The Albums Of Sweden's Pest

Tracklist:

1. Ninth Nocturnal Departure 

2. Commanding Armageddon 

3. Hours of Eternity and Death           

4. Dark Northern Winters       

5. Descending 

6. I Am the Plague

Desecration (2003) was the band’s first full length release and it came after Pest had already put out five Demo’s and an EP. The band then comprised of “Necro” on dums, guitars and vocals, and “Equimanthorn” providing further guitars and bass.

It is immediately clear that this album is not the shoddy work of inexperienced amateurs, instead it is a product of pure hatred and darkness. Considering that this album was released long after the golden days of true raw black metal, it could easily fit into that era and be just as cold, raw and aggressive as any of its competitors.

Everything from the chainsaw guitar work, to the pounding drums, to the hate filled vocals of Necro has an incredibly intense and tight feel that really shows just how musically capable the band was at this point in their career.

My personal favourite track on the album is Dark Northern Winters, it’s such a harsh track that it completely overpowers the listener. In contrast to Dark Northern Winters speed and brutality, Descending has a much slower, far gloomier pace that gives the latter half of the album good contrast.

Overall this is a truly stunning album that is a must for fans of raw, cold black metal of the kind we once saw with bands such as Darkthrone and Mütiilation. 

 Tracklist:

1. Thrones Ablaze      

2. Beyond Redemption           

3. In Total Contempt   

4. A Vengeance Rising

5. Cold Stare   

6. Slaves of Celestial Bounds 

7. Dreams of Life Seem Morbid         

8. Into Deep Black Halls   

After the release of the excellent Dauðafærð EP in 2004, Necro and Equimanthorn once again came together in 2005 to make their second full length album, In Total Contempt.

The album begins to beat the listener black and blue from the very first track, with almost the same extremely harsh and raw sound that we heard in Desecration. Although this album isn’t as aggressive, for the most part, as Desecration, instead it at times replaces raw brutality with some technicality and slightly slower gloom, while still delivering a very raw sound. This is especially true for the track A Vengeance Rising which does have a strong pounding speed element but also delivers an element of gloom that we probably wouldn’t have heard in Desecration.

Necro once again delivers extremely harsh and almost cruel vocals that are possibly not as raw as his vocal work on Desecration, but are still none the less impressive.

Ultimately I don’t think this album is as strong as its predecessor, it’s still an extremely harsh. raw black metal album that is worth taking the time to check out, but it doesn’t have the timeless quality of Desecration.

Tracklist:

1. Possessed by the Beast                   

2. Nights in the Cursed Chapel            

3. Blessed by Hellfire             

4. Rest in Morbid Darkness                

5. Bestial Crucifixion              

6. Vomit Up the Blood of Jesus                      

7. Shadows of the Dead          

8. Final Strike of Doom                      

9. The Lust for Cruelty

Rest in Morbid Darkness (2008) came three years after the last album, during those three years the band had made some changes to both their musical and aesthetic style, as can be seen by the new logo which was introduced in the 2006 EP Evil Returnm, and the change in album artwork style. 

Even though the band’s sound had switched fairly dramatically from Desecration on this release it was still created by the same line up of Necro and Equimanthorn.

This album is certainly taking the band’s music in a different direction, one that introduces more technicality than we heard in In Total Contempt, and one that still allows moments of the raw fury of the kind that we heard in Desecration. The band’s changing sound is perfectly summarised in the last track on the album, The Lust for Cruelty, which is around 15 minutes long and sounds like something from the Darkthrone album Panzerfaust. It is a perfect blend of pounding drums, noticeable riffs, and typically harsh vocals.

On the subject of riff work, this album is the first full length from Pest that has clearly definable and notably individualised riff’s that don’t just blend into one long blur of savagery, and maintain a constant sound.  

Overall this is a very solid album, certainly better than In Total Contempt and approaching the quality of Desecration for sure.   

Tracklist:

1. The Funeral Hours (instrumental)

2. A Face Obscured by Death 

3. Volcanic Eyes         

4. Devil's Mark           

5. Holocaust               

6. The Abomination of the God          

7. Thirteen Chimes     

8. Demon        

9. The Crowning Horror         

10. Eternal Curse

With a total of five years between the release of Rest in Morbid Darkness and this album, The Crowning Horror (2013) certainly had a lot to live up to, not mention that this album was the band’s first chance to introduce a new member to the line-up and the first to change roles played by its members. 

Instead of the usual line up that we saw with their previous full lengths, this album features both Necro and Equimanthorn providing vocals, with Equimanthorn only providing vocals for the tracks Volcanic Eyes and Thirteen Chimes. It also features further drum work provided by “Insulter” who was formally the drummer for Nifelheim.

This album is clearly the culmination of the gradual progression of Pest’s music. It is much slower and far more refined than any of their other releases, and features a lot of strong melodic elements that we wouldn’t have heard on previous work.

It still however has a harsh core to it that is, as usual, displayed mostly through Necro’s vocals, but not so much through Equimanthorn’s.

My personal favourite tracks on this one are The Abomination of the God and Eternal Curse both of which have a sound reminiscent of later Darkthrone, and both have a very dark atmospheric feel that makes them extremely interesting to listen to.

To me, Pest is a hugely important band, their martial may not have always been the most original, but no matter what style they played, it was always clear that it was from a cold, dark place, that most bands fail to write from. I thoroughly recommend looking into their work!