TRIBE OF PAZUZU
TRIBE OF PAZUZU “Blasphemous Prophecies”
By Dr. Abner Mality
This one almost fell out of my radar, but I’m glad I sampled it, because this is one of the better surprises in death metal this year. A rock solid project composed of veterans, this is pure worship of the first three MORBID ANGEL albums, with plenty of echoes of classic IMMOLATION and PESTILENCE. The PESTILENCE vibes are natural, because TRIBE’s mastermind is bassist/singer Nick Sagias who did time in that band for a good stretch.
This is a sound that is not heard that much these days...or at least, not done well. TRIBE OF PAZUZU absolutely nails it. It’s a screamer from “We Serve Under No God” right up to the final guitar squeals of “Towards Oppressors”. Songs are fast as lightning and waste no time...only the title track exceeds the four minute mark and not by much. As raging as the songs are, the riffs are very discrete and stand out. The title track is a killer that starts with thunderous power and slams your brain with awesome MORBID/PESTILENCE crunch. The lead guitar courtesy of Randy Harris is super-active throughout, divebombing with screaming solos right out of the Azag-Thoth playbook. As for the drumming, you can relax...Flo Mournier of CRYPTOPSY is handling the sticks. And thankfully the drums, like the album as a whole, have a very natural and organic sound...no typewriter drums here.
The real atom bomb in the PAZUZU arsenal is Nick Sagias himself. His vocals are perfect for this kind of music, absolutely spot on...an articulate beast-like roar in the vein of Patrick Mameli meets Ross Dolan. Well done, Mr. Sagias! He’s good throughout but the best song here is “Pazuzu Incarnate”, which has a sick groove to it that you will be hard-pressed to forget.
All of a sudden we are swamped with trendy “primitive” death metal bands...I’ll mention no names...so it’s good when an authentic piece of true warfare like this arises to remind people how it should be done.