After the explosion caused by the Second Wave of Death Metal (between 1989 and 1993), the genre had a period of receding, because the Second Wave of Black Metal took the scene by assault. The ones who built a strong name in Death Metal during the Second Wave days were safe, and a new band today needs a lot of efforts to earn a life (it’s a bit easier when a known musician on the genre is on it), and on USA it’s even harder, because the Death Metal acts there - on the greater part of the bands - are playing a form of classic of the genre, as the quintet FESTERGORE (from New York), here with first full-length, “Constellation of Endless Blight”.

The quintet makes all its musical efforts on a classic way into Death Metal, using the same usual cliches of the bands of the genre, of course trying something personal, but it still reminds a lot of bands of the genre. It’s clear that the album isn’t a waste, but the quintet must improve a bit more until the next release. It’s just a cade of immaturity entangled with ‘fidelity-to-the-models’. Dears, blast the models into Hell! The sonority is another factor that boosts the sensations of dealing with just another Death Metal band: it has a modern and defined outfit, but the choice for instrumental tunes and the way things are mixed reminds a lot what’s already exists. It makes things sound better than expected, but could be a bit more courageous. And the graphic aspects created by Lucas Korte (art of the cover) and Nev Michael (layout) reinforces such thing.

It’s not that “Ironborn”, “Glass Casket”, “S.M.A.”, “The View from Halfway Down”, “Synchronizing the Kozmos (Part I)”, “Surrender to Madness”, “Cryogenic Decay”, “Synchronizing the Kozmos (Part II) (instrumental)” and “What Once Was Proud” aren’t good songs and have nothing good to offer to the fans, or that the quintet has no talent at all (again: their musical potential is huge), but they’re too closed to models, and seems to be enslaved by them. No one is saying that they should use melodies of allow different elements of other Metal genres to enter their music, but they can do things far better than is shown.

Well, “Constellation of Endless Blight” is just their first full-length, so let’s hope that the future will bring better things from FESTERGORE. They can, it’s clear.