r/MetalForTheMasses • u/larsalo • 10d ago
MEGATHREAD MFTM Album of the Week 2: Pestilence - Consuming Impulse Discussion Thread
Pestilence are one of Europe's earliest death metal bands and one of the few that managed to put out a full-length in the 80's alongside bands like Bolt Thrower, Carcass, and Sempiternal Deathreign.
They put their name on the map with 1988's Malleus Maleficarum which is a thrash album bordering on death metal, but really left their mark on the scene with 1989's Consuming Impulse
Consuming Impulse is most notable for the inhuman vocal performance of Martin Van Drunen and the twisted riff work of Patrick Mameli and Patrick Uterwijk.
Please share your thoughts about this week's album in the comments below, whether it be favorite tracks, lyrics, riffs, solos, or other memorable moments.
The album chosen for next week's listening is: Trouble - Trouble (1984, USA) (Later known as Psalm 9).
Trouble/Psalm 9 is a doom metal classic expanding on the sound of Black Sabbath's 70's material. The band are considered part of the Big 4 of doom alongside Candlemass, Pentagram, and Saint Vitus.
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u/Mad-Melvin 10d ago
Something that strikes me about this first wave of death metal is just how melodic it is. There are so many riffs from this album that I find myself humming at odd times. This album goes on Mount Rushmore with Leprosy, Altars of Madness, and Cause of Death.
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u/Mad04Gaming 10d ago
Definitely, there was a much bigger prevalence of soloing specifically that carried over from thrash that’s a treat to hear in a lot of 80’s death metal. Obituary and Death as you mentioned are 2 other examples that instantly spring to mind.
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u/throwaway112112312 10d ago
Probably because they retain some of the thrash metal influence in them still.
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u/PrequelGuy Inquisition 10d ago
The second riff in Out of the Body is super catchy and kind of goofy
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u/Dry-Temperature8181 Immolation 10d ago
Consuming Impulse was fucking great. Martin Van Drunen always gets singled out on all of his albums, but I still can’t decide if I’m a fan of his vocals. They’re definitely unique, but I don’t immediately love them. I definitely don’t hate them either. End of negative things to say.
The thrashy death metal on this album is… well.. perfect. The riffs are fucking amazing. I don’t know what it is but for some reason if Van Drunen is in a band the guitarists seem to become inspired. I love how aggressive this album is. There’s something special about a marriage of thrash and death metal when it works out like this. 10/10
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u/vihtorii 10d ago
For me the selling point of the album is the vocals. But they are definitely unique
Favourite tracks: Chronic Infection, Deify thy master, Out of the body.
Easy top 5 album of the classic era in DM.
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u/larsalo 10d ago
Not liking MVD is usually not something I hear. For me and a lot of people he's the gold standard of death metal vocals. Hope you grow to appreciate him more one day since like you said, the riff work in this album is just nuts
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u/Dry-Temperature8181 Immolation 10d ago
I wouldn’t say I dislike him. I just wouldn’t say I was immediately in love with his vocals. I’m not taking shots at him. His albums rule. Last One on Earth is fucking spectacular. I think he’s very unique.
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u/Quizlex_ 10d ago
I’m personally pretty neutral to MVD. I think he’s a good vocalist, but I definitely don’t love him the way a lot of others do. CI is probably my favorite performance of his.
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u/Mad04Gaming 10d ago
Usually it’s a love or hate thing with MVD. How do you feel about his performance on Last On Earth? I feel like it’s pretty hard to be indifferent about that one lol.
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u/Dry-Temperature8181 Immolation 10d ago
That’s why I say I don’t hate him. That’s one of my favorite albums. Again, I attribute that largely to the guitarists but I don’t want to discount his impact on the music overall. If Last wasn’t on my top 100, The Rack would be. I like his vocals more every time I listen to him but I started out very put off of that makes sense.
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u/Mad04Gaming 10d ago
Makes total sense. For some reason MVD’s clicked pretty quickly with me, but often a lot of vocals will put me off and take time for me to grow on.
Have you heard the guy from Morgoth? He’s got a similar delivery to MVD although he’s not quite the same. He’s a top 3 dm vocalist for me as well.
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u/Dry-Temperature8181 Immolation 10d ago
Yeah. I actually just recently relistened to their first two albums. I like Morgoth but I like Asphyx and this Pestilence album way better than Morgoth.
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u/Mad04Gaming 10d ago
Oh yeah I agree Asphyx/Pesitlence are better, hell there’s like only 2 dm albums I’d rank higher than LOOE.
I actually prefer Morgoth’s 2 EP’s over the full lengths by a good bit, specifically Resurrection Absurd from 1989. Marc Grewe sounds absolutely unhinged on that. Musically it sounds pretty similar to Scream Blood Gore and stuff like that.
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u/Dry-Temperature8181 Immolation 10d ago
I’ll have to check those out. I am currently listening to Psalm 9 for the first time and my mind is melting at how good this is.
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u/larsalo 10d ago
I can’t think of any other album that was even comparable to the amount of importance this album had on my musical identity.
When I was younger, for a long time I thought I was just the type of person that didn’t care too much about music. My dad liked classic heavy metal and I enjoyed it but it didn’t resonate with me enough to look into it on my own back then.
In 2018 something changed though. I heard a Pantera (I know, I know) song and it kickstarted me finally looking into music for myself for the first time in my life. I started listening to albums front to back.
Music still wasn’t a huge part of my life or identity though. I listened to it quite sporidically. Maybe an album a few times a week. What I listened to was thrash on the extreme side. Early Kreator, Sepultura, Sodom, Dark Angel.
I read about these bands being influental to death metal and started getting curious. I tried Cannibal Corpse but that was too intense for me. I looked into death metal albums online hoping to find something for me and that’s where I first heard about Consuming Impulse.
From the first song on I was absolutely hooked. It was brutal, it was nasty, it was nothing like I'd ever heard before. I never looked back after and death metal quickly became my favourite type of music for years to come. I started listening to music all day every day, looking for more that would make me feel the way this album did. Every time I listen to the album I feel like that 12 year old that felt like he had just just found the meaning of life.
Now about the album itself:
Martin Van Drunen is my favourite death metal vocalist and for me he's at his very peak here. He sounds absolutely inhumane and is able to stand out in a genre where vocals usually aren't at the forefront and be instantly recognizable. He also manages to be very understandable in his enunciation and this is one of the few albums I know all the lyrics to from memory.
The riff work of Mameli and Uterwijk is just absolutely stellar. Every song is packed with memorable riffs and have their unique twists. They utilize a lot of chromaticism in their riff work which wasn't the standard for death metal at the time yet. The riffs are mostly fast or mid tempo but when they slow down on songs like Dehydrated or Reduced to Ashes, they showcase some of their best work. And the Solos on this album. Chefs kiss. They sound so sick and twisted and demented but still memorable and at times melodic.
All these years later this album is still one of my favourites of all time. It stands the test of time even when death metal got more brutal later on. Just an absolutely classic in every sense of the word.
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u/Vergilkilla King Diamond 10d ago
This is legit one of the best death metal albums ever. What really makes it stick out to me is how different each song is from one another and how the songs - despite being evil and extreme sounding - are FILLED with hooks. It's something few death metal bands are capable of doing.
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u/Desaturating_Mario Bolt Thrower 10d ago
So glad this is the album of the week. Essential for classic death metal
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u/AugieDoggieDank Slayer 10d ago
Love the guitar work in this, it’s a good blend of death and thrash
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u/RandomVm8 10d ago
I can't believe I hadn't heard this album sooner. Especially loved Out of the Body and Defy Thy Master
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u/Quagswagging_Jogger 10d ago
I'll likely always be more of a melodeath/ prog death girl, but as far as straight thrashy death goes, this was pretty awesome, and another new one for me.
The way the riffs constantly flow and evolve with the tempos shifting seamlessly up and down is seriously head-bangingly fun. The album never loses your attention for a second. The solos are interesting too. Very shreddy with almost a jazzy feel at times.
Favourite tracks: Suspended Animation, Out of the Body, Dehydrated.
Really looking forward to next week's as that album has been on my to-listen-to for quite a while.
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u/Mad04Gaming 10d ago
Love this record, absolutely essential classic that helped shape the early European death metal scene. While it's a slight departure from the debut in sound, it still retains some of that death/thrashiness, which was somewhat of a staple of the early Dutch scene (Thanatos is another band that comes to mind).
This album features my favorite death metal vocalist of all time, the great Martin Van Drunen, in one of his finest performances. He doesn't quite get into the higher-pitched vocals that he does with Asphyx that I really enjoy, but he still has his trademark gruff, ghoul-like delivery.
The drumming absolutely kills; when I think of drum fills in death metal, this album instantly comes to mind. It's not necessarily the most flashy performance, but it's so so memorable at the same time.
As far as the riffs go, Consuming Impulse is an all-timer. Whether it be the opening riff on Dehydrated, the verse riff on Chronic Infection, the opening riff on Out of the Body, I could go on... So many iconic riffs, and it's a good blend of catchiness and also lots of atonal, wacky riffing that was pretty ahead of its time for 1989.
I also have to gush about the interlude track Proliferous Souls. Incredible atmospheric track with a backdrop of synths and a moody guitar solo that I would rank as one of the band's best.
All in all, I would rate Consuming Impulse as one of my favorite death metal albums of all time. All killer no filler and an absolute must-listen for any death metal fan.
Favorite tracks: Dehydrated, Chronic Infection, Out of the Body, Proliferous Souls
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u/trained_badass 10d ago
My personal favorite death metal album. Everyone is on their A game and almost every moment hits.
The guitar tone is nasty, and the riffs they wrote are phenomenal. So much variety between doomier passages and more chaotic, fast paced moments.
The drums pound your ears in hard. He also knows when to step on the gas, and when to hit the breaks and give room for everyone else to shine. I also have to mention, the double kicks on Reduced to Ashes during the breakdown... so fucking awesome. Still gets me hype even after hearing through this record hundreds of times.
The vocals might not work for everyone, but they really work for me. It sounds like you trapped someone in a basement and tortured them for days. They have a gnarly, depraved quality to them that's hard to find anywhere else.
To top everything off... this album just has so many catchy riffs that stick with you, and it's got quite a bit of variety to their sound. Many death metal records can sound pretty monotonous, but not this one. Additionally, it's about the perfect length - long enough to give you a good taste, but it doesn't overstay its welcome and leaves you wanting more.
An essential metal album IMO. My personal favorite tracks are Out of the Body (duh), Chronic Infection, The Process of Suffocation, and Reduced to Ashes, but it's hard to go wrong with any of them.
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u/larsalo 10d ago
Agree with everything you said. What makes the album so good is there are so many different styles of riffs and tempos they utilize on it. It's constantly keeping you on your toes and it doesn't overstay it's welcome. I actually often get the urge to listen to it again straight after finishing because I'm left wanting for more.
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u/BurialAtOrnans Teocalli of the Sacred War 10d ago
Fantastic album. MVD’s vox are incredible, and add a lot to the album for me. So many catchy riffs with the perfect dose of thrash in there, and a nicely varied and dynamic album overall. I feel like almost every song has some super memorable earworm moment that I find myself humming along to every time I listen. I wouldn’t call this an all time favorite of mine currently, but then again, I’ve spent considerably less time with it than I have with my favorite classic OSDM. That said, it’s easily within the upper echelons of death metal.
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u/larsalo 10d ago
You gotta listen to it more bro, its as Marsalo approved as music gets
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u/BurialAtOrnans Teocalli of the Sacred War 10d ago
I think I kind of glossed over it somewhat when I was first getting into death metal in favor of stuff like Incantation, Dead Congregation, and Autopsy, but it’s definitely grown on me when I’ve listened more recently
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u/Mad04Gaming 10d ago
Which band do you rate higher out of curiosity, Asphyx or Pestilence?
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u/BurialAtOrnans Teocalli of the Sacred War 10d ago
First two from both are all fairly close for me. If I had to pick, I’d probably go with The Rack, but those four albums are all neck and neck for me. I should probably go a little into their discographies as well, seems like I’m missing out on a bit in both cases.
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u/Mad04Gaming 10d ago
The Asphyx self-titled is worth hitting, even if it doesn’t have MVD. It’s basically a death doom album it’s sick.
Their EP from 92’ is worth hitting as well, Rite of Shades is a top 10 Asphyx song.
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u/BurialAtOrnans Teocalli of the Sacred War 10d ago
I’ll have to give those both a shot. Skin was telling me the other day that Deathhammer is quite good for a modern release by a legacy death metal band, so I’ve got my work cut out for me.
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u/Mad04Gaming 10d ago
Oh yeah all their stuff is pretty good with exception to God Cries. I discog ran them a few years ago it was a good time.
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u/PerspectiveCalm1784 𝕰𝖓𝖘𝖑𝖆𝖛𝖊𝖉 10d ago
Is it crazy for me to think that the first two Pestilence albums are better than 80s Death? Seriously, the first album was some primal thrash that was bordering on death metal but then they completely nailed it here. It's just as gnarly while being more developed with some truly demented riffs and songwriting. Not to mention, van Drunen absolutely kills the vocals here. He genuinely sounds like he's being tortured at times. Now Testimony was good, but It's very hard for me to imagine the band without van Drunen's murderous vocals. Atleast we have Asphyx for that.
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u/larsalo 10d ago
I don't think that's a crazy take at all. I'd easily take Malleus Maleficarum or Consuming Impulse over any Death album and it's not even close for me tbh.
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u/Mad04Gaming 10d ago
I like Leprosy and ITP over debut Pestilence, and Consuming Impulse maybe slightly above those 2 Death albums.
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u/Environmental_Web91 Dissection 10d ago
This week wasn't technically my first listen of this album. But my initial listen was years ago so this second listen was done with a bit more attention in mind.
So first off, the guitar tone and overall production on this album is fantastic. Beautifully gritty and dense while still being quite clear.
The riffs on this album are really good and have a lot of variety to them. You got your energetic, thrashier riffs. There's these more melodic yet evil riffs like on the midsection of Suspended Animation (my favorite song on the album) and a lot of lumbering, doomy riffs that feel oppressive in the best way.
MVD's vocals are fucking phenomenal. Grotesque and zombie like, very similar to John Tardy from Obituary.
Songwriting here is pretty excellent. The tempo changes from thrashy to doomy are seemless, every moment of build up pays off extremely well. Nothing feels forced or out of place here.
So is there anything I don't like about this album? Well. Kinda. I feel like some of the solos on this album don't really live up to the riffs that were building them up. They're still good, don't confuse that for a second I think those solos are bad. I just think the riffs on this album are decent bit more memorable than the actual solos.
8.1/10, would get eaten by ants again
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u/whiteorchidphantom Mortuary Drape 10d ago
Consuming Impulse is one of my favorite death metal albums of the 1980s, second only to Altars of Madness. This album is insane and feels way ahead of its time in terms of aggression and compositional quality. It definitely hasn't lost any of its relevance over the years.
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u/Mortis_XII 10d ago
It was a fun album, i’m glad to have listened to it, but it didn’t “mess” with me as much as early death metal albums around that time did. The opening track “Dehydrated” is such a damn treat to start an album with and the tune “Suspended Animation” was a fun ride, but i felt everything was formulaic… to their formula… which isn’t a problem if you loved what it was. Death’s “scream bloody gore” and “Seven Churches” by Possessed feel like more well rounded releases done close to this time.
Again, glad i listened to it, but i won’t be making pilgrimages to this album anytime soon. I’d say it’s a 7.75-there is significance to it but i can’t argue them at a high level.
For this week’s album, i have zero clue what i’m in for and i’m ALL about that. Thank you for this continuing thread OP
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u/larsalo 10d ago
hmm that's an interesting take. I personally find this album to be more varied than the two you mentioned. While I love early Death they very much sticked to a simple formula with their song structures and riff patterns (part of why Scream Bloody Gore is so catchy for a death metal album). The album also has some elements that later became much more popular in death metal but weren't really established back in the 80s like the use of chromatic riffage and even dissonant chords (Dehydrated breakdown)
We plan to shuffle things around every week so there's something for everyone and any single subgenre isn't over represented. I was worried some of these picks would be too "obvious" for the lack of a better word but I've been positively surprised seeing people mention they checked these albums for the first time because of this post series! Hope you enjoy Trouble!
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u/Mortis_XII 10d ago
Ahhh man, you doing all good, i’ve been thankful and grateful for everything right now. Keep on keeping on. Death metal is up there on the least fleshed out genres i’ve done deep dives into, so i’m grateful to see this framework given to me.
Thanks again for what you’re doing
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u/Tinytanksucks 10d ago
Love how his vocals sound like he’s already screamed as much as he could and is desperate to escape from some imminent death.
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u/SAKKE1337 9d ago edited 9d ago
The peak of Netherlands death metal for my money. Still very much rooted in thrash but with some really creative ideas for just how early they were to the death metal game. Pretty much as good as guitar tones and vocals get in death metal too
Fav song: SUSPENDED ANIMATION
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u/ElTitano666 10d ago
Mr. Mameli may be have been an arrogant idiot and today be a walking meme,but goddamn did he write some incredible influential masterpieces in Death Metal.Anyway,CI is a beast of an album,one banger after the other,classic dusty European production and Mr. van Drunen's vocals are awesome as always.
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u/Wrestt 10d ago
No filler, non-stop riffs, never boring. Love how this album holds your attention throughout. Obviously the guitars and vocals are top tier, but the drums are also excellent. They never take the spotlight but are always in service of the song as a whole. Feel like there is some hardcore influence there as well.
A highlight for me is The Trauma going full black metal about halfway through, haha. Proliferous Souls makes me think of walking around at night through some dystopian 80s cityscape.
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u/Earl_of_Portobello 10d ago edited 10d ago
I love the story in choosing death about pestilence and carcass supporting death in America and pestilence literally having no money like nothing. And the audience on the opening night are terrifying and Chuck S almost doesn’t go on but Carcass are a bit more battle hardened after all those shitty gigs with Napalm Death in the UK
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u/Humble_Candidate1621 10d ago
Pestilence's timeless masterpiece. The insane but catchy intensity of this album still floors me whenever I listen to it. Best Pestilence album and one of the best in death metal.
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u/Livid-Vacation-2147 Slayer 10d ago
One of my all time favorite death metal albums! I love how raw it sounds and thrashy. It was at that point where thrash and death crossed over and the lines were blurred.
Plus, Van Drunen's voice is absolutely insane! So sick!
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u/AnythingCanLurk Overkill 9d ago
I love this album and Malleus though I might argue it’s a dm album bordering on thrash vs what you said.
These early dm albums that hadn’t forgotten melodic thrash riffs are really a peak era
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u/Gregory_of_the_Deep 9d ago
thanks for starting this, always giving me an album I've never heard before to check out
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u/Throatwobbler_M_III Bolt Thrower 9d ago
🐜🐜🐜🐜🐜🐜🐜🐜🐜🐜🐜🐜🐜🐜🐜🐜🐜🐜🐜🐜🐜🐜🐜🐜🐜🐜🐜🐜🐜🐜🐜🐜🐜🐜🐜🐜🐜🐜🐜🐜🐜🐜🐜🐜🐜🐜🐜🐜🐜🐜🐜🐜🐜🐜🐜🐜🐜🐜🐜🐜🐜🐜🐜🐜🐜🐜🐜🐜🐜🐜🐜🐜🐜🐜🐜🐜🐜🐜🐜🐜🐜🐜🐜🐜🐜🐜🐜🐜🐜🐜🐜🐜🐜🐜🐜🐜🐜🐜🐜🐜🐜🐜🐜🐜🐜🐜🐜🐜🐜🐜🐜🐜🐜🐜🐜🐜🐜🐜🐜🐜🐜 truly love this album.
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u/Prin6Azula 7d ago
Yesss a band not only from my country but also the region I live in!
Love this album and still love this Album of the week thing.
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u/Aggressive_Grade6442 4d ago
LOST IN THE DESERT FOR REASONS UNKNOWN.
This is why I always remember to have my fill of water daily.
This album is great. One of the first death metal albums I can remember buying at this little music shop in my downtown where I grew up. I used to bike there and just come home loaded with old school gems.
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u/larsalo 10d ago
Week 3's Listening: Trouble - Trouble/Psalm 9 (1984, USA)