Interview with Pestilence (ITA)

Tonight, Lachryma Christi would like to present you a (very raw) Black Metal band from Italy, called Pestilence. The band was born in 2010, by Ungoliant and Cadaver, and it has remained a two members band, swinging from theme to theme as the albums go by and with a very raw production. Three months ago they released their new album called Frosbitten Whispers Against Starry Nightsky. Let's see shortly what Ungoliant has to tell us about Pestilence.

Can you tell a bit of the story of Pestilence? How did it start?
The idea was born from cadaver and initially we were called "Tower". Due to various reasons we had to split up, and then, after a year, I suggested to Cadaver to re-found the band under the name of Pestilence.

Why the name Pestilence?

There isn' t a clear reason, initially we wanted to give a hint of "rot" and "disease" to the band, and at the same time I was very fascinated by the plagues that afflicted Europe in ancient times.

What are your lyrics about?

We change a lot the themes, album after album. We have a particular way of writing the lyrics, mainly Cadaver is the main lyric compositor, as I said, the first demo was based on violence, putrefaction, Anti-Christianity and blasphemy (for example "Fustigation of Christian's Flesh", "Crucified and Rotten"). In the next demo we preferred to talk about the beauty of nature such as forests, mountains and the night sky.. (for example Dreams of Forgotten Forests and Nocturnal Glowing Eyes). In this last period, instead, we are moving on themes such as witchcraft, necromancy and vampirism.

How does the writing process works? What comes first?

Everything starts with the musical parts, I compose some riffs, than Cadaver writes the lyrics. So we record guitars and drums simultaneously . We assemble bass, second guitars, keyboards and vocals.

We do not use sophisticated methods to record, we always try to get a sound raw and primordial.

What bands have inspired you the most?

Bands like Behexen, Taake, Hellvetic Forest and obviously Satyricon.

Looks like the Underground Black Metal scene in Italy has grown quite a lot lately, what is your opinion about this?

For sure, Black Metal isn't dead, but we think that the old Black Metal cannot be compared with the current one.

What can we expect of Pestilence in a near future?

We will try to keep the same Black Metal sound of the past to homage this scene. We are currently working on new material..

Any message you would like to leave to Black Metal followers and Pestilence followers?

We want to thank all those who support us and the underground Black Metal scene. Keep on burn the angels!

Lineup:

Ungoliant- Vocals, Guitars
Cadaver- Drums, Keyboards, Bass

Latest release:

Frosbitten Whispers Against Starry Nightsky (2012)

You can find more information and music of Pestilence in:

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Pestilence/228056907291263