Hail the Black Metal Wolves of Belial

Oddly enough, this was one of the bands that started my journey into the realm of black metal. To give the reader idea as to how early into my exploration stage this was, I heard this compilation before even hearing a Darkthrone album. The details as to how I found this band aren't important and somewhat embarrassing, so I'll spare you the details and review what is, in my humble opinion, one of the greatest underrated gems of underground Finnish black metal.

This is Pest's last release, a compilation of all their old tracks and a handful of new ones consisting of nine in total, clocking in at roughly forty five minutes. Pest's sound at the time of this release can be best described as black metal with heavy trad influences, as well as the occasional nod to dark death metal bands such as Incantation et al. ; A mixture of Mystifier, early Celtic Frost and Black Sabbath would be the closest comparison one could draw. Older tracks, such as "The Opening of the Eye of Satan", are far more straightforward norsk black metal and not much needs be said about them. The riffs are heavy, crunchy and uncharacteristically thick-sounding for a black metal release, with a certain catchy vibe to them that make them very memorable; The guitarists also prove they can pull off an enjoyable solo every song. The drumming is fairly simple, stripped down and basic, which helps carry said riffs to the forefront of the sound. The vocals are fairly generic, consisting of the classic high-pitched black metal cackle that many of the norsk bands of the day were sporting, as well as low death metal growls. The bass is also very audible in most of the recordings, another rarity in this type of music. Keyboards are used sparingly in some songs to further the atmosphere created, in the same vein as Mystifier's Beelzebuth, or alternatively any track by Argentum.

This is one of the few bands that Satanic Tyrant Werewolf has taken part in that showed real spirit. Unfortunately, as for many bands of their calibre, a full-length album was never released, and the Finnish Pest was relegated to obscurity (aside from a handful of die hard collectors, who would pay absurd prices for any and all analog formats of their releases) while the Pest from neighbouring Sweden gained momentum. Nevertheless, a release worth digging up whenever one gets the chance.

Standout tracks: Satanic Winter, Towards the Bestial Armageddon, Sabbath of Lust, The Black Conqueror, Posessed Wolves' Howling

This now split-up band had some great ideas in mind when they were in their prime. Pest from Finland had something to offer Black Metal fans: pure Satanic intolerant rocking BM. An initial view can be based on this band from the very beginning intro consisting of “baahing” goats, a rainstorm, and an eerie keyboard sample: Pest is literally from Hell itself. This compilation of Pest’s work is a great release. It touches on many different sounds and influences from Black Metal, to Death, to Thrash, to even some keyboard parts. Satanic Warmaster is just a genius when it comes to Black Metal. The lyrics are a complete homage to Satan, that is very obvious, and they are exceptionally well written I might add. SW’s vocals are great, and the hatred and aggression of the lyrics just help them out even more. The riffs will have you head banging from the beginning riff of “The Black Forest” all the way to “Satanic Black Mass”. “Satanic Winter” is the best riff based song on this album. Great Black/thrash here.

Also, something you find in most of the songs is a lot of rock n’ roll based riffs, which helps the individualism of the band Pest. The drums follow with the guitars and bass through the whole thing, helping a great deal with the effect of the rockish beats. I have to say this is a slow paced release compared to other Black Metal releases, but Pest know how to do it well.

Any fan into minimalist Black Metal will most definitely not be turned away by this. Some few additions would be that this is basically Pest’s only official “full” album, one could say. It is all of the great Pest songs compiled into one disc, and is also limited to 1000 copies, so I hope you can find it. After this band, Satanic Warmaster went on to create his own alias-titled band (which is also very good), but it’s just a pity that Pest quit. In my opinion it was well too soon.

When my friend Chris and I picked up this CD we assumed from the Holocausto praise printed on the back that we would be getting a somewhat uncreative, but pleasent tribute to Mr. Holocausto and Beherit. Thankfully, we were entirely wrong! This warmly produced CD is a mixture of thrash, black and traditional metal that rocks as much as it praises satan. This is hardly a "wimp out" as the satanism and blood mood are intact, but unlike most black metal bands today...these boys can PLAY.

The strongest cuts on this record include the opening boil of "The Black Forest", the moving "Satanic Winter" and the intense "Sabbath of Lust". This material all rocks though, without few songs being left behind in terms of hook and melody. The vocals vary without losing a sense of being extreme and the lyrics are your typical "we love Satan" variety. No complaints, as this is one of the strongest bm releases of the past five years.

Pest rock, Pest are evil, and Pest most certainly deserve your money. If you want to order some black metal that brings the early work of Venom to a tighter, and considerably darker place...this CD is most certainly for you.

Rare to find such raw black metal that also rocks...Pest are quite the find.

I give this a solid "one horn up"...it may not rank with the legends...yet...but it's more fun than a barrel of imps plotting the demise of the holy ones.