Review by UnhinderedbyTalent for Pestifer - Reaching the Void (2014)

Rising from the ashes of various bands dating back to the late 90s, Belgian tech-death band Pestifer boast a three album discography of pretty much exactly what you would expect from any performers in this sub-genre of death metal.  We have twangy bass lines, melodic and crisp leads and grim vocals uttered over racing passages.  I will not profess to be a massive fan of technical death metal (unless it is done really well with some avant-garde and progressive elements at least) and so Pestifer do have a slight disadvantage in falling into my hands for Review Draft this month.

Getting the negatives out of the way first.  Where are the drums here?  There appears to a light (thankfully not clicking) tapping noise in the background but I am getting no real sense of inclusion from Philippe Gustin here (his brother plays bass btw).  As a result, Reaching the Void lacks any power overall.  The riffs are too sterile to carry any power and in all honesty the only prominent parts of the album are the vocals and bass.  I do not think that the drums suffer from any issues with their placement in the mix either.  It sounds like they were deliberately recorded to be timid.

Now, although I highlight the riffs as sterile, this is a common sound in tech-death to my ears and actually works as a standalone and memorable section to proceedings.  The lead work though is the main success from the guitars.  It resonates through the tracks it inhibits leaving a clean, intricate and rich experience as it goes.  Although I might not be entirely onboard with all of what Pestifer do, I cannot deny that there is some talent here and this does shine through on a consistent basis.  With a bit more strength behind those drums (just a bit of presence really) then I sense that Reaching the Void would present more of an intriguing listen.