The first song on this album is entitled ‘Lost Geists of the Sunlight Sphere’. Now I know Geist means ghost/spirit in German and that the plural of it is ‘Geister’, not Geists. I proceeded to some in-depth research and found out that there in fact is a meaning for ‘Geist’ in English as well. A website states: “Geists are hideous crawling, gangrel creatures of the Scourge” in the video game World of Warcraft. I must admit that I was unaware that the 2004 MMORPG had reached equal depths in mythology as such literary works as The Lord of the Rings (take Burzum, Nazxul) or the Satanic Bible. We find ourselves in a topsy-turvy world where even deadly serious grim Black Metal bands have taken to referring to Blizzard Entertainment products in their frostbitten anthems… at least I hope this is what it is and not just half-arsed mixing von Sprachen.
Now besides that, this Aussie band has produced some excellent melodic Black Metal. Their fourth album to date is entitled Depths and presents us with a very mature and skilled brand of the genre. The line-up consists of three members of the band Nazxul (Balam, Desolate and Wraith) and a drummer (Basilysk… who might very well also be a member of Nazxul). The Australian Black Metal scene does not seem to be a very large one, same members share bands. So is it truly possible to reach an original sound with yet another band with the same members? The answer is yes and no, once more.
This is old school black metal at heart, though fundamentally melodic; but melody is used to create a haunting, dreamlike atmosphere rather than ‘catchy-bits’. Song writing is superb, with attention to tempo-changes and variation. The songs themselves, if not the most memorable, are very enjoyable and well structured, whilst still filled with intensity and aggression/passion. The album makes a very strong whole and I would recommend listening to it as a whole. Varied techniques are used, for example in the song Poisoner a possessive string-bending during riffs. Vocals range from typical, quite clean, black metal vocals to spoken/whispered word. Choirs rise from the deep to add melancholia and epicness to the tracks. Drum-work is also very agreeable and fits the music perfectly.
Whilst I must admit that I do not generally listen to this blend of Black Metal, this is really an enjoyable album. It is curiously accessible but yet experimental. The album is well thought through, exactly as a fourth album should be. Everything has fallen into place. Pestilential Shadows stands deep in their genre and does not experiment with elements from outside BM, so I would recommend this album to lovers of this exact genre, to those particularly against mixing it with thrash and death, etc. and just into the dark haunting melodies.
http://www.myspace.com/pestilentialshadows
