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PUSTILENCE
Beliefs Of Dead Stargazers And Soothsayers

Memento Mori / Rotted Life (2023)
Rating: 8.5/10

I hope that some of you recall the EP from this bunch which emerged in 2020. It was entitled The Birth Of The Beginning Before The Inception Of The End and it was an extremely impressive offering from this sick Brisbane, Australia-based death metal act. I’m pleased to report then the return of this wicked beast which loves to revel in the innards of its own twisted riffs while choking on its own vocal haemorrhaging.

Abound with vicious flurries of nastiness, yapping then guttural vocal expressions and vile chugging evil, this 46 minute construction showcases just why the current death metal scene is just so rich in talent and, dare I say it, originality, as Pustilence, alongside such other unworldly swamp dwellers such as Worm, Cerebral Rot and Wharflurch, just seem to find something extra with their nefarious ingredients so as to create a hideous, belching manifestation of the wretched.

Sure, you get the bouts of hostile extremity as once created decades ago with the original death metal pioneers, but with this debut full-length release there is something else going on, a hideous cacophony you can’t quite put your finger on even it’s not at all complex. Instead, Pustilence pukes up mid-tempo charges in the form of tracks such as ‘Procured Propensities’ which take on a celestial format with their Morbid Angel-esque contortions. But behind every sordid groove is a drummer, Earl Hungus, who clearly hasn’t read the rule book and instead pulverises through the dense layers of fog.

‘Aspirants Of Intemperance’ may start off boggy enough, although within a short space of time Earl is in hyper mode and rattling out abysmally cosmic quivering, but in turn such blasts are met by some extraordinary axe work where a tinge of psychedelic madness seems to be injected. The leads of Ant Rotten are also morbidly exquisite and yet all too sporadic in their squirming, but there is no denying the macabre intent of this unholy spattering as the guys construct juggernaut judders on the likes of ‘Demiurge Divertissement’ and elements of perversity and spasmodic diversity with a tune such as ‘Outwith The Plains Of Ultimatum’ which provides enough grooviness to exist alongside those whizzing, cavernous leads and Suffocation-styled barbarism.

Pustilence has returned within a maze of utmost torment, and if you never snapped up that EP first time round then this debut opus is sure to demand your attention.

Neil Arnold

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