Release
Date: September 5th, 2025
Format: CD/Digital
Country: Australia
Since their formation in 2003, Pestilential Shadows have stood as one of
Australia’s most enduring names in black metal. The project, steered by
guitarist and vocalist Balam, has spent over
two decades weaving a body of work that remains steadfast in its devotion to
the bleak and the dramatic. While many Australian acts lean either towards raw
chaos or pristine extremity, Pestilential Shadows has
always occupied a middle ground where grandeur and decay coexist. Over the
course of seven albums and numerous collaborations, they have carved out a
sound steeped in desolation, tragedy, and dark atmosphere, earning their place
among the genre’s long-running stalwarts.
Now, the
band returns with their eighth full-length, “Wretch”, released jointly by Northern Silence and Brilliant
Emperor. At nearly 50 minutes, the album unfolds across eight
compositions that carry the familiar melancholy of the band’s past and an
uglier, more withered edge. The title track “Wretch offers a heavy layering of
riffs and cold melodies that weave through the listener with a steady
inevitability. From there, the album moves through contrasting shades of
aggression and sorrow, always maintaining a clear sense of its own direction.
The production was mixed by Balam and mastered by Krvna Vatra, adds an almost ethereal sheen to the music. The sound remains firm and professional, doesn’t strip away the grit that gives the material its depth. The guitars bleed through the songs with a haunted heaviness, “the bass rumbles with a suffocating intensity, and the drumming keeps everything grounded and direct. Balam’s vocals are as tortured and commanding as ever, a grim narration of themes bound to death and spiritual collapse.
A
particularly striking moment arrives with “Where Sunlight Goes To Die,” which
features guest vocals from Dis Pater of Midnight Odyssey. The choral elements lift the
song into mournful grandeur, providing contrast without breaking the flow of
the album’s desolate vision. The remainder of the tracklist maintains aggression
tempered with solemnity, violence balanced by mournful passages. Each song
feels like a continuation of the same long shadow, giving the album cohesion.
With
“Wretch,” Pestilential Shadows cement their
status as one of black metal’s enduring voices. It’s an album carrying
the marks of relentless dedication. Dark, measured, and unrelenting in its atmosphere, it stands as
another chapter in a legacy that refuses to fade.
Score: 7.5
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