Pestilence
Pestilence is a Dutch death metal band founded in Enschede in 1986. They have been through various membership changes throughout their existence, with guitarist-vocalist Patrick Mameli as the sole constant member. After disbanding in order to pursue other musical directions in 1994, Pestilence reunited in 2008, and was put on a "permanent hold" in July 2014. However, the band reunited once again in October 2016. To date, Pestilence has released nine studio albums, and they are apart of "progressive death metal's Big Four", alongside with Death, Atheist, and Cynic.
Carnation
For the last decade, Carnation has been at the forefront of reviving old school death metal. There’s something to be said about the artfulness of taking something so primitive and walking that fine line between keeping its classic authenticity without
sounding tired or dated. Carnation has always teetered this line, injecting a fresh and contemporary approach without losing the genre’s time honored traditions. However, the band’s third endeavor sees Carnation erasing those boundaries entirely and abando ning any and all conventions as they traverse into daring new territory. ‘Cursed Mortality’ pulls the Belgian death dealers deeper into experimental new waters, taking risks as the band steps out of the shadows of its predecessors and comes into its own id entity. 'Cursed Mortality's' statement is clear: This is no longer simply a revival; this is Carnation’s rebirth.
Bodyfarm
Formed in 2009, Bodyfarm began life as an old-school, classics-oriented death metal band. Today, they are performing with a new, solid four-member formation with a bit more black metal influence than in the beginning. Although their lineup changed a lot over the years – mainly, because of the tragical loss of founder Thomas Wouters in 2019 as well as the amicable parting of longtime drummer Quint Meerbeek – Bodyfarm are as committed as ever to their core ethics. Now, with the imminent arrival of Ultimate Abomination, Bodyfarm are poised to assert, once and for all, their domination over the death metal scene.
The arrangements for the upcoming album were mostly written by founding guitarist Bram Hilhorst and bassist-turned-fellow-guitarist Alex Seegers, with the lyrics written by vocalist/bassist Ralph de Boer and drums by new arrival David Schermann.
Naturally, every member contributed his own part to Ultimate Abomination, keeping the album fresh yet firmly within the core Bodyfarm sound. The result sees a surprising infusion of catchiness and The Groove: Be it galloping like the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, stomping slowly across the skulls of enemies, or rolling forward across the battlefield called life, Ultimate Abomination is a death metal maniac’s wet dream.
Part and parcel with Bodyfarm’s stellar songwriting across Ultimate Abomination is the album’s absolutely CRUSHING production: very “live” and full-blooded, but polished just enough to exude maximum professionalism. Recording-wise, the drums for Ultimate Abomination were recorded by J.B. van der Wal at Soundlodge Studios, and the other instruments and vocals by the band at Studio Hilhorst. Mixing and mastering was done by Project Zero studios Belgium.