Pessimist
Slaughtering the Faithful
6.5
I had been eager to expose my auditory senses to this latest slab of blasphemy from the East Coast. Pessimist had a unique brand of metal in their previous album Blood for the Gods. A brand that got quite a bit of rotation in the "carousel of death" that is my home cd player. However, I was closer to my car when I had the newly-arrived Slaughtering the Faithful in hand, so into the IROC it went. Track #1, "Requiem", starts off w/ the typical Pessimist clean-tone guitar. When I say "typical", I don't mean that they use clean-tone guitar on a regular basis, it was just very similar to the sound on Blood for the Gods. After about 10 seconds though, they dropped the fucking A-Bomb on me………. Pessimist absolutely blasts you w/ their new sound after the beginning riff, and that new sound has taken me quite a few listens to get used to. If you were an avid listener of Blood for the Gods, then surely you were aware of it's crisp, balanced production. Each instrument was clearly separated and had a very heavy, clean sound. This album is quite a bit different. It is by no means bad, it just has a very different style of sound to it. I guess I was just expecting the same style of production on Slaughtering the Faithful as was on Blood for the Gods. Produced by Erik Rutan of Morbid Angel, this album has a very low-end, thunderous rumble to it. I kept waiting for the highs to come into the mix, but they never really did. I had to do quite a bit of knob adjustment to get the sound that I prefer. Right off the bat, the first couple of songs reminded me alot of Tennessee's Brodequin, and at some points, I almost hear a few chunks of Devourment style underneath the relentless punishment. I was very surprised, to say the least. I thought that if I was ever going to get myself some quality steroids, then Maryland was definitely going to be the destination. Pessimist has definitely "bruted" up their sound. Very speedy blast beats and much more low-end on the double bass. The solos blend into the songs much better, not coming across as sharply to the ears as they once did. The dual guitar attack does have a Devourment type-ring to it, and to me, that can only be a positive thing. Another thing that caught me off guard is the new vocal style. It's a very straight ahead growl w/ some eerie dual vocal chants here and there. Gone are any Glen Benton (Deicide) similarities that were very abundant on Blood for the Gods. It wasn't until I actually returned to the band's website that things became a little more clear to me. Apparently, Pessimist has undergone a serious line-up change since their last album. Only Kell McLauchlin remains from the line-up that I myself was used to listening to. That would explain the major change in sound & style. I knew that they did have a new skinsman behind the drumset, but that was all that I was aware of. Mick Kimock now takes over at the throne of thunder. The snare is not quite as pronounced, and the highs don't come through as much as I'd like, but the excellent percussion work is there, and the low-end double bass more than compensates for any "positives" that may have been lost. There is a lot more going on in the music than before. This truly is a barrage of thunder & technicality here. I am all about absorbing songs that are very difficult to do so upon the first few listens. Once I can listen to a 5 second "snip-it" from any song and be able to identify which one it is, then I will have accomplished my mission. I can tell you right now that it's going to be a chore and a half w/ Slaughtering the Faithful, and I can't help but dish out loads of respect for a band that can present that kind of a challenge to me. This album really is an 18-wheeler on a rampage, occasionally coming to a tire-obliterating skid w/ a very brief massive chunk breakdown, but never completely stopping. I love the improved guitar style. Kell and Bill Hayden have kept the unique solos, but have blended them better into the songs. It is a much heavier sound that has picked up any pre-existing slack. Bassist Ralph Runyan does shine through w/ the occasional Alex Webster type "intermission", and just contributes to a much heavier bulldozing than before. This band has dropped a few things that I was somewhat partial to about them before, but the new direction they have taken into utterly annihilating brutal death pleases me more. If you are a fan of some of the most over-the-top underground brutal death, then I highly suggest you buy this concrete slab of blasphemy. I have a "section" of discs that I prefer to listen to if I want to put the aggression meter through the roof. The section that once only included Brodequin, Disgorge, Non-Negotiable-Life, and Devourment, now has a new roommate. That roommate is Pessimist's Slaughtering the Faithful.
