Are you in the mood for some straight ahead, raw, frank, and brutal old school death metal? If you are, that’s what Pandemmy with “Rise Of a New Strike” have to offer. Following Pandemmy’s proposal, I’ll go straight ahead to the best song of “Rise Of a New Strike,” which is the last, but not the least, “Almost Dead.” My man, I gotta tell you, what a piece of awesomeness. “Almost Dead” swings a lot and changes so much riffing and atmospheres, that I guess Pandemmy guys got out of ideas, and maybe that’s why “Rise Of a New Strike” ends with it. And “Almost Dead” is only four minutes long.
The point here is that Pandemmy are a band with very resourceful musicians that could play songs with more complexity, but they’d rather not. Better leave it simple, and frank. We’ve gotta respect that. That gives “Rise Of a New Strike” an extra bonus: it’s not that simple to be simple. Check “7000 Days Of Terror (And The New Attempt)” out, for instance. It’s remarkable what Pandemmy can do with a few riffs. The chorus is a sing-along one. In a death metal band! How remarkable is that? I’d say a lot. And how about the change of atmosphere in the middle of it? A cool guitar solo with some fingered tunes. It breaks all the aggression and adds melody, almost some sweetness. It takes a lot of balls to that. Not to mention the intro called “One Step… Forward,” and it really is a step forward. A step forward to bands that think that to be brutal or sick, you have to step away from your humanity. Pandemmy is teaching us a lesson that Metal bands can express themselves they please.
As I said before, Pandemmy are a band of surprises who loves intros with some caprice. “No reasons for losses” intro is just amazing with all its classical atmosphere, and it reminds a lot 1990s melodic death metal bands, great for me who started listening to death metal by these bands. Pandemmy were worthy the time.
Track Listing:
- One Step… Forward
- Circus Of Tyrannies
- State Of War
- 7000 Days Of Terror (And The New Attempt)
- Almost Dead
- Rise Of A New Strike
- Inferno Is Over
- Stars Of Decadence
- Against The Perfect Humankind
- No Reasons For Losses
“Rise Of a New Strike” is available on Bandcamp and Soundcloud.
You can watch “Almost Dead” here:
I’m just a lucky guy who has chosen metal to live with for a long time. Metal changed my life for good. It made me more confident and stronger. Metalheads are naturally far away from the mass mediocrity and don’t accept impostures from anybody else. Metal is more than music, it’s a life changing oportunity!