Reaching the Void

I was playing Pestifer’s works back-to-back with the ones of the masters Chemical Breath the other day; for no apparent reason, just to check if those two pillars of Belgian death metal could be compared in any way. Although in terms of overall execution the two outfits don’t exactly match, the ways their careers evolved aren’t radically different. Both bands started with great debuts that bowed to a few lofty examples made in the past without necessarily emulating any particular one; and both groups altered the course slightly on the second instalments, in the Chemical Breath camp culminating on the extraordinary “Values” (still searching for a more aptly-titled album).

In the case of our friends here the cosmetic changes are a tad more tangible as the surgical, clinical precision of the guitar work from the debut has been given a break for at least half the time, replaced by an increased presence of gorgeous melodic circulations and more prominent spacey psychedelic passages verging on the dissonant. There shouldn’t be too many disgruntled, though, as the band’s skill in weaving complex, alluring soundscapes is almost intact, only adhering to less aggressive tools.

The rushing, abundantly melodic leads on “The Witness of the Loss” already suggest at the changes made the riffage that follows coming with a shady, trippy vibe although the blast-beats applied later throw the bridge back at the first showing; only for the latter to be partially ruined by “Exiled to the Abyss” which comes with a vociferous bass bottom and more overtly melodic configurations the very regular application of those overwriting the several attempts at a more twisted, more devious play. “Sarcophaga” is an amorphous, shape-shifting composition which puts Cynic’s “Focus” and Atheist’s “Unquestionable Presence” together for an ultimately thrilling ride with jazzy riff-salads piled on top of each other amidst stupendous bouts of twisted musicality ala Theory in Practice.

If someone has had any reserves until that point, after this most bewitching showdown he/she would drop them immediately “Tree of Thorns” choosing a marginally more orthodox way to keep the listener hooked although the up-tempo execution creates several opportunities for hyper-active mazey developments. “Abominations” is a short tractate on spastic spiral-like technicality ala Defeated Sanity and Obscura, and “Within the Void” is a surprising dramatic pounder with gradually escalating speedy accumulations. “The Earthling Chronicles” continues with the unheralded minimalism the inserted dissonant walkabouts nodding towards the diversification cohorts (Obliteration, Tribulation, Morbus Chron, etc.), shifting from the death metal canons in the direction of more expansive purer progressive metal vistas. The same process carries on on “Orbital Failure”, a 6.5-min spacey opera built around officiant, nearly doomy sections the situation saved by the stylish creepy technical shreds in the second half. “Positronic Symphony”” is indeed a symphony, of the highly-stylized super-technical variety as the listener will be totally overwhelmed within the very first minute, so dense are the riff-formulas and the melodic flyovers at the beginning that it’s kind of good that later on the band take it easy by adhering to more linear, less exuberant decisions for an anti-climactic, but desirably downbeat epitaph.

As much as one likes change and shifting from more or less rigid norms, he/she may start getting worried when a few exceptions to the rule have gradually accumulated inertia and have become a small avalanche. The diversification process within the death metal roster is ongoing and has even been compartmentalized as a standalone branch recently; and our Belgian heroes obviously show fascination with it. It hasn’t become an obsession yet, but the currents have been turned, and although the familiar death metal mould still stands dominant for a large portion of the time, one can only speculate as to how pivotal its position will be on subsequent recordings.

With this new tendency put aside, one has to admit that this album shreds in leaps and bounds for more than half the time, the guys reaching the lofty standards set by the debut with ease on the most dazzling moments although it’s quite clear that the more individual physiognomy of this first showing can be no more than wishful thinking overall. It’s quite ironic that the moment a band try to break through a relatively scholastic approach, they begin to sound similar to the competition… well, maybe not so ironic, after all, provided that that same “breaking through boundaries” process has been attempted by quite a few practitioners in the past few years… and, if you think of it, could there be anything genuinely new under the Sun in the 21st century?

I suggest we wait until the next Pestifer opus before we answer that question; there are rumours that a radical cleansing process would commence in death metal’s backyard not far from now… this pungent, toxic chemical Belgian breath nearly exterminated all the rivalry back in the 90’s; it wouldn’t hurt to see if another strong musical pesticide could be stirred in the small country in the near future.

Part of me is a major nerd for progressive ideas enveloped in a tech death metal context, but by the year 2014 I'm afraid that a lot of acts exploring that 'fringe' seem themselves to be repeating the past. Take Pestifer's sophomore Reaching the Void, for all intensive purposes a vortex of busy melodic riffs, bass lines that explore much of their fret-board, and a level of complexity which never eschews composition for pure wankery. Problem is, while the Belgians are not shy on the application of ambitious musicianship, it's still something we've all heard before. That's not to say I didn't derive some enjoyment from the album, but its labyrinthine charms do not always lend themselves to the most ambitious, memorable songwriting...

At its most clinical and convulsive, the playful and punctual thrash riffing passages brought to mind a death metal analog for Deathrow's underrated masterwork Deception Ignored, with some overt nods to Voivod's dissonant 80s material. Early Cynic (Focus), Watchtower (Control and Resistance) and Atheist (Unquestionable Presence) are other obvious references due to the flow of the bass player and the frenetic pulse of the music, with a hint of older Gorguts or 90s Death and Pestilence. But to place this in a more modern context, the songs feel like a collision between Canada's Beyond Creation, Germany's Obscura and America's Vektor, with that spacey, clean cosmic feel of the former two and then the occasional death/thrash viciousness of the third. Pristine, punchy production on the rhythm guitars allows us to hear every drum and bass note, and there are mass amounts of notes flying around, even though precious few seem to stick beyond their own hectic function. But don't be fooled into thinking this is even remotely chaotic or sporadic, because everything is heavily structured here and the band rarely escapes the envelope presented by the list of bands I name-dropped above. Thus, you've got a lot of minor variations on pre-conceived riffing formulas, arpeggio patterns and not a lot else here...

That's going to be enough for some, because let's face it, there is so much more actual 'music' here than on your garden variety death metal record, and even though many bands from Sceptic to Decrepit Birth have sought this sound, it does not seem like there's a heavy overpopulation of them, so there remains that slight illusion of nuance and 'freshness' which captivates the listener who is an admirer of the ability exhibited on the instruments. Through its tight cohesion of melodies and darker, dissonance, Reaching the Void is certainly a disc of some depth, so much fluttering about that I spent a few listens just picking out the bits and bytes of what I enjoyed, but on the flipside this is a 'plug and play' sort of album where many of the tempos and riff sequences could have been mixed up into their neighbors and you wouldn't really be able to distinguish them from one another. The bass, leads and drums keep things interesting, because they're actually dispensing some effort to stand out rather than facing subjugation by the guitars, but ultimately I came away from this feeling more like I'd experienced an 'exercise' than a set of songs I want to re-spin endlessly.

Pestifer have their chops, and I appreciated the detail and effort of this album, but it's not something I'd revisit when I wasn't in a very specific mood; but on the other hand, I obviously share a passion for many of the bands which influenced this one, and though I'd love to think the Belgians could travel further outside the box like their inspirations did at one time, Reaching the Void is more than enough to at least appreciate for the time spent in its conception and execution. If you own and enjoy at least a half dozen of the bands I referenced earlier, or others such as Gorod, Illogicist and Hellwitch, I think this is an easy enough recommendation.

-autothrall
http://www.fromthedustreturned.com