THE PENANCE (DEMO)

THE PENANCE is the second demo by Dutch thrash masters PESTILENCE released shortly after their first. While the instrumentalists remained the same, the band found a new member exclusively dedicated to vocal duties. Martin van Drunen helps the band step it up a little bit beyond the generic sounding "Dysentery." Sounding a little more seasoned THE PENANCE is still very much rooted in late 80s thrash metal. It has the classic Metallica influenced guitar riffing. In fact "Before The Penance" at times sounds waaaaaaay too close to "For Whom The Bells Toll." Well, at least they had great heroes to worship. That said, the band deliver a more brutal approach to thrash metal on THE PENANCE and an obvious gateway to death metal.

Once again though, despite the progress in their development, PESTILENCE still sounds like an odd mix of early Metallica songwriting, Motorhead inspired punk attitude and some Exodus features as in the vocal phrasings, Slayer and Possessed type brutality. Yes, they stand out a bit with the new singer but ultimately this still sounds like a hodgepodge of metal ingredients sewn together and not properly boiled down into a broth. Pretty much for enthusiasts and not something that will make your stars aligned if you haven't experienced the thrash metal universe as of yet. Still though, not a bad demo. The production is much better than "Dysentery."