Two minutes is all Pestilength need to make their point—a surprising metric for a black/doom metal band. For a style of music which usually takes a longer path to achieve fruition, this Basque duo opts for efficiency over classical form, resulting in something as crushing as it is fleeting. In “Baleful Profusion,” the brief song in question, Pestilength expectedly fuses the ideas of “plod” and “crush”—the song is slow, but driving and meaty, and drummer N. chooses a giant’s pace when performing. Lots of slow double bass, plenty of cymbal work, all fitting when placed with vocalist and guitarist M.’s extreme minimalism. Closing with a machine-gun-rhythm explosion, “Baleful Profusion” is suddenly done, leaving the listener itching for more music… and, as evidenced by the upcoming Solar Clorex, there will be. Listen to “Baleful Profusion” below.
From the artist:
“Baleful Profusion” signals the unstoppable human blood loss. The flesh disappears as the solar irradiation pastes all life around. It had to be straight to the point and compress the suffering into the nether. It was composed in the middle of the rehearsal room. I had a few ideas, but the song began to take on the nasty behavior we wanted while composing. The drums are hammering — from high-speed patterns to a swampy lake of rotten nails just to end with stormy final blasting percussive textures.
The song’s location, in the middle of the whole album, is the proper one to deceive the listener with a certain feeling of being able to receive oxygen, but then, they are let down again and nothing happens… At first glance, it seems to be the divisive track of side A and B, but it is not. The story continues to unfold on side 2, the album is a whole unit, linked and solid. The title “Baleful Profusion” relates to the weight of vanishing existence, a descriptive picture of death through magnetic irradiation and scorching powers against life. Lyrically speaking is quite cryptic and brief… open to interpretation!
Solar Clorex releases February 16th via Debemur Morti Productions (EU/ROW, US, Bandcamp).
