Every now and then a band comes along and gives you that feeling that we as Metal type dudes love to feel, that warm inner glow, that feeling of absolute perfection that sits so well within your chosen mindset or genre or whatever the fuck you wanna call it. It’s the find that makes it so much more exciting, and then we just wanna share it with everyone! Well, Me, being I, The Great Mackintosh, is very excitable to say the least when it comes to Death Metal, when you tell me it’s from the UK my levels of insanity only get more insane!
The band is called Pemphigoid, and yes that is an odd name. It doesn’t roll off the tongue as well as some band names, but if you look up the meaning you will see that not only does it fit quite well, it also makes a lot of sense, and by the end of this opus you will see why.
Pemphigoid hail from Nottingham, which for the unaware is in England and may or may not have once contained a sheriff who possibly was a bit of an arse to his people and maybe inspired a bloke with a hood to run around and rob people. They could have called him Bruce or George or something like that but they called him Robin. Apt I suppose ha-ha, but I digress, let us speak of the very band that has inspired me to such heights of madness.
Three piece yes. Ash handles the main general grunting groaning goodness on the vocals and is also the cause of these riffs that make me so happy. Nothing blistering here folks, just a good old pace with the right kind of crushing tone that keeps you interested and the neighbours scared. Well thought out, intelligent and brutal, and as catchy as all fuck, they make me want to weep tears of disease stricken joy.
Rich on the drums has it all covered with the same type of attitude. Do I need to overextend myself here and show that yes, if you put me in a cage live I can play upside down and juggle my sticks? Fuck no, I’m going to fill where I need to and give the songs EXACTLY what they need. He also gives a nice little push to the main vocals with a wraith like backup, and believe me you will know when he is there. Kudos to the drum sound too, that snare is absolute attention grabbing superbity.
Bill, on bass, is a pure rumbling machine of war. His treads plow through the infected and just when the moment is right they are all you can hear, and for just that exact moment you ask yourself what am I hearing, this is pure insanity bordering on genius! All together this is a formidable force, I hear Punk, I hear Death, I hear so much in this. Raw, formidable, absolute intent on display.
Everyone wants a highlight, and this is again where I say go fuck that. Get off your arse and have a listen. People do not go to all this effort for you to merely flick through it. It is a whole piece, and needs to be heard as such. Ah fuck ya, go “Bite Radius:” into “Descent of Man”. that should clue you up.
There is an underlying thread to this album as can be heard by the soundbites, one of disease and emergency, and dire consequences. The only thing dire about this album is that if you don’t listen to it, you will miss out. Don’t be that person.
So, what exactly does “Pemphigoid” mean ? I haven’t explained that really well at all. It is a skin condition that makes one have large fluid filled blisters, and hopefully it is not as contagious as this album.
Fucking astounding.
6/5.
Get blistered right here folks!
https://pemphigoid.bandcamp.com/releases
The Metal Wanderlust 