Album Review: Pestilential Shadows – Wretch

Band: Pestilential Shadows
Album: Wretch
Label: Northern Silence Productions
Release date: September 5th, 2025
Country: Australia
Format reviewed: High quality digital recording

Album Review: Pestilential Shadows – Wretch via Northern Silence Productions by Ioana

Have any of you ever had that sensation of listening to an album that infiltrates you, rather than hitting you right of the bat? It’s a rarer phenomenon, but nevertheless just as profound…

I discovered Pestilential Shadows purely by accident; one song bit here, one announcement there, yet all that was enough to pique my interest. Plus, lets’s all be honest with ourselves, “Pestilential Shadows” is one hell of a black metal band name. And when the album in question is called Wretch and features song titles such as “Death-Knell”? You better believe I am eating all that up for breakfast. And thus, without much context and a feeling that this would go better than expected, I looked up the album and listened… Oh hell, did this album had its way of crawling up my spine. Melodic black metal mastery? You better believe it!

As the band name suggests, this album is more of an infection than a blast. One riff gets under your skin here, a drum beat echoes your pulse too much over there, and before you know it every note just rings out in your whole body. I may be repeating myself when describing this particular sensation, but I do so because this is what makes the record great, in my view. It is, in itself plague-ish and wretched, in the best way possible.

Technique wise, of there is anything that Wretch excels at, that is the melodic guitar parts. Not only are they effortful in their execution, but have that ultra specific haunting quality that, unfortunately is becoming more and more rare. This also goes hand in hand perfectly with the slower and mid paced sections, because it fully allows the melodies to take center stage, a great deal when it comes to discussing mood and immersion. This also ties into the lead guitar moments. They are not necessarily solos, they are not flashy and they are not trying to. But once again, every note is fully charged with passion and intent, it fits perfectly into the music landscape, and thus leads to an incredibly harmonious result. Take “Despondent” for example. This song is a funeral dirge, slow, meditative, even mournful. The lead riff at the end carries that all too familiar lamenting quality, soaring above the desolate landscape painted by the drums and bass. If there is one reason to come back to “Despondent”, this is it.

In full honestly, this album would not be what it is without the vocal performance. Despite the guitar work being the centerpiece of the record, the vocals themselves display an equally impressive level of artistry. One great example of this is the aforementioned “Death-Knell”, just soaring in like the grim reaper, lead by a voice that exudes both power and scorn, the profoundly visceral kind. The track is placed in the middle of the album, yes, but exudes a bizarre kind of finality, the type that is most often both horrifying and awe inducing, and that is all the merit of the vocal performance. And when that gets paired with those lamenting guitars I mentioned earlier… you are left with an anthem for the end of the world, pure and simple. And again, it doesn’t strike me as a particularly violent piece of music in the traditional sense, but that is left to each to decide.

Here is where I believe I should bring up some details that detracted, even if very little, from the listening experience. Again, I consider all these critiques to be purely a result of my brain working overtime, and I invite all listeners to make up their own minds.

My first proverbial issue comes in the form of the production, in the sense that it is close, but not there really. I can’t help but feel like the drums often get lost in the mix, which is a shame considering how skillfully executed they are. It also appears to me that the guitars are a little less distorted than the rest of the instruments, which is not necessarily a problem given that it ensures that they are at the forefront of the music, but they also end up coming off as distant from the rest of the music.

The second issue simply comes down to me being nitpicky and annoying. After listening to “Where Sunlight Comes to Die” several times, I kept coming back to the fact that, in the first minute at least, the drums come off as a little bit disjointed, not enough to be off tempo, but enough to cause a little bit of tension. But, once again I might as well be imagining things.

All in all, Wretch is without a doubt a great listen, particularly when considering its atmosphere and expressivity. Pestilential Shadows is certainly a band that I will keep going back to, but until then… Let the death knell resound. 8.5/10

Band
Bandcamp
Deezer
Facebook
Instagram
MySpace
Reverbnation
Spotify

Label
Website
Facebook
Bandcamp
Instagram
YouTube

8.5/10 To Greatness and Glory!
**Please support the underground! It’s vital to the future of our genre**
#WeAreBlessedAltarZine
#TheZineSupportingTheUnderground