PESTILENCE
Pestilence is a legendary death metal institution from the Netherlands; innovators that revolutionized death metal, altered what was considered “progressive” and set new standards with every album they ever released, creating a body of work that cemented the group in metal’s history.
Groundbreaking albums i.e “Malleus Maleficarum”, “Consuming Impulse “, Testimony of the Anicents” and “Spheres” inspired generations of bands all over the world and altered the reality for hundreds of thousands of listeners, while taking them on an audio journey of unprecedented dimensions with every new studio release. The Ancient ones are a testimony of the past, intertwined with the present and the future, imitated through the years by many but never replicated. Pestilence redefined the genre that started to feel monotonous and prosaic in the beginning of the 90’s and continue to do so to this day.
Pestilence is a legendary death metal institution from the Netherlands; innovators that revolutionized death metal, altered what was considered “progressive” and set new standards with every album they ever released, creating a body of work that cemented the group in metal’s history.
Groundbreaking albums i.e “Malleus Maleficarum”, “Consuming Impulse “, Testimony of the Anicents” and “Spheres” inspired generations of bands all over the world and altered the reality for hundreds of thousands of listeners, while taking them on an audio journey of unprecedented dimensions with every new studio release. The Ancient ones are a testimony of the past, intertwined with the present and the future, imitated through the years by many but never replicated. Pestilence redefined the genre that started to feel monotonous and prosaic in the beginning of the 90’s and continue to do so to this day.
Pestilence started in 1986. Initially the band was heavily influenced by American and German thrash metal. By the time of their second album, “Consuming Impulse” from 1989, the band had developed its own style: redefining death metal as we know it. In the years that followed Pestilence became one of the prime bands in the international death metal scene. The group, based around guitarist, songwriter and (then occasional) vocalist Patrick Mameli, toured relentlessly. Especially tours in the US proved to be very successful, where the band toured with CARCASS and DEATH, Sadus and many more.
The band became more skilled over the years, and outside influences crept into the music. This all lead in 1993 to the album “Spheres”, on which Patrick Mameli combined his well loved death metal sound with a new musical passion: fusion. The album was an artistic triumph, but was at the same time many years ahead of its time. In 1994 Pestilence disbanded and Patrick Mameli withdrew from the music scene.
Pestilence returned once again in 2017 and solidified their place among the metal greats once again. The new line-up is the best ever, according to Patrick Mameli and 60 live shows in less than six months in 2018 sure prove that fact! Pestilence is stronger than ever!