Really worthy of their moniker, Pestkraft spread the disease on Europe from Valencia, Spain, where the band was founded in 2015. A year later the band self-produced and released via Base Records an EP titled, needless to say, Pest, which was re-released in 2017 by Nigredo Records.
The first song on the EP is the eponymous “Pest”, which has a brief intro consisting of sacred Latin chants from the movie by Ingmar Bergman The Seventh Seal, the same used for “Sun of Hope” by Swedish Funeral Mist, with the function of projecting us into a mystical medieval atmosphere of black magic in which we hear sounds of human suffering, whipping, fire, and screams of pain. It is clear where the Spaniards want to get: here we are in the field of occultism. This is even clearer when we hear the real sound of the band: thick, dense, massive, never pandering, and a truly malicious and sometimes almost entranced screaming, as in a refrain of “Pest” itself. Pestkraft then continue to deliver eerie mysticism throughout the EP, even with a certain variation, for example when they add a melodious touch that is however never cloying, as in “Dark Shadow”. The estranging and enthralling effect is increased in my opinion by some accelerations that, however, are always well integrated into the structure of the songs. The album is concluded in a circular way by the same choirs with which it had begun, which gives the idea of a studied concept.
To conclude, I think that Pest is a supreme EP of occult black metal, which I highly recommend to all those who love dismal, dirty, morbid and at the same time a bit mystical and spiritual atmospheres.
Notes:
Pest was first digitally self-released on September 15 2016, and then released as CD on September 30 2016 via Base Records; Swedish label Nigredo Records re-released it on December 1 2017.
Band's Facebook
Personnel:
Azazel: Bass
Grond GH: Drums
Nefarial: Guitars
Blodig: Vocals
Text by Herjann
herjann@unholyblackmetal.com
The first song on the EP is the eponymous “Pest”, which has a brief intro consisting of sacred Latin chants from the movie by Ingmar Bergman The Seventh Seal, the same used for “Sun of Hope” by Swedish Funeral Mist, with the function of projecting us into a mystical medieval atmosphere of black magic in which we hear sounds of human suffering, whipping, fire, and screams of pain. It is clear where the Spaniards want to get: here we are in the field of occultism. This is even clearer when we hear the real sound of the band: thick, dense, massive, never pandering, and a truly malicious and sometimes almost entranced screaming, as in a refrain of “Pest” itself. Pestkraft then continue to deliver eerie mysticism throughout the EP, even with a certain variation, for example when they add a melodious touch that is however never cloying, as in “Dark Shadow”. The estranging and enthralling effect is increased in my opinion by some accelerations that, however, are always well integrated into the structure of the songs. The album is concluded in a circular way by the same choirs with which it had begun, which gives the idea of a studied concept.
To conclude, I think that Pest is a supreme EP of occult black metal, which I highly recommend to all those who love dismal, dirty, morbid and at the same time a bit mystical and spiritual atmospheres.
Notes:
Pest was first digitally self-released on September 15 2016, and then released as CD on September 30 2016 via Base Records; Swedish label Nigredo Records re-released it on December 1 2017.
Band's Facebook
Personnel:
Azazel: Bass
Grond GH: Drums
Nefarial: Guitars
Blodig: Vocals
Text by Herjann
herjann@unholyblackmetal.com