Review by Ben for Pestilence - Consuming Impulse (1989)

While I do think Consuming Impulse is a slight step up from Malleus Maleficarum, it wasn't the sort of step up I had been hoping for when it was released. The production is definitely better, and there's a little bit more focus than the debut, but overall, it's a bit more of the same. It wasn't until third album Testimony of the Ancients that Pestilence would become a truly great band.

That’s not to say that this album isn't worth your time. Once just like on the debut, it's the riffs that make it enjoyable. Martin's vocals are good but not exceptional, and the drumming is adequate if not amazing. But check out the riffs on The Process of Suffocation, Suspended Animation, Chronic Infection and Out of the Body. Every time I hear them, I can't help nodding my head in utter respect. When it all comes together on this album as it does on those tracks, it makes for an awesome listen.

Yet, in a similar way to the debut, there are some tracks on Consuming Impulse that are merely OK. Opener Dehydrated, The Trauma and Defy the Master for just pass by without making me feel much at all. They're not terrible by any means, but they lack the x factor that would have taken this album from merely enjoyable to essential.