Pest "Ära" CD (Bonustrack)

Third CD pressing by Ketzer Records and Heidens Hart after the previous editions are long sold out.

I have searched for a copy of this album for years now. Having grabbed a copy via Ebay, I waited with baited breath as I eagerly popped this into my discman. Knowing fully well that the ever trust-worthy Full Moon Productions(BiC!) releases only the most worthy of acts......minus Willow Wisp but we all can forgive them of that act......I wondered; what madness will I listen to? What new form of mental slaughter will I hear? Will my ear drums be begging for mercy or will they start screaming for me to turn the shit off and put something else in? Usually these are the things I ponder about when finally having the time and lack of things to do to properly listen to an album by a black metal band. Most people think they should automatically say "YEAH BRO THIS SHIT FUCKING RULES" and then 5 minutes later they scurry looking for something else to listen to (more than likely something that is more 'friendly' or more 'cool')
I disagree.

I believe one should treat listening to such music as black metal as an inverted form of buddhism. A perverted take on zen. A complete abomination of dealing with the various walking piles of redundant protoplasm who couldn't fucking tell you what they ate first thing in the morning. In other words, music to fill your soul with a healthy helping of complete hatred and darkness while remaining more civilized than the average human being.
That being said, Pest's "Ara" is that this album is half intrumental and half raw Black Metal. The intrumentals ranging from the dark moonlit ghostly wails of the sea to the black german forests filled with nocturnal creatures with beautiful folk acoustic guitars that stir up images via Norway and as well as funeralesque requiems and dark ambient pieces that resemble Mortiis' Dark Dungeon days. The actual songs themselves as disorganized and erratic going from thrashy punk beats to double bass rolls to cymbals crashing as if they are building up their stamina for the few tracks that are pure chaos-induced speed and madman-like frenzy and those shine through. Then there is one song that doesn't even fucking make sense to me....the song "Am Ende des Weges" completely starts out like it might be a typical black metal cut but turns into something that is fucking annoying. Makes me want to go listen to Lugubrum as far as weirdness goes because this sticks out like a really bad sore thumb and doesn't even fit the overall feel of what Pest are going for on "Ara".
The Full Moon Production re-release includes two live recordings of both "Warriors of Darkness" and "Am Ende des Weges". Even for the live sound, not too shabby. Too bad they had to record that annoying song live instead of one of the other tracks.
Aside from the one song, this is excellent stuff. Standouts include "Breeding", "Warriors Of Darkness", "Der Baum" as well as all the instrumentals. Recommended for those who in need of a deadly infection.

Sample: