originally written by Juho Mikkonen
For our final interview of this series, we invited Patrick Mameli of the almighty Pestilence to discuss a little bit about Consuming Impulse, a timeless death metal masterpiece that already in 1989 set the standards for the perfect mix of technical virtuosity and savage brutality in a genre still trying to find its feet. It turned out that Mr. Mameli is not a man of many words, but rather the kind of person who lets the music speak for itself. Anyway, here’s what he had to say.
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When it comes choosing the 100 most essential albums of the 80s, we at Last Rites obviously feel that the two Pestilence full-lengths, Malleus Maleficarum and Consuming Impulse should be on the list. However, due to our self-imposed one-album-per-band policy, we were obliged to pick only one of these two masterpieces, and, quite expectedly, settled upon Consuming Impulse. It would be interesting to know which of these two albums you would’ve chosen for this purpose and why?
Honestly? I think neither one. I would have picked Testimony [but really, it makes very little sense including an album from 1991 into a list of the most essential albums of the 80s – ed.] because of the pureness of it. We were getting more technical and the song structures are way better than Consuming. But Consuming over Malleus, always.
Consuming Impulse is nowadays heralded as one of the most significant early death metal classics. What was the album’s reception upon its release?
It was received very well actually. And it put us right there at the top with the big ones.
Style wise, your sophomore full-length was quite the departure from Malleus Maleficarum. What caused the transition from death-tinged thrash metal to pure death metal only within a one-year period?
We just where so much intrigued by Death and wanted to be the European answer to them.
Netherlands was one of the focal points for the birth of European death metal and Consuming Impulse its pioneering albums. How much were you influenced by the nascent American death metal and what was the death metal scene like in Europe back in 1989?
We were tape traders back in the days, so we really were into the US death scene. The scene in Holland was not big at all and so we felt safe high up on that throne. Later the Dutch death metal scene grew a lot.
Consuming Impulse was also the album that introduced Martin van Drunen’s to-be legendary death metal growls to the rest of the world. Was this previously unheard-of vocal approach something that just came out naturally?
It didn’t came out naturally. First we had a lot of stress and drama before Martin actually got it. After that it was a breeze.
Roadrunner changed the cover art of the record without the band’s consent. What exactly happened there and why did you choose to stay with the label after this incident?
As soon as a band signs, they give away their rights. Our real cover was said to be too brutal for the US market and they just changed it. Nothing we could do. But they did a great job with that album and now the cover is cult, even with how bad it is.
Throughout its career and already in the early stages, Pestilence has been a band that evolves a great deal between releases and this also happened after Consuming Impulse. Many old school death metal fans seem to think that you reached you zenith with your second album and should’ve kept that sound. What do you think about this kind of nostalgic critique and do you ever wish that people would stop comparing your later full-lengths to Consuming Impulse?
I understand their feelings. I have the same with Slayer, and any other band I like. One gets used to a sound and sticks with it because of the emotional feelings one had at a specific stage in life.
You decided to resurrect Pestilence in 2008, and with the three heavy-hitting post-reformation albums it seems that you are inspired by death metal again. What was the motivation to bring the band back to life?
The world needs Pestilence. We are here to bring the progression in death metal. We thought that the scene had changed a lot and would be more open-minded. But it seems that the scene is still living in the past. Obsideo is a masterpiece and my best work. That was then but this is now.
Do you still play a lot of old songs live or rather concentrate on the new material? What songs from the older albums do you prefer to mix with the new stuff?
I feel that I have played the old material enough. Why make a new album then, if they just want the old material?
