The legendary PESTILENCE have returned to the Death Metal scene with "Hadeon," their seventh full length album.  Although Mameli is the only remaining original member still, he chose his team well and the band doesn't miss a beat.  If anything, this is closer to their original sound but its also more than that.  While it does contain that old school jam of great riffs and groove, it also has that technical, prog feel that we have all come to love from the band. The first track, "Unholy Transcript," is appropriately creepy and surprisingly epic with variety.  It really sets up the album because throughout it, we are treated with a lot of different, and sometimes, "out there" ideas.

"Non-Physical Existent," is the first full length song and it is more straight forward in its sound.  Riffs for days, groove, and a kick ass solo fill up the three and half minutes and is a great for every second.  PESTILENCE make every second on this album count, not one moment is wasted for any reason; it all fits together to form a larger picture.  Mameli and Dobles are quite the team, blending hard hitting riffs with technical expertise.  They are their best during the solos, which are technical yet flashy and backed by some of their best riffs.  Mameli also does vocals, providing a great, mid range growl that is really one of the better ones in the genre.

"Oversoul," is bounded guitars and bass that are a bit more prog compared to the previous tracks and this is where we find the band really stretching their sound while still retaining the roots of this brutal genre."Astral Projection," takes it a bit further with Jazz oriented drums and bass.  Even a CYNIC style robot voice makes an appearance.  The beginning of the album makes it hard to believe this would even work but by the time you make it this far, you realize it's a very natural progression and organic sound for them. "Subvisions," and "Manifestations" are a one two punch that is the representation of what this band has been about for the last few releases. The music is heavy yet oddly timed, showcasing the entire band's proficiency at playing Jazz and Prog. Hudrap's bass is of a special note on these two tracks-if all the other instruments were removed, the songs would still sound amazing based on bass alone.   However, if the bass was removed, it would substantially change them.  All too often, bass in Metal bands are nothing more than background noise, especially in the more extreme forms of it, but this isn't the case with this album.

With "Hadeon," PESTILENCE show case both their amazing technical abilities and their desire to also keep it old school.  I can't say it's a classic like their earlier works but it is still a shining example of how the tent pole bands of the genre can still stay relevant while moving their sound forward.