Australia has not been known for its abundance of black metal, which has been dominated by Europe (especially the Scandinavian countries, although there are plenty of black metal bands in other parts of Europe as well). But Australia is the home of
Pestilential Shadows, a black metal band that achieves an interesting balance of rawness and melody on
In Memoriam, Ill Omen. As a rule, black metal bands that favor a really raw, bare-bones approach don't go out of their way to be melodic; however, melody and harmony are high priorities on this 44-minute CD, which maintains a dark, creepy, foreboding atmosphere.
Pestilential Shadows rock forcefully, but they aren't flat-out vicious in the way that
Gorgoroth and
Marduk are flat-out vicious. And at the same time, no one will mistake
In Memoriam, Ill Omen for a
Dimmu Borgir or
Cradle of Filth recording; the production is way too raw and murky for that. Production-wise, this 2009 release is a throwback to the punk-minded, garage-like toughness that characterized the black metal pioneers of the late '80s and early '90s. In those days, black metal's debt to punk was impossible to miss; punk influenced early black metal as much as it influenced death metal, hardcore, alternative metal, and thrash, and the rawness that prevails on
In Memoriam, Ill Omen is a strong reminder of black metal's punk heritage. But again, these Aussies are decidedly melodic in a way that most of the black metal bands that long for the rawness of early black metal are not; they aren't symphonic black metal by any means, but they aren't an exercise in bombast for the sake of bombast either. And that blend of rawness and melody yields engaging results on
In Memoriam, Ill Omen. ~ Alex Henderson