Artist: In Aeternum
Label: Necropolis Records
Release Date: 7/24/00
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Title: Pestilent Plague Artist: In Aeternum Label: Necropolis Records Release Date: 7/24/00 |
Judgment Committee Reviews | Rating |
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Abyss's Review:
In Aeternum return with The Pestilent Plague, their sophomore effort. After having success with their first album, they've avoided the sophomore slump by sticking mainly to their roots. This is a crushing platter of Swedish Death, with slight overtones of Black, and it not only lives up to, but surpasses their last effort. It takes the fierce intensity seen on Forever Blasphemy, and improves on it by coming up with a much more thorough album. With Crown of Thorns (now The Crown) drifting in to less extreme territories, this marks a perfect time for In Aeternum to capture their own niche in the Swedish scene.
"The vocals continue to be the blasphemous poetry that laced the last album." The sheer aggression of their music takes them completely away from any comparisons to the Gothenburg bands, but they do maintain a little melody that comes across in brief solos that are meant to supplement, but not distract from, the thundering guitars and blastbeats that drive the songs. If there is a major difference from their last effort it's that they've somewhat abandoned their habit of complementing the lower riffs with tremolo picking in the higher registers, and while this takes away, in my opinion, from the initial surge you feel when the music hits you, it makes up for it by achieving a more enduring listenability (listenability… I just love watching my spellcheck go nuts while I make up these words). On this new album, the lead guitars are there only to thicken the sound, or are put in the occasional brief solo.
The songs are well thought out, and fervently heavy, so earlier fans that cherish the more aggressive extremes shouldn't be disappointed. If there is any criticism it may be that the songs don't stand apart that much, but that's the norm in this music.
"This is a definite pick-up for those who like their brutal death to have a European/Black tinge to it." In Aeternum also do a good job of breaking up the velocity by adding some lower, chugging, mid-paced riffs into the songs, just enough to let you pause moshing to headbang. This is best evidenced in the intro (and throughout the song for that matter) of my early favorite, "Ultimate Warfare". The vocals continue to be the blasphemous poetry that laced the last album and they will probably continue in the vein for, I don't know, maybe… FOREVER! (Get it? Their last album was named FOREVER Blasphemy. Get it? Forever Blas… anyway)
So that's the size of it. This is a definite pick-up for those who like their brutal death to have a European/Black tinge to it, and as long as you're looking for slight changes rather than growth in leaps and bounds, this album will not disappoint.
Death's Review:
Is it possible for a band to successfully and seamlessly combine elements of black, death and thrash yet still come off permissively dismissible, of ordinary import and routine value? Well, perhaps not, when phrased so starkly. Still, while In Aeturnum do harness elements of all three sub-genres, their impact is somewhat muted. Admittedly, the sparse (read: poor) production does not help matters (sorry, Tommy Tagtgren (no, not Peter), I call 'em as I hear 'em, and although this was done in Abyss studios, I'm not digging the sound. Perhaps it is purposeful?). But too many disparate elements seem to clash here, even though the album is not a radical departure in any sense from the metal which has come before. Perhaps I can explain.
First, the good. There is a distinct retro-thrash element at play here, enough so that one might argue that In Aeturnum are a more technically accomplished and modern-sounding Venom, obviously once removed through the Swedish Death ringer. The riffing on tracks like "Ultimate Warfare" and "Demon Possession" is high calibur, and even fast tunes like the opener "The Apocalypse Division" have that thrashy-fast beat which isn't quite a blast but sure is aggressive. To the extent In Aeturnum have moved closer to death-style riffing than they portrayed on Forever Blasphemy, for me, this is a good thing.
"Too many disparate elements seem to clash here."
Next, the bad. This is what I would call an extreme black/ death crossover record. And I guess I like all the death metal elements yet can do without the black. This is what I mean when I complain that "too many disparate elements seem to clash here," perhaps I should just admit that the record simply emphasizes certain metal features which are not particularly appealing to me. For example, Although David Larsson has a decided Venom touch to his vocal styling, it also is not THAT far removed from say Cradle of Filth, and definitely shows some black metal leanings. This, combined with the production, speed and occasional tremolo picking detracts from my overall enjoyment of the album. What separates this band from the core black metal sound? The thrashiness and the death metal riffing, for starters, but sometimes it comes across as not all that much. Certainly not enough to allow me to completely look past the aforementioned elements.
"The Pestilent Plague has its moments, and even I recognize this is a solid effort." Finally, the ugly. Well, there really is no ugly, but this is as good a time as any to mention In Aeturnum's other recent "high-profile" recorded appearance, on Necropolis' King Diamond tribute doing "Abigail" (NOT included on The Pestilent Plague). This is surely unique stuff, as tributes go, and the first time I heard it I almost spit out my drink laughing at the vocals while at the same time marveling at the musicianship displayed on what is actually quite the technical little track. It's worth checking out.
All in all, In Aeturnum are not the type of band that I usually go for, so I for the most part defer to Hel and Abyss on this one. Nevertheless, The Pestilent Plague has its moments, and even I recognize this is a solid effort.
Hel's Review:
I have to say, this is quite the cool album cover - by this, I am referring to the artwork on the front of the packaging - stay with me, people. As far as I would have guessed, this seems like a pretty accurate depiction of a deadly plague, complete with Grim Reaper and scenes of utter destruction. A good start for any metal album.
On In Aeternum's new effort, you will find strong riffs and driving beats showcasing an infectious death metal growl espousing on sundry satanic topics. Among the tracks of blasphemous glory, "Eternal Devastation" stands out as catchy in a throw things around and break shit kind of way. Other highlights, "The Pestilent Plague" and "Demon Possession". Mixed into the all out attack are some nice melodies and some great stops and starts that really clue you in to how talented this band is, if you hadn't already figured it out.
"In its own right, this album is aggressive, compelling, and an eternal damnation's worth of fun." There really was only one thing about The Pestilent Plague that upset me. It is a general fact that metal is always best when listened to loud. But that is not always possible, and when forced to listen at moderate volume, I felt certain that I was missing something. Sure enough, volume up - depth appears. It's a pet peeve of mine, but really has little relevance concerning the quality of the music contained on an album.
Keeping that in mind, I have to walk away thinking that while it certainly doesn't hold a candle to a masterpiece like this week's other review, Hypocrisy's Into the Abyss, that is not a fair comparison. In its own right, this album is aggressive, compelling, and an eternal damnation's worth of fun. And for that, they deserve 5 skulls.
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