameli's increasingly adventurous soloing and use of uncommon chords. It was one of the most impressive albums of its era, yet the change wasn't quite obvious enough to alienate hardcore death metal fans just yet. Don't get me wrong, Consuming Impulse is a masterpiece and timeless example of great vintage death metal, but they clearly weren't going to be churning out derivatives of that for the rest of their career. This was a band that was going to progress whether you liked it or not.

For this album, Pestilence had a new lineup. Gone was the dazzling Latin influenced bass shred of Tony Choy, to be replaced by the more measured, jazzy style of one Jeroen Thesseling, later to find great recognition with those German giants of modern techdeath, Obscura (a band who owes a great deal to albums such as this one). Thesseling is playing fretless for the entire album here, which lends it a more subtle and interesting flavour. His technique is, even at this early stage, highly advanced but he never resorts to any blatant showing off, seeing fit to underpin the guitar riffing with massive, occasionally disjointed grooves, and occasional melodic highlights to provide counter-melody. All the previous members remain in place.

The actual sound of Spheres is likely to be the most off-putting factor for some. The production is just plain weird. Mainly the guitar tone, which has a strange "hollow" sound to it with a distinct lack of the low end common to death metal guitar tones. Guitar synth textures (NOT keyboards, as the band are so keen to stress in the booklet) also dominate the album providing everything from spacey pads to violin sounds. The vocal sound is also a little strange, more strangulated than guttural. Of course, 1993 was a prime year for groundbreaking death metal with albums such as Death's Individual Thought Patterns and Cynic's Focus blowing minds left and right I imagine. Although Spheres is not as stunningly intricate as either of those albums are, it is arguably the most unusual. The actual songwriting is largely quite straightforward, with basic and easy to follow layouts. The strangeness mainly comes from the bizarre riffing and Mameli's ever more demented soloing, and the guitar synths.

The most effective tracks on the album are pieces like "Multiple Beings", with its evil shuffling rhythms and cavernous bass groove. The title track, which is the catchiest track on the album and displays some great melodic soloing. Also "Demise of Time", which us probably the most "crazy" track on the album. Check out that closing riff! Wacky. As with the last album, there are some well-placed interlude pieces to break up the main songs. These include Mameli's creepy violins of "Aurian Eyes", Uterwijk's brilliantly spacey "Voices From Within" and Thesseling's dreamy bass solo piece "Phileas". The band also attempts to go full-on fusion with "Personal Energy", which is largely successful and features a startlingly pretty jazz break halfway through.

This should have been the album to take Pestilence over the horizon, but sadly it wasn't to be. The predictable reaction of a lot of the band's fanbase saw to that. So did Pestilence themselves. Mameli had begun to verbalize a lot of admittedly pretentious views regarding extreme metal and its listeners. The same kind of snobby, dismissive tone those wankers from Ulver use when discussing their amazing first three albums compared to their mostly criminally boring latter output (Perdition City and Teachings In Silence excluded). I also think it is a real shame that the band effectively caved in to the critics and "gave up", especially when they clearly believed in this album at the time, though I do understand their demoralisation. What's even more unfortunate is that when they re-formed they took the easy way out and tried to ape Consuming to please the crowd with the unremarkable comeback album Resurrection Macabre. Their works since then have consisted of confused sounding, mid paced groove metal punctuated by Mameli's admittedly still brilliant lead guitar work and Thesseling's idiosyncratic bass to keep things interesting. For me though, Pestilence ends at Spheres, and this is an album that will give you endless enjoyment if you are open to it. But you do have to be open to it.

Don't enter these spheres - 33%

Felix 1666, March 22nd, 2014

Imagine being a metal musician who doesn´t want to play metal anymore. It´s so boring, it´s so aggressive. You complain about a lack of musicality while becoming more and more convinced that your death/thrash metal records so far have been just an error, inexplicable and regrettable. So herein lies the problem. On the one hand you have fans, but a style you love to hate. On the other hand you have a style you want to play, but no fans. Bad luck, boy!

This was exactly the situation of Patrick Mameli in 1992 / 1993. Sometime after the release of the already mechanized but strong "Testimony of the Ancients" he decided to stop the evolution of Pestilence´s successful style while starting an useless revolution as a substitute. Unfortunately, he was not able to compose coherent songs that could satisfy his high requirement. The running time of this so called full-length appears to be a first indication of his lack of ideas. Subtract the three pointless less-than-two-minutes-instrumentals and what remains at the end? Eight miserable songs in even more miserable 29 minutes. At the very first glance onto this album, it did not look like a new beginning but like a declaration of creative bankruptcy.

"Spheres" kicks off with an inharmonic riff followed by a synth, a spherical synth of course. "Mind Reflection" could had open the album in a solid way, but the breaks are completely unsuitable. Mameli´s voice contrasts with the instrumental confusion, because he strikes only one note during the whole record. Maybe the Dutch crew wanted to record some disturbing tracks, but was it really meant this nasty way?

The longer the album lasts, the worse it gets. Perhaps "Personal Energy" was their attempt to perform a kind of "space ballad". It gets lost in an unknown ugly galaxy, far away from the bright shining metal universum. Freed from the expectations of stupid metalheads, it flows dreamily into nothingness. I would wish it had not come back. In addition, I am unable to appreciate jazz-related solos or musicians that seem to be removed from the real world. "Waste of Time", sorry, I must correct myself, "Demise of Time" pictures the last attack on my taste. It squeaks, it beeps, it doesn´t make sense at all.

He who hates himself might seek for positive elements on this record and to be fair, he will find just a few. But this happens really rarely and Pestilence knew very well how to wipe out every good idea immediately. In conclusion, for the band, "Spheres" might have been an act of self-realization. For fans like me, who felt fine while linking the band with death and thrash of the better kind, this output was just an act of betrayal and the following occasionally split of Pestilence was no reason for sorrow.

You're going to the science hospital! - 87%

natrix, February 23rd, 2012

Oops, this isn't Voivod, and this isn't Killing Technology. But in many way it reminds me of those wacky Canadians' best album. Strange, jazzy riffs, loud, quasi techical drums and harsh, shouted vocals all scream Voivod. Well, that and the strong sci-fi vibe this album has.

Spheres is not a comfortable listening experience. I picked this one up before any other Pestilence album, and was utterly confused for a good while. As a Morbid Angel worshipping 15 year old, I think the exact words out of my mouth were "what the fuck is this shit?" It was alien music back then, and 15 years later it still is.

Patrick Mameli's vocals sound like a transmission from a distant spacecraft! For all the money they spent on guitar effects (hey! They DID NOT use keyboards on here!), they probably could have kicked a little more cash to the producer and gotten a better sound out of it. Once again, though, the totally weird sound (especially the guitars) makes you feel like you're on some sort of flying saucer with little green men. B-grade sci-fi movies must have been a definite influence at this point.

It's quite possible that upon initial listen, you won't remember a thing from this album. That's odd, because there are no really strange structures, just weird music. The slower moments stand out the most, especially "Personal Energy," which is actually beautiful. The guitar synth solo in there is breathtaking! The "heavy" stuff is solid, as well, albeit not quite as memorable. While there is enough of the fret grinding Possessed influenced riffing of Testimony of the Ancients, a greater focus on melody and the aforementioned bizarre production makes this seem much more like a psychedelic mix of thrash and jazz fusion.

One thing that I really love about this album is the bass. Jeroen is all over the place with his slithery fretless bass action, and it's pushed to the front of the mix. At some times, it feels like he's playing an entirely different song. It is in these sections that the jazz influence becomes totally obvious.

There is nothing like Spheres out there, and I don't think there ever should be. You can tell this is Pestilence, but I often have to pinch myself, or ask if I've accidentally eaten some strange fungus during the experience. Spheres requires a very open mind, previous exposure to and enjoyment of music outside of orthodox metal. If you've got that applies to you, hop on board and take a trip into deep (inner) space!

Spaced-out metal of death - 74%

Lane, February 18th, 2012

I remember being in a merry frame of mind when I bought this back in 1993, because the previous album 'Testimony of the Ancients' had presented me this fantastic, atmospheric death metal band. The cover promised a lot, continuing in the vein of the precursor, with familiar spheres. I got home and sticked the CD into the player. I had one thought about this when the album was playing: "What the fuck?????!!!!" Pestilence had moved onwards, a lot. But for me, it was too much: technical jazzy space metal was their thing now. I never got into the album when it came out, and sold it after a few weeks or months. Roll over a few years, and in the late 1990s, I had the chance to pick it up for a very cheap price, and thought to give it a second chance. After all, my music collection had expanded from safe styles to something more adventurous. Who knows, 'Spheres' might have left a seed of alteration in my brain, which took effect later, because 'Spheres' sounded partly awesome, partly way too much out there.

'Spheres' is not a regular CD player visitor. This is not an easy-listening album. You just don't listen to it in the background. 'Spheres' can sound totally crap when not given full attention. Hmmm, so what's left of the Pestilence of the yore? Guitarist Patrick Mameli's vocals are agonized and guttural, think of mixture of Kreator's Mille Petrozza and former Pestilence throat Martin Van Drunen. There's some great double bass drum work and a few riffs are still death metal in style. But that's it, basically. Sometimes the band go through hazy space (prog) rock, then they find themselves in a pink fairyland. Then again, there are unexplored black holes with extreme powers, too and they are a majority on this album. So, it's really not a fluffy ride, mind you.

The rhythm guitar tone is obscure, blurry, and it's not heavy at all. The lead guitar work usually goes through guitar synthesizers, which are used a lot. Plus, all the guitar synths (no keyboards are used at all on this platter, by the way) are a bit "wicked", to say at least, not many clear melody runs. More like random, but still, not. Twisting yet wonderful rhythms do not make this any clearer. It's all very technical and not in usual easy songwriting style, sometimes working against it. Still, if and when one can get into the songs, and when it happens, this is a joyous adventure! Lyrically, 'Spheres' move in inner space, all the lyrics are written by the drummer Marco Foddis.

Usually, this is perversely satisfying. This is a difficult album for me. Some days I might praise it and some days not. You should give it a spin and see, whether you want to take the challenge it offers or not. After the great 'Testimony of the Ancients', 'Spheres' was a too big step, for both the band and the fans. This should have been released under a different name, I think. But, I heartily think it deserves the score I'm giving it, because as I already mentioned, this is a joyous adventure on the right day and a very unique album.

(originally written for ArchaicMetallurgy.com in 2008)

Pestilence - Spheres - 90%

ConorFynes, December 9th, 2011

The early 90's can be seen as the golden era for death metal. Particularly in the south- eastern United States, bands like Death and Atheist were taking the young genre to heights of perfection, fusing classical music and jazz into the gritty, extreme sound. On the other side of the Atlantic ocean is Pestilence, a band that sounds quite a bit like the aforementioned groups. Hailing from the Netherlands, this band takes after the American pioneers, adding on a few elements onto the existing style, and comes out with an absolute masterpiece of progressive death metal. 'Spheres' may not be as widely regarded as the magnum opuses of Pestilence's US counterparts, but it is just as exciting of a listen.

Upon my first listen to this classic, my first intuition was to draw the comparison of Death's 'Symbolic' album, released around the same time as this. The growled vocals seem to be crossbred between Chuck Schuldiner of Death, and Kelly Shaefer of Atheist. With these sorts of comparisons, its a surprise that Pestilence isn't from Florida, as opposed to Holland. On a purely musical level, this band is very closely related to them. The guitarwork is composed of dark, jazzy-infused metal riffs that will get your head banging and thinking at the same time. Also an important aspect of this brand of death metal is the heavy presence of the bass guitar. Thesseling's bass performance is very jazz-influenced and clean, contrasting the guitars, filling the mix, and giving something to listen for on subsequent listens. The album is very short, lasting little over half an hour, but the tracks flow together as if 'Spheres' was a single piece of music. I may have preferred this album to last a little longer, but the brevity is only reason enough to take it for another spin right after.

While Pestilence is very close in sound and style to the Floridan death metal scene, they do bring one very unique element to the table, that being the use of synthesizers. In tandem with the proggy death metal madness, there is a back up of strange synth sounds that gives the music a spacey, sometimes otherworldly feel. 'Spheres' would have turned out to be a very capable death metal album without this addition, but with it, it creates that much more of a distinctive musical experience, and makes me feel like I am part of the album art, lost in space amidst the debris. Pestilence could be called a clone of the American bands, but I do think they bring enough fresh material to the table to be worthy on their own merits. Not only that, but they manage to take the progressive death metal style and make something of it that really amazes me, perhaps even moreso than Death or Atheist ever did. This is a really incredible album.

Death Metal meets Jazz Fusion in Space - 91%

pryone, February 16th, 2011

Many times in a band's lifetime, a change in sound usually leads to one of two things: either the death of the band, or the band making themselves a new image and getting bigger/better. While to me this album is the latter, a welcome change from death metal to more jazz/prog death metal, what happened to the band is the former, as they later broke up, but now they're back together, but they didn't return to this album's style.

This albums main sound can be broken up into a mix of three genres. Death Metal, Progressive Metal, and some Jazz/Fusion work in there too. The album opens with "Mind Reflections" which sets the mood perfectly. It doesn't start off with any silence or noise or anything like that, just a snare hit then the song immediately starts, and this one doesn't give mercy. It starts with a nice start/stop riff that reminds me of a tech death riff but in a more thrash manner. The vocals come in and they're great. They're not similar to Mr. Drunen's vocals, who was the previous singer for the band, but they still rule and have a classic death metal style. The lyrics are pretty cool too, although completely different from the death metal standard of gore lyrics, these instead refer to space/time.

Another great song is "Personal Energy." This one starts off much more quiet and ambient than any other song on the album, and it keeps in that sense for the rest of the song. Sounds influenced by Cynic's album Focus. The vocals here have a different "voice" too. The singer's regular death vocals are more muffled here, as if hearing them through a radio, but there is also a more moaning vocal approach, reminiscent of Carbonized.

The major drawback of this album though is the lack of diversity. The paragraph I gave to "Mind Reflections" could go with most of the others. The only ones that sound different are "Aurian Eyes", "Voices From Within", and "Phileas", because they are more orchestral passages in between songs. While the others can vary more in tempo and have different riffs they don't feel that different from each other, however it's not so "samey" sounding that the album feels as if it's merging together and when you finish listening to it you can't remember much of what you just heard. To put it simply, none of the songs are bad, but they could be more diverse.

Overall a great album, recommended for those who are already fans of Pestilence and of the genre, as well as fans of Cynic and other progressive metal bands.

There is also a special edition of this, which I own. It contains a remixes of two songs, "Demise of Time" and "Soul Search", and live versions of the songs "Mind Reflections" and "Multiple Beings." The remixes are good but don't sound that different from the album versions, but the live versions are very well performed and sound great too.

The Dutch East Interspatial Trade Company - 82%

autothrall, April 22nd, 2010

Testimony of the Ancients might have taunted the listener with traces of jazz, progressive rock and other outsourced influences. It might have seemed the beginning of a departure from the brute force of the band's roots in death and thrash metal. But though that album might have rode the rocket out through the solar system, stopping somewhere around Jupiter for a coffee and then turning back to our more immediate neighborhood in the void, the band's 4th full-length Spheres abandons our neck of the universe altogether, building enough thrust to carry it into unexplored pastures. Spheres is the band's 'jazz death' album, and yet it has very little in common with similar forays towards the form by a Cynic or Atheist, or the more spastic, later approach of a Dillinger Escape Plan, or the jazzcore/rap of Candiria.

No, this was something unique, and in hoping to give it that rare spin, Mameli and company recorded it with their 4th producer in four albums: Steve Fontano. Fontano is a more seasoned, diverse knob twiddler than Trapp, Johns, or Burns. He's done everything from R&B to Southern rock to ska in his day, but I'm willing to bet Pestilence were most interested in his work with shred and jazz influenced artists like Tony MacAlpine or Greg Howe. He's done an interesting job with this album. I was surprised to find that it's not as polished sounding as Testimony of the Ancients; there's a particular grit to this journey due to its highly synthesized embellishments. Not KEYBOARDs, mind you, as Patrick Mameli was so adamant to inform us all in the liner notes that no keyboards were used on this recording. Those miserable keyboards, always killing the music, right? No. And considering that the album is so full of synth guitar waves, one wonders what is really the difference, and why one might seem opposed to the use of one, but supportive of the other, especially when the band had used the former in the past. The band had also changed bassists once again, replacing Tony Choy with the equally mesmerizing theory of Jeroen Paul Thesseling, and he's a good fit for this particular album, with his honest 4 and 6-string tones anchoring the spatial chaos that erupts.

The guitar synths actually work well in favor of the album, creating all manner of cosmic vibrations through the more metallic segments. A shimmering array of stars here, just at the edge of a groove. A pulsar out beyond Mameli's leering growls. A black hole sucking in all light through a fusion/rock break. It's fascinating, if you've the patience and wherewithal to let the album absorb you into its manic, extraterrestrial dementia. And it begins with one of its more aggressive expeditions, "Mind Reflections", which creates a sense of terror above its hacking, morbid rhythms and waylaid grooves, the coolest happening before the :40 mark. "Multiple Beings" is a more playful romp across a subdued, melodic thrashing, while the bass pumps away in an almost repressed funk and the synthesized strings interact with Mameli's intonations, stopping only for various fusion bridges. This is quite a good song, though I can see how it would turn someone off from the album if they're expecting "The Process of Suffocation Pt. II".

"The Level of Perception" continues to formulate this pattern of excess groove, through a very frightening progression of flowing guitars and spooky synth tones that hover just at the edge of the aggression. The title is only too fitting: the more you focus here, the more you'll get out of it. "Aurian Eyes" is a brief, space opera instrumental conducted through the synths, but "Soul Search" returns to the cutting rhythms, slowly building to a great climax groove at 1:50 where a lead erupts. "Personal Energy" is one of the true highlights of the album, a soothing track with clean guitars and synth that arrives at a fantastic bridge, where the vocals lie partially obscured by the glistening, celestial melodies that conspire to consume them. It's nearly hypnotic, as is the following Patrick Uterwijk free form guitar ambient piece "Voices from Within". The title track is probably the closest to the material on Testimony of the Ancients, with another of the band's solid, simple chord patterns leveraged with a few mind-warping, jazzy partitions.

"Changing Perspectives" is a track much like others on the album, cycling about a series of thrash/grooves saturated in the storms of synth and an arabesque, clean guitar. While it's good, the riffs do not immediately leap out to mind like so many that had come before them. "Phileas" is the last of the three brief instrumentals (as opposed to 8 on the previous album), and while soothing, it's the least interesting. The "Demise of Time" offers closure, one of the crueler tracks as far as the mocking rhythm and otherworldly gore-tone of the vocals. The main verse rhythm is great, and the jazzy segue around 1:20, but the rest is not so memorable.

In addition to their most adventurous, this would also be the 'last' album for Pestilence, until Mameli decided to reform the band for Resurrection Macabre, which sounds like a hybrid of their first three records and completely neglects the sound of Spheres. It's a little hard for me to complain about that choice, as I enjoyed this the least of their original full-lengths. Part of me is actually disappointed that I would not hear a follow-up to this, perhaps under another band name. The music is undeniably fascinating, and I'd be very curious to hear what a further mutation might have wrought through these very same musicians. Still, this is strangely the album that most find 'annoying'. It's melodic and catchy, but I can understand how the rhythmic progressions and common forays into the realm of jazz and fusion would turn off many listeners. Hell, this is the last album I recall which my girlfriend actually demanded I take out of my car CD player because she couldn't bear it. Fucking squares, man! They'll never understand us cats.

Very few traces of death metal remained in the band at this point. The most glaring would be the vocals, which have not changed from Testimony of the Ancients. If anything, they've grown even wilder. And then there are a few of the riffs, which are arguably closer to progressive thrash than anything hinging on brutality. But nevertheless, it's the band's most original excursion into aural atmosphere, and one of the few albums of its type that truly holds up through the years (far more than Atheist's Elements of Unquestionable Presence). In fact, the only other jazz/death love-child I adhere to would be Cynic's more recent effort Traced in Air, which we'd might as well just label progressive rock, though its borne of the same spirit. As far as I'm concerned, Pestilence had already conquered thrash and death metal with the first two albums. After recovering from the shock of their split with Martin Van Drunen, I grew to accept that this was not a band inclined to tread their old proving grounds, and Spheres is the logical and successful extension of this modus operandi. Of course, with Resurrection Macabre, they will actually take a piss all over this pattern, and set up camp right back where they started. But that album is such smashing fun that you'll hardly care.

The bottom line: if you dig jazz, progressive death metal, progressive guitar rock, or outer space in general, Spheres is worth passing some time with while you chew your biscuit and sip your tea, watching the moons and worlds stream past and the stardust shimmer outside your window on the bridge. Make it so!

Highlights: Mind Reflections, Multiple Beings, The Level of Perception, Personal Energy

-auttohrall
http://www.fromthedustreturned.com

Kaleidoscopic Horror - 78%

televiper11, April 16th, 2010
Written based on this version: 1993, CD, Roadrunner Records

By 1991, it was clear that Pestilence had changed as a band. With "Testimony Of The Ancients," Pestilence had become more precisely technical and progressive, ditching the overall brutality of their sound and incorporating trace elements of jazz fusion and psychedelica. That album was just death metal enough to retain their loyal audience, but "Spheres" cranked those trace elements to eleven and added even more outrageous influences to their sound. It was just too much for most fans, which is too bad because "Spheres" is a pretty good piece of work, every bit the equal of the more critically lauded experimental albums of that era.

Listening to Pestilence's "Spheres" is like being trapped in a wormhole, a tear in the fabric of the space-time continuum. An essentially violent, intense, and mind-altering experience, suffused with great horror and beauty, the recognition of impending death. The song structures, riff patterns, melodics, and harmonics are more indebted to krautrock than death metal, yet retain all the bite and punch of the latter. Ditto the vocals which, with the exception of 'Personal Energy,' are all delivered in typical brutal style, perhaps a bit more harshly yelled than grunted but sinister nonetheless. The guitar work is great, the riffs are chunky and catchy, the bass is audible and not just following the guitar lines. "Spheres" is also the only Pestilence album wherein Marco Foddis delivers interesting drum work. I'd previously found him to be a bit pedestrian but his footwork here is amazing. If anything, the previous structures of straight thrash and death had been holding him back. He makes every song more interesting with his decisions, particularly on the title track when he plays off-time to the guitars for the majority of the tune.

All the experimental death metal albums of 1993 had something cheesy and 70's about them, whether it was the vocoder on "Focus" or the string section operatics on "Dimensions." Here it's the guitar synths and over-reliance on noodly, Robert Fripp-style guitar solos and interludes. That said, if you dig that kind of stuff, you'll love this. As a big fan of krautrock bands like Goblin, Can, and Amon Düül II, I certainly do. In fact, the Goblin comparison is perhaps most apt as "Spheres" sounds like it could easily be the soundtrack to 70's splatter film, particularly the horrific "Changing Perspectives," whose opening riff/synth meld could be the score to a particularly terrifying zombie movie.

The production on this album, unfortunately, is dry and brittle. Considering the band's musical pursuits here, they deserved a bigger treatment. Their impulses don't come to complete fruition mainly because the sound isn't large enough to capture exactly what it is they're doing. The guitars, synths, bass, and drums all come crashing down on one another in a monotone wave. There is almost no separation on this record, to the detriment of the music. The album is also too short. The space-rock interludes are nice but also half-baked. Each one is only about a minute-and-a-half long, too short to really develop beyond a neat idea. Pestilence had a similar problem with this on "Testimony" and I wish they would've either dropped these interludes or developed them some more. Remove the interludes and you have eight full-length songs clocking in at just under half-an-hour. Not much music. They really ought to have stretched out a bit more here and really shown off their songwriting chops as songs like 'Mind Reflection,' 'Soul Search,' and the title track are all excellent. The above-mentioned faults are what keeps this album from being a true classic. That said, "Spheres" isn't the trainwreck I'd been led to believe. It is a fascinating attempt at expanding metal horizons and I appreciate it with every listen.

Middle finger for orthodox metalheads - 100%

steelin, May 3rd, 2009

As a jazz-death freak I consider 1993 as the most important year in a brief history of death metal. That's when such records as Individual Thought Patterns, Focus or Elements came out. They were milestones without any discussion, but my favourite album from then is Pestilence's Spheres. ITP was very catchy and had extraordinary bass lines. Elements was a very brave record, it hadn't any double-bass parts. Can you imagine that in death metal? Tony Choy also shown the best of his capabilities (Samba Briza!). Focus was fantastic. Vocoder, synthesisers, Sean Malone, extreme solos. Why Pestilence then?

Songs are well written. Lyrics are decent. Riffs are catchy, very fine. Drums play ok. Bass is great, I love it. I also love Mameli's vocals - deep and suggestive. It doesn't have any weak spots. You say sound is bad? Maybe. But that's what makes this record special!

Patrick Mameli used most of the best ideas present on above recordings: synths, distinct bass, jazzy solos, etc. Then he squared them and turned inside-out. When Cynic looked for more atmosphere and space, Pestilence overwhelmed the listener with mid-range oriented guitars and loud bass. When Chuck made some speedy, difficult riffs on ITP, Mameli based his on three, four chords so they are theoretically simple as For Whom The Bell Tolls, but still lots of progressive elements, rhythm and tempo changes, some technical jazzy solos, complex melody structures make it a hell of a difficult music which require specifical feeling from a musician. Grunt vocals sound like from behind the wall. Synths are sick, they aren't trying to make a melody but to make the listener feel disturbed. Remember Nocturnus and Louis Panzer's vibrating synths during a riff in "Lake of Fire"? That's what I mean.

Overall - Spheres are violent. But it isn't a physical kind of violence. It's about feelings. You experience something special, but it makes you feel uneasy, trapped: claustrophobic in a space pod lost in core of galaxy? Or making love with the hottest chick in the city knowing that her boyfriend will cut your balls off for it. ;) I can't find anything accurate to describe it. You just have to listen and feel for yourself.

Oh, you may not like it of course, but you'll be moved - that's for sure.

Spheres! - 98%

AllPowerToSlaves, February 3rd, 2007

1993 was what many consider the peak of death metal; Death's "Individual Thought Patterns", Gorguts' "The Erosion of Sanity", Cynic with "Focus", and others which have stood the test of time. I can't help but wonder why so many consider this to be Pestilence's weakest moment, when clearly it is their most brilliant.

This album is a solid piece of death metal history, and an undoubtably masterpiece from first note to last. Upon putting the CD in my stereo and throwing on my headphones, little did I know I was about to travel across the universe and back in under 33 minutes. When the opening riff for "Mind Reflections" hits, you know you're in for one hell of a ride. Compared to Pestilence's earlier albums, this one definitely has the most atmosphere. While many argue about the production, I don't think it could be any more perfect. While most death metal albums from 1993 were done digitally, and Spheres being no exception, the quality is excellent. I've heard many say the vocals are too "pushed back", but I don't think that's true. What I think causes this effect is the shear in-your-face mix the album bears. Guitars are right up front, and the bass is some of the most audible I've ever heard.

Like many death metal albums from the time, this one is loaded with imagery that is sure to make your head spin. The guitar synth is ever prominent, and it really helps to instill the whole "flying through space" vibe that the album is going for. I consider this album to be one of the few albums to get the complete package right. From album art to every single song, this beast is a masterpiece. Hats off to Dan Seagrave for another amazing album cover (check out his other work with Gorguts and Suffocation), and even the disc art carries on with the theme.

Point being, if you don't own this album you should find a copy as soon as possible. While it has been out of print in the USA for over a decade, you can easily find copies on the internet for fairly cheap. Spheres proves Pestilence were in their prime, and right on time to knock the metal world on its ass at it highest point.

Spaced out jazz/death... fucking incredible - 90%

sepultribe, January 28th, 2006

In their 4 album run, Pestilence never really could make up there mind. With the first full length being very aggressive thrash, the follow up, Consuming Impulse, became more death/thrash-ish. (Though there were signs of what would come – see Proliferous Souls) Then things started to get kind of weird with Testimony. Added keyboards, and more progressive moments thrown in the mix, making a very cool interesting atmosphere throughout. With Spheres, they seem to dive head on into the progressive jazzy style, such as Atheist and Cynic. A fuckload of synths are thrown around and the songs themselves sometimes get downright mongoose fucking weird.

The instrumentation has slowed itself down quite a bit. With a slower speed, the drumming gets a lot more complex as is the bass playing of Jeroen-Paul Thesseling. Like said before, there’s a lot of guitar synthesizer in this album. A lot of times they can be cheesy as hell but in this case it really makes it more badass. The synth in Changing Perspectives is pure tasty dripping goodness A lot of the aggression of the earlier albums is lost, in exchange for atmosphere. That doesn’t mean there aren’t badass riffs though, such as in Multiple Beings (the main riff), Changing Perspectives, and the opener Mind Reflections. Pestilence sure loves there damn interludes. There are three very cool atmospheric instrumental tracks that serve sort of as breaks in the album (not quite as much as Testimony’s eight).
One song that deserves mention is Personal Energy, possibly the highlight of the entire album. It’s a very mellow jazzy track with half clean/ half spoken vocals. Definitely nothing you would expect from this band.

The production has lost its bite like in Consuming Impulse but it has a very spacey sound, fitting the music. The guitar tone is very cool and different. One thing is that the vocals are kind of muffled; I’m not sure if that was intentional or what.
It’s a pretty short album being only 33 minutes, but it’s still a hell of a trip to listen to. If you’re a fan of Pestilence, Atheist, Cynic, or other things similar… fucking check this out. If you were freaked out by Testimony’s direction or ‘pussy jazz fagot music’ I’d stick with Consuming Impulse.