In their heyday Pestilence were by far the most successful Dutch death metal band, with seminal albums such as Malleus Maleficarum’ (1988), ‘Consuming Impulse’ (1989) and ‘Testimony of the Ancients’ (1991) inspiring hordes of new bands. After a sixteen-year hiatus they returned to recording ways with ‘Resurrection Macabre’ (2009). Six years and another two albums later, the release of the demo collection ‘The Dysentery Penance’ (2015) brought things full circle for Pestilence, not in the least because frontman Patrick Mameli had repeatedly confirmed in interviews that Pestilence were dead and buried. Still, a live album and reissues of old material kept Pestilence in the public eye. But blood will out, as the saying goes, and in 2016 Mameli decided to resurrect the band for the second time. In 2018 Pestilence undertook a hugely successful European tour that was met with great enthusiasm. They also dropped new material with ‘Hadeon’ (2018), an album that fits in nicely with ‘Testimony of the Ancients’, ‘Spheres’, and ‘Exitivm’ (2021). Their tenth full-length is slated for a 2024 release.(#GMM24)
