When Immolation took the dissonance of Morbid Angel and created their own unique style out of it, they carved their niche in a very limited subgenre that didn’t seem as open ended as the previous generation of Death metal. Yet against all odds the band have managed to rinse every possible variation of that style for a long time without repeating themselves but not without closing off any possible reinterpretation of what they accomplished. Drawn And Quartered take heavily from that lineage but do manage to carve their own voice within it while being eight albums in.
Congregation Pestilence forges its own identity by taking the surface level techniques and injecting them with a melodic sensibility that relies a lot more on consonance. The album revolves around independent rhythm guitars that harmonize discreetly and steer of into slight deviations from a singular melody. Lead guitars are very present here and accentuate the melodies and eschew the “slayer” derived bursts of noise mentality or the shredding that is in vogue. While aesthetically this album may seem very chaotic and noisy, the band has much more to offer than brutality for the sake of brutality and further listens reveal at its heart, Congregation Pestilence is built on interesting riffs first and foremost. The only issue here is that the tempi and rhythms are often too similar and that unfortunately tends to blur the music together. A bit more contrast in the arrangements would help these riffs stand out more.
All in all this is a great album and the band’s best offering despite their strong catalogue. The sign of a band never stagnating on past success and continuously improving.
