Pestilential Shadows “Wretch”
Far past death and through the veil into the beyond shall we return… Australia’s Dark Arts Vanguard, Pestilential Shadows, is back! Formed in 2003, Pestilential Shadows has become an Aussie Black Metal institution, due not solely to their long-running presence, but also to the par of their work. For Pestilential Shadows, the creation of BM is not solely a matter of adversarial aggression. It is one of pride and of sharing precious knowledge. As members of Ordo Ater Anguis - a Circle of Artists/Occult Practitioners who come together in order to share in their knowledge of what they’ve discovered of the beyond through their studious/esoteric practices and to contribute to one another’s musical expeditions, you could say that Pestilential Shadows’ work is also of the utmost importance to Black Metal as a true Left Hand craft. Since 2003, aside from a couple of demos, a split, an EP and one compilation, Pestilential Shadows has released seven, soon to be eight studio LPs that thematically span over deathly and diabolical scapes. Bringers of plague, grim genocidal overseers and Sages of the Occult are Pestilential Shadows.
Just last year, Pestilential Shadows released their acclaimed Devil’s Hammer - a Satanic volume of blasphemous proportions that rocketed the band to a higher plateau; a coveted vantage point over a once-overlooked, now a thriving Australian Black Metal scene. This is due in part to the presence of one Krvna Vatra - Krvna mastermind and multitalented BM visionary who contributed guitar work to Devil’s Hammer and has taken on mastering duties for the forthcoming LP. But truly, this band’s greatness is rooted in the work of Balam - founder, bassist and vocalist for Pestilential Shadows who happens to also be at the mixing helm for the new record. It’s his knowledge of Black Metal concepts, his astute Black Metal musical IQ and his profound Black Metal vision that has powered the Pestilential Shadows Panzer onward through bone heaps of the competition since the beginning. On September 5, Pestilential Shadows - running like a freight train ahead of the momentum of their previous record - will unleash Wretch via Northern Silence / Brilliant Emperor.
Wretched is the key word here… Rotten and gnarly to its core yet refined is Wretch. An engineering specimen of how proper mixing and mastering can bring an otherwise vile recording to life in ways that create an immersive experience. And having obviously drug their creative oasis to its putrid depths, you can also expect an innards-churning ambiance as the opening titular track and its follower, “Erebus Divination”, unfold. Eerily drawing you in as would a spirit into its haunt during the former’s opening moments before dread-inducing, mid-tempo’d and tremolo-accented riffs progress to martial rhythms; exuding a grim vibe akin to Funeral Winds’ Stigmata Mali or Hulder’s Godslastering: Hymns of A Forlorn Peasantry. And the pace hardly picks up from there throughout the rest of the album. “Wretch” is a melancholy work, an homage to all-hope-lost and to the death of what is sacred.
What a suffocating experience. Each passage drags on to the point of exhaustion, to the point of that feeling you get when you’ve dove too deep and feel as if you will surely drown just feet before you emerge from the water, just before blast-beat-ridden and galloping riffs commence. So far, Wretch is a totally different monster when compared to Devil’s Hammer: slower, more somber and more brutal. The soundtrack to losing it all, to the death of everything you once knew and to the inevitable truth of your loathsome existence. “Death Knell” delivers swifter progressions following the slow-burning, impending doom aesthetic of “Despondant” - a welcomed change of pace to keep you locked in.
Wretch is set to be released just 18 months following Pestilential Shadows’ previous LP, yet it feels like one of those albums you would typically have to wait at least five years for. And you can tell by the depth of every track that this album is a piece that the band holds very dear. Much time it seems - those restless nights spent in the throes of written creation - has been put into Wretch, along with much effort, much patience. And patience is what the recording requires of its listener, or else tracks like “Where Sunlight Goes To Die” will be insufferable. Forget about instant gratification or the idea of being entertained as you would be by one of Emperor’s albums. With Wretch, Pestilential Shadows bring the agony at an oft torturous pace, but never boring, and never shall your attention wander. Let this one have you, allow it to take you into the fog of despair, and prepare to spend some time there; a consuming sojourn amongst the dead inside.
The time has come! The time for reaping desolation’s bitter harvest. A time of regretful reflection. A time for decaying within the dreadful confines of your own self-made prison… Depression like a wet blanket is here, and there’s no escaping its weighty drab. One of those albums that just makes you feel worse after listening to it; worse but in a good way if that makes sense. Death and then into the unknown of the spirit realm. Some say that death is to be conquered. Good luck trying to slay this beast. One cannot fight if one has lost all hope. Here’s to the grave! Here’s to Pestilential Shadows…
SCORE: 8.8 / 10
You can stream the album on the band’s Spotify or purchase it on the Northern Silence Bandcamp
