It is somehow absurd to see the amount of people that seem to be interested in Death Metal nowadays. I remember (almost 10 years ago) when -classic by now- albums such as “Feeding On Angels”, “On The Wings Of Inferno”, “Rides The Moonstorm”, “Diabolical Conquest”, “Gods Of Creation, Death And Afterlife” and “Blood Must Flow” (to name a few) got released not as many people were paying attention. Back then, the biggest part of the underground scene seemed to be busy with Scandinavian Black Metal which apparently pleased the masses more than good ol’ Death Metal. It’s true that most commercial Death Metal sounded overproduced, plastic, uninspired blast-beat trash, but if one tried to dig really hard the underground soil he could discover some pretty killer gems that waited to be discovered. How could you possibly not appreciate releases from bands such as ASPHYX, PENTACLE, SOULBURN, INCANTATION, THE CHASM, IMMOLATION, INFAMY or COFFIN TEXTS when you play them on your stereo for the first time? I guess old school Death Metal seems to be today the center of everybody’s interest and apparently the amount of bands that play old school Death Metal has increased substantially. While lots of really good Death Metal bands and releases appear every now and then, very few of them manage to create something really special, something that manages to bring shivers down your spine and make you want to crack your neck while headbanging to their tunes. EXCORIATE from Germany is definitely one such case (and a big surprise for me for sure); a band that reeks of darkness and death. These German fiends created an absolute crushing, rotten Death Metal sound that pays tribute to classic acts such as POSSESSED, PENTAGRAM (Chile), SADISTIC INTENT, AUTOPSY and very old SEPULTURA to name a few. Instead of copying their influences, EXCORIATE managed to fuse the morbidity and obscurity of the aforementioned gods with loads of madness and wrath making the material sound conservative yet unique at the same time. It’s like throwing in the fire the best elements of late 80s early 90s Death Metal demos with a killer production that sounds perfectly fitting to the band’s style. The vocals sound like a sick mix of Beccera / van Drunen (as very accurately Frank pointed out) and add a lot to the overall atmosphere of the album. I am not sure if there is much more to be said for this monster of a record. For me at least “On Pestilent Winds…” is easily among the best Death Metal releases of the past decade. Unfortunately the guys decided to disband after two demos, a rehearsal tape and a great full-length which is really a pity since I am sure that they have potential to create some classic material and of course I can imagine the hell that they could raise while on stage. This release is limited to 1000 copies. Make sure you don’t miss it because you’re definitely going to regret it. Keep your eyes open cause it will be also released on vinyl very soon. www.sepulchralvoice.de