PANDEMIA “At The Gates Of Nihilism”

Mighty Music, 2015

Music: Death Metal / Blackened Death Metal
Website: www.pandemia.cz
Duration: 41:04 minutes (12 tracks)
Country: Czech Republic

This year PANDEMIA celebrates the twentieth anniversary. I think that band has own position at the Death Metal scene, being rather more famous in the Underground than in the mainstream. But self-respecting fan of Death Metal probably knows the music of PANDEMIA.

“At The Gates Of Nihilism” is the fifth album of the band except for a few demo materials released in the first years of the existence. Waldemar Sorychta (known as the musician of e.g. GRIP INC., ROTTING CHRIST and the producer of albums UNLEASHED, SAMAEL, MOONSPELL, THERION, TIAMAT) was the producer of the new album of PANDEMIA. In addition Sorychta was the co-author of the song “Broken Sould of the Dying Soldier”, for which he also recorded the guitar.

The album begins with a dark intro, which announces that music of PANDEMA will be dark and warlike. The treatments of this type were quite common among death-metal bands of the early nineties. Unfortunately, at present this tradition disappears…

The music from the album reveals the stylish brutality and severity, these are typical arrangements of Death Metal… The crushing guitar riffs, the fierce growls and the medium-fast paces are inevitable in the compositions. Some structures of arrangements remind me the old Swedish school of Death Metal in style of UNLEASHED. However, some motifs smell like Black Metal that cause downright Blackened Death Metal, and even remind a climate of BEHEMOTH. In addition, the previously mentioned song “Broken Sould of the Dying Soldier” is the instrumental track, which rather is different from the classic Death Metal music. The song contains the repeated melodies of guitars that create a dark atmosphere, sometimes sinister, sometimes melancholic. This piece is the interesting break of the rest of the clamour.

Tracklist:
1. First Blood
2. Rotting In Mold
3. Nihilistic Age
4. Godless Bitch
5. Cult of God
6. Warmonger
7. Under Barbed Wire
8. Killed
9. Harlots of War
10. Zyklon B
11. Broken Sould of the Dying Soldier
12. After Thy Thought (LOUDBLAST cover)

Line-up:
Jaroslav ?Jarda? Friedrich – bass
Pavel Kouba ? drums
Jirka Kr? ? vocals
Vitalij V. Nov?k ? guitars

Rate: 7.0/10