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LEVELS OF PERCEPTION

Pestilence

Tech/Extreme Prog Metal


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Pestilence Levels of Perception album cover
1.00 | 2 ratings | 1 reviews | 0% 5 stars

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Studio Album, released in 2024

Songs / Tracks Listing

1. Horror Detox (3:19)
2. Mvlti Dimensional (3:14)
3. Mobvs Propagationem (3:20)
4. Sinister (3:49)
5. Dehydrated (3:11)
6. Dominatvi Svbmissa (3:07)
7. Land of Tears (5:11)
8. Necromorph (3:18)
9. Deificvs (3:13)
10. Twisted Truth (4:33)
11. Sempiternvs (3:43)
12. Ovt of the Body (4:44)

Total Time 44:42

Line-up / Musicians

- Patrick Mameli / guitars, vocals
- Rutger van Noordenburg / guitars
- Michiel van der Plicht / drums
- Joost van der Graaf / bass

Releases information

Label: Agonia Records
Release date: April 26, 2024

Although a "best-of" album, all tracks are re-recordings of the band's past works.

Recording information:

Drums recorded live at T Paard, The Hague, NL in 2021.
Other stuff recorded at On Duty, Mijdrecht, NL.

Thanks to UMUR for the addition
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PESTILENCE Levels of Perception ratings distribution


1.00
(2 ratings)
Essential: a masterpiece of progressive rock music(0%)
0%
Excellent addition to any prog rock music collection(0%)
0%
Good, but non-essential (0%)
0%
Collectors/fans only (0%)
0%
Poor. Only for completionists (100%)
100%

PESTILENCE Levels of Perception reviews


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Collaborators/Experts Reviews

Review by UMUR
SPECIAL COLLABORATOR Honorary Collaborator
1 stars "Levels of Perception" is the tenth full-length studio album by Dutch death metal act Pestilence. The album was released through Agonia Records in April 2024. It features twelve re-recordings of tracks which have appeared on some of the bandīs earlier releases. Not all preceding albums are represented (there are no re-recordings of tracks from "Malleus Maleficarum" (1988) or from "Spheres" (1994)), but all other Pestilence studio albums are represented with at least one track each...

...and the tracklist is up for debate. It seems a bit odd to me, why Pestilence would chose to re-record no less than four tracks from their last album "Exitivm". Re-recordings are usually done to show how a current version of a group plays older classic material, but it seems Pestilence had another vision with "Levels of Perception". "Consuming Impulse" (1989) and "Testimony of the Ancients" (1991) are represented by two tracks each (I guess they didnīt dare leave out "Out of the Body") but thatīs the only pre-reformation material featured on "Levels of Perception". Itīs not that Pestilence more current material isnīt decent, but it just seems a bit strange to re-record material from 2021 on a 2024 release.

When that is said, there are unfortunately much, much worse things to say about "Levels of Perception" which is through and through a horrible release. I canīt call it anything else than an abomination and a terrible misstep in the discography of Pestilence. The material is what it is, but the performances and some of the new arrangements are tame and uninspired. Honestly it almost made me cry listening to the re-recordings of "Twisted Truth" and "Out of the Body", which are two of my absolute favorite Pestilence tracks, both of which are butchered here (Patrick Mameli how could you?).

But the performances and the weak vocals from Mameli arenīt even the worst here...itīs the production values. The drums were recorded live at one studio in 2021 and everything else was overdubbed at other studios during the next couple of years. Many artists have made live recordings of drums in the studio and have gotten great results from it, but that canīt be said about the drums on "Levels of Perception", which sound like they were recorded at a rehearsal space (and not at a studio like they are) using an old fashioned four-track tape recorder. This is demo quality sound production values. And itīs not just the drums. The guitars feature an odd high end tone which is grating on the ears, Mameliīs voice is distorted and you canīt always make out the words he sings (which usually isn īt an issue on Pestilence albums), and the bass is completely disconnected from the rest of the instruments in the mix...and bass player Joost van der Graaf often sounds like he is playing another song than the rest of the members of the band.

A pretty harsh critique, which Iīm not happy to deliver since Pestilence have long been some of my heroes, but I have to call it like I see it. Honesty and full disclosure. Pestilence have some work to do, to drag themselves back from this disaster. Their next album better be the best album they have released since reforming in 2008 or they may find themselves a fan or two short. You donīt come back from something like this without some careful consideration and reflection in terms of what went wrong, and what should we never do again...a 1.5 star (30%) rating is warranted. Iīm tempted to give an even lower rating, but Iīm trying to be fair and at least give Pestilence some sort of credit for existing, but there really isnīt much to give them credit for after listening to this album.

(Originally posted on Metal Music Archives).

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