Pandemia
Prana Sempiterno
(c)1998 Icarus
Review by Neil St.Laurent
Thanks to Icarus for the CD
Coming from Argentina is Pandemia, a 6 member band (7 guest musicians
were additionally used for the purpose of recording this album).
They are one of those bands that dares to defy any known approach to
the extreme metal genres and instead offers something very fresh and
innovative capturing influences from a broad spectrum of music.
Most of the music covered in this magazine can be fairly basically
described in terms of the style of the guitars. With Pandemia, and
others, this can't be said to be the case. If only described by the
guitars "Prana Sempiterno" would not be done justice. It should be
suffice to say that there is a basic distorted guitar sound that
often adds to the music, quite often it is non-existent, and other
times it comprises the rhythm section. And sometimes a clean guitar
makes a presence to provide a simple melody.
Also unusual for metal is a very sophisticated drum and percussion
usage. The drums don't strictly define the tempo for the music, but
certainly do follow along reasonably adding elongated beats and some
slower versions of more classic metal drumming. But the primary note
remains that for large components of this recording the drums are
treated more like a unified piece of the music than simply a tempo or
timing device.
Very predominately used on this album are keyboards. Quite often
providing a backing atmosphere their use does range into a more
classically-influenced piano piece. Adding to this refined elegance
is the use of a violin in often very slow and saddening solos. Heed
though, despite the certain elegances and refinement, Pandemia still
has a noticeable raw quality, which makes it even more appealing.
The strongest point that can be made is that there is no single
instrument that can be said to provide the basis for the music, for
if any single one disappeared there would be something significantly
lost. Indeed, Pandemia has taken a more orchestral approach to the
music and attempted to combine the benefits of all components to
produce "Prana Sempiterno". And the beauty really comes from the
true integration of distorted guitars, double bass drums, and death
and black metal vocals -- a very positive distance from many of the
disappointing progressive metal bands that seemed to have forgotten
about their metal influence...
If you are out for standard death metal fare with more continuous
aggression or strong guitar aural assaults, then Pandemia may not be
the right choice at that time. However, if you are in the mood for
something with more structure, and a broader soundscape than normal,
but still most heavily influenced by metal, then Pandemia is
certainly worth acquiring.
Pandemia is:
Adolfo Heber Victoria - Vocals
Ricardo Massei - Drums
Javier Ringuelet - Bass
Susana Pusso - Keyboards
Demian Gustavino - Guitars
Sergio Araoz - Guitars
Contact:
Pandemia
C.C. 263
(1900) La Plata, Buenos Aires
Argentina
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