Pestilence - Spheres (1993)

1. Mind Reflections

2. Mulitple Beings

3. Level of Perception

4. Aurian Eyes

5. Soul Search

6. Personal Energy

7. Voices from Within

8. Spheres

9. Changing Perspectives

10. Phileas

11. Demise of Time

Origin - Netherlands

Style - Progressive Thrash Metal

" There are no keyboards on this album." So was stated by the band Pestilence on their 1993 album Spheres. The reason that I bring up the quote above, is because the Dutch act on this album sort of took the road that Iron Maiden did a few years prior, which is utilize extensive use of guitar synthesizers in their music, rather than actual keyboards, which for better or worse, totally changed their sound. Prior Pestilence releases took the influences of the Florida death metal scene and bands like Obituary, Death, Morbid Angel, and Death, added in some technical guitar work and progressive attitude, and came up with their own signature sound. With Spheres, the band one-upped the technical aspect, but also decided to inject even more prog and jazz into their sound, and used Roland guitar synthesizers to help out, quite a bit actually. This album here is less brutal than previous releases, relying less on crushing riffs and more on subtle jazzy embellishments. Tunes like "Changing Perspectives", "Personal Energy", "Multiple Beings", and the title track, all contain that familiar aggression "

" This is still a metal album, with Mameli's vocals still in that Death/Obituary type of growl, and the crashing, technical drum work of Marco Foddis (who also wrote all the bands lyrics). It just was a real 'about face' for the band. For the time, this album might have been a tad too odd and different, as metal bands in 1993, especially death metal bands, hadn't yet started to delve too far into prog rock territory, and this beast called Spheres certainly dove into prog, as well as jazz-fusion and ambient styles. With a constant wave of guitar synths, less brutal riffs, and relentless time & meter changes, the music here is quite sophisticated..."

Looking back, most fans now have 'gotten it' many years later, and see Spheres for the classic that it is......

Go Ahead !....Get It!

There