Pestilent Hex – Sorceries of Sanguine & Shadow
Release Date: 22nd November 2024
Label: Debemur Morti Productions
Bandcamp
Genre: Melodic Death Metal, Melodic Black Metal, Symphonic Extreme Metal.
FFO: Belphegor, Dissection, Rotting Christ, Emperor.
Review By: Andy Spoon
Sorceries of Sanguine & Shadow might be one of the best blackened albums of 2024, something that I’m not really taking a long shot by saying. I don’t know if I’ve heard a heavier blackened album this year – I never thought it would be a blackened/melodic offering. I’m ashamed that I wasn’t a fan of this band at the time of their last release. I don’t think you’re going to want to miss this album. Set to be released on November 29th on Debemur Morti Productions, a household name for extreme music, Pestilent Hex is cementing their name in the world of melodic black metal to rival bands like Dissection and Emperor, but with a 2024 update in darkness and quality thanks to mastering by Dave Otero (Cattle Decapitation).
One of the things that I noticed right away was the cinematic nature of the dramatic “soundtrack” type of background music. There is a large wall of strings and classical piano that accompanies most of the tracks, which give the overall tone a huge and theatrical presentation. The melodic tones and progressions are lively and titillating, giving the impression of an epic space battle, or an antagonistic duel to the death.
Every so often, the theatrical nature breaks and turns into a cacophony of dissonant death metal goodness to bring the listener back down from the imaginative to the brutal and bloody. I think that those little moments are especially-good, as Pestilent Hex isn’t necessarily trying to be a melodic band who plays death metal. They appear to want to show that they have death metal chops, but include the melodic and symphonic as a stylistic choice. The intent may not seem like it matters, but I think that listeners will appreciate that impression.
I think that the general composition of the musical side of the album is stellar. I don’t mean to say that it’s innovative in the sense that it creates something that’s new or especially-unique. Rather, it takes the tones and the structure of black metal which we already love, but adds a distinctly-higher level of production and panache with the addition of the strings and piano. The dissonant power of the black metal structure is only enhanced by the melodic additions, giving the album an overall presence of theater and extremity that wouldn’t be the same without the symphonics.
I don’t generally like to make comparisons this far apart, but it reminds me of how some extreme metal acts use American blues/southern elements to enhance the tone, to create an atmosphere that is as tall as it is wide. I think that Pestilent Hex has done the same through its thoughtful execution and stylized cinematic blackened structure. I just think that this album is hitting almost all of the buttons that they intended to hit, as evidenced by the fact that there is not one single boring moment on the entire 45-minute run time. I was totally enamoured by the overall production. As my listening process was broken up by working my 9-5, I was actually disappointed at the fact that I wasn’t able to sit around and play the entire LP in one go, something I will make plans for.
I loved every second of it. It might be the most terrifying, evil-sounding black metal album I’ve ever heard.
(5 / 5)
