Now this cover artwork did catch my eye, let me tell you! A man getting decapitated by a woman. That expression on man's face... And on woman's! Ghastly. Well, it's not a new painting, as it was done by Caravaggio (Michelangelo Merisi or Amerighi) back in 1599-1600, but it really does its job. The band's name is Pallor Mortis, which means paleness of death. The elegantly written lyrics deal with a cannibal cavedweller family from Ireland, bloodthirsty tsar Ivan the Terrible, and other historical horrors. Now, I think the genre in which the band operates should be thoroughly clear.

Obviously 'The Art of Terror' is death metal. And it is brutal, what else? Oh, they are Canadian. Hmm, that reminded me about their countrymates Cryptopsy, who had a piece of a paintng with same theme on the cover of 'None so Vile' (1996) album, which is all about brutal death metal. Pallor Mortis (PM from now on) must be influenced by Cryptopsy, because they utilize similar-ish vehement riffing on their music, and while the drumming is speedy at times, it's not as blasting as on 'None...'. PM's songwriting is quite bumpy, too, meaning that it is not easy at all to know, or even to guess where a song is going after one part. Sometimes, some song's parts feel more connected than other times. But, this album needs concentration from its listener. Still, sometimes a song falls flat at times, some more than once. This is the main disadvantage of the album. The second one is that the band remain a bit faceless with their songwriting.

Every song contains both simplistic and technical parts. On the largest contrast (like, let's say, a technical part before a simplistic one) it feels a bit funny, actually, because the chasm between is rather extensive. There are some black metal bits thrown in, e.g. less distorted open-stringed black metal-ish guitar playing. There are three instrumental songs, an intro, an interlude and an outro, that all are dark ambient style pieces, and these really do not fit with the rest. Speedwise it varies from slithering and slow-ish to blasting, and the guitar riffing from slamming to shredding, hammering to slashing. Still, a big portion of playing keeps the music mainly in mid-paced and fast regions. On the whole, the album consists of dark death metal, that can be said to have similarities with aforementioned Cryptopsy, but also with other bands such as Diabolical (from Sweden, minus their symphonic leanings), Behemoth and US legends Immolation. A big portion of music oozes of Mid-Eastern evilness, and at times, Morbid Angel-ish otherworldliness.

Musicians' skills are in good show here, no matter if there are more simplistic parts performed. The drumming, in all its lively tricky playing, is still a sturdy backbone for other stuff. The roaring and ramming bass is mostly just that, but there are some fretboard acrobatics heard, too. The meaty guitar riffing is effective all way through. However, there is not a lot of lead guitar stuff heard on the album. Hefty low growling is accompanied by lacerating higher screamed growls, that sound really unhealthy for vocalist's throat. The small tricks manage to enliven the music. The production is rather characteristic. Loud drums and bass steal the show from the guitars and the vocals, so the balancing of mixing leans too heavily towards the rhythm section. On the other hand, the cleanliness of the production is admirable.

'The Art of Terror' is a punishing, loud death metal album. It does deliver at times, but also kind of stalls here and there. At least that's what the album feels like after 20+ listenings. Still, the band have proved to be an interesting one to follow, for sure, but I doubt the album will ever be crowned with a classic status. However, Pallor Mortis do not seem to mimic any band too closely, so it is worth to be examined more closely.

Rating: 7- (out of 10) ratings explained

Reviewed by Lane
07/29/2014 20:25