Dechus du fléau

Pestiferum come from France and this year (2014) they have ten years of existence. The band has a full formation, they consist of five members, and they have released one demo, two split and two full length albums. Unfortunately before their last album which is called Dechus du Fléau, I haven’t listened to any other of their releases. This album was released in December of 2013 and it contains twelve compositions of an hour of overall duration. The band in this album presents mainly mid paced Black Metal with fast outbrakes and slow passages.

The element that characterizes the album both in its fast and in the slower parts, is the melody. The riffs combine influences from the Scandinavian, the French scene and from Thrash, but every phase of the band’s expression is ruled by a melancholic feeling. The compositions show much variety concerning the riffing. Now regarding the feeling few are the times that they offer or achieve to pass to the listener something different from that melancholic mood that I mentioned before. The tracks are quite long in duration and in the biggest part of the album the band has done a quite good job into the structure of the compositions with changes in the riffing and the way of expression. Nonetheless, maybe due to the same sentiment or the same atmosphere, some parts are monotonous and they give the impression that you listened to them in a previous track too.

As it happens to most of the bands I have listened to from France lately, the instruments are played flawlessly. The guitars and the drums are the instruments that stand out. The guitars with their clean sound and the accuracy in their style of playing, they create and deliver the feeling of the compositions to the listener easily. On the contrary to that melancholic feeling that fills the air, the drums come with their full of intensity and power lines to give a different element to the music. The bass isn’t clearly audible in any part of the album. However the album has the depth and the solid style that it needs. That obviously is the result of the good production which puts out a bass and quite clean sound and combined with the mixture which has achieved the perfect balance, it highlights the compositions and the atmosphere. The vocals are heavy Black Metal vocals, without many means of expression and they are somehow repetitive. The lyrics which are contained in the beautifully sculpted booklet are written in French.

Generally Dechus du Fléau has its strong points, but it also has its weaknesses. Surely the listener will come across inspired and interesting riffs, intense feelings and nice atmosphere. On the other hand there are repetitive parts, as also a few monotonous and somewhat tedious riffs. In an overall view, the album has several good moments to offer to the listener and I think that it worth his attention. It worth to listen to it but listen before you buy.