Pestifer – Defeat of the Nemesis (Review)

This is the latest EP from Belgian death metal band Pestifer.

Pestifer play a technical/progressive brand of death metal that’s roughly in the style of Obscura, Death, Pestilence, and Atheist, with a touch of Gorguts thrown in for good measure. Defeat of the Nemesis contains 24 minutes of material, and is an enjoyable introduction to what the band are capable of.

Pestifer’s music balances straightforward brutality and aggressive instant appeal against progressive depth and technical complexity. It’s a balance which favours the latter, in all its wandering-bass-enriched intricacy, but one that manages to present both parts of the musical equation in a good light. Of course, these two musical aspects are nowhere near as distinctly rendered as my words might imply; Pestifer blend the two together seamlessly into twisting, winding expressions of colourful and engaging death metal.

Although you can hear the old-school death metal influences in Pestifer’s sound, the band also benefit from more modern elements too. The end result is music that pleasingly pulls from a range of eras and sources to craft its material. I also like that the EP has a dissonant edge to it, but not an overly large one; the dissonant components enhance the whole, but don’t dominate. The vocals weren’t what I was expecting either; I thought we might get Death-esque screams, but instead we get Vader-like growls. Well, it works for me, and offers a satisfyingly blunt counterpoint to the music’s technicality.

Pestifer offer a compelling journey across Defeat of the Nemesis. It’s rich in atmosphere and melody, ripe with complex labyrinthine musical explorations, and yet still benefits from death metal’s muscular bite.

I have never had the pleasure of hearing Pestifer before, but this EP has converted me to their cause. If you’re a fan of technical/progressive death metal, then make sure you give this a listen.

Very highly recommended.