### Pest: The crowning horror

#### 07/10/13 || sincan

Swedish Pest earlier this summer released their fourth full length album, I guess they wanted to tell the summer to fuck away, along with all trends and sheep behavior. Why? Since this record is all about old school, a word often overused since it is what all metal fans wants to hear, but it is seldom used in the right manner. I use it in the right manner, and if you disagree you are most likely into Metallica’s “Death magnetic”, mostly because the cover is as close to a pussy you will ever reach.

I guess Pest is band which have been working in the shadow of many other black metal bands. I don’t know if it is because of having its origin 70 kilometers away from the hot spot or some other reason but lack of musicianship is not an issue on this one. Maybe the vocals sometimes are too far away from the typical cool and easy listened black metal shrieks for some weak minded ones, I don’t know, and I wouldn’t say I care too much about it either.

The music has a solid core of black metal and woven into it all is heavy metal, thrash metal and some punk ugliness. What did you say? Later Darkthrone prior “The underground resistance”? Well, there are for sure some similarities and I get your point but Pest has its own sound I would say. The key word can be found in the album title, “horror” (no Hodor, horror!) which is a theme more present here than in your suggestion about Darkthrone.

The album starts with a pretty good (and short) intro and then the first “real” track, A face obscured by Death, kicks in to start this trip on a highway to hell by riding motorbikes and also including beer, whiskey, death, fire, leather jackets and no posers at all. Notice the groovy drumming on that track! The tracks are rather straight forward and not that long (with a mean reaching about 4 minutes), with distinct and relatively short intros which settles the mood. Just take a listen at Devil’s mask’s intro which is really good, old school metal and totally relevant in every aspect and in total a very good song. Amen, hrm, hail Satan to that sweet riff!

As a whole the album is very solid, with no weak songs and even if they are built up relatively similar they still manage to stand out from each other. On top on this is the great artwork which captures the record in a good way.

- Information
- Released: 2013
- Label: Agonia Records
- Website: www.pest.se
- Band
- Equimanthorn: bass, guitars
- Necro: drums, guitars, vocals

- Tracklist
- 01. The funeral hours
- 02. A face obscured by death
- 03. Volcanic eyes
- 04. Devil’s mark
- 05. Holocaust
- 06. The abomination of the God
- 07. Thirteen chimes
- 08. Demon
- 10. The crowning horror
- 11. Eternal curse