A brilliant record by the Dutch death metallers, who, after this apparently went on to form various jazz/fusion groups. It seems the fans were slightly irritated by 'Spheres', and its cauldron of strange complexity, jazzy interventions and other wayward meanderings. Personally, I found 'Spheres' a truly mesmerising record, following the same path as bands such as Atheist, who were so effortlessly able to melt together varying styles of music, whilst always maintaining a brutal edge. 'Spheres' is still a death metal record, marching with refreshing pace but exploring new ideas. Even the bands previous 'Testimony...' record was an album seeking a different path, but on 'Spheres' the band dig deeper into the cosmos. Vocally, the Chuck Schuldiner-type growls of Martin Van Drunen are still evident, only this time his menacing gasps are backed by a wonderful and joyous worship of music. Think of Cynic and their bubbling, at times awkward and fragmented extremity, and you may have an idea of Pestilence and their direction. This should not put any real fan off, for it's music to at once become bewildered by and marvelled at. So many years ahead of its time, the discordant riffs and atmospheric synths provided the genre with a vital injection, especially as metal in genre had begun to suffer at the hands of grunge. Pick any track out from 'Spheres' and you'll simply have to stand and listen in awe at the technical gift these guys have. The ominous strings of 'Aurian Eyes' echoes back to the menace of previous record 'Testimony..., and provides the listener with some insight into this Lovecraftian enigma, that remains as one of the finest death metal bands to have ever existed. Brilliant stuff, and well outside the box.
9/10
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