Pestlegion – Sathanas Grand Victoria

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From Bandcamp, “With “Sathanas Grand Victoria,” PESTLEGION return with a grim black assault on all what is holy. Their 2022 album destroys all hope for a better future by focusing on the essence of human life and efforts, it concentrates on death itself, the final victory of the seducer of mankind. The four German maniacs composed eight songs which lead into a dark and lost existence, surrounded by fear and infernal thunder. PESTLEGION’s soundscapes are wide and dynamic but primitive and analogue at the same time.” The album contains nine songs.

The dark “Intro” leads to “We Deny Thy Name.” It’s raging old school Black Metal, with muted production, vocals shrieks, a wall of guitars, and machine-gun drumming. There is a little variation in the guitars, but for the most part, they stick to the blueprint of their forefathers. “The Portal” is a slower grind with many of the same elements as the previous song. Besides the skill of the drummer, this isn’t offering much in the way of originality. “Into the Golden Valley” is another raucous and chaotic song with intense energy. But, these riffs have been heard before. “Ketzer Reim” is yet another raging, primitive song with trite riffs. Besides the energy that the band has, they are not working to offer anything new in the genre so far.

The title track is more of the same. Why the band wouldn’t want to sound more original is beyond me. “Adjuration of the Elder Gods” is a slower number where you can hear a little more of the band’s personality through all of the chaos. All things considered however, it is still pretty linear in terms of the pattern they follow. “Entsage Gott” is another repetitive song where the band goes straight for the throat without concern for much else. I get the underlying rage of the genre for sure, but that doesn’t mean you can’t add your own personality into your music. “The Warlock’s Curse” closes the album. Unfortunately, you guessed it, it’s more of the same.

This album is a prime example on how there must be a change in the Black Metal genre. The FWOBM was over 30 years ago, and yet we still have bands insisting on copying the sounds from the distant past. To what end, I ask? Besides the usual clichés of “we are a TRVE KVLT Black Metal band,” or “we are anonymous musicians who want to stay true to the roots of a genre long since passed in time,” I don’t understand the purpose.

Songwriting: 2
Musicianship: 4
Memorability: 2
Production: 5