LA PESTE NEGRA
VOICES FROM THE BEYOND
Blind Dead Records

by Mick Mercer

It’s
been a while since I heard this wonderfully moody and abrasive band –
wonderful, because they manage to make it fun, but also difficult,
which isn’t easy – and they remain as fractious as they were on the
sizzling “Dreaming Demons.” There have been some slight changes, as
Allan Kardek no longer occupies drums, those being scared by Fernando
Rodriguez, and they have David on various instruments and vocals, as
there has musically.

There’s more consideration of atmosphere
this time, with the guitar nibbling at ‘Es La Peste Negra’ seemingly
starting among bats or in a busy sewer, vocals clear as a crazed bell,
and there’s a neat union between a bulbous rhythmical assurance and
fluid advancement of a mature but scathing sound, in a song which is
almost catchy despite itself. ‘Desenterrados’ also has a chilled but
frisky sound, where they’re dreamily demented, whereupon they scuttle
around in ‘Blame’ as the Goth tingles multiply, the guitar softly
spread, the bass agitated. ‘White Coffin’ is a taut affair, with some
cool vocals glowing in a swirling annex complete with crying baby.

There
is much weirdness, understandably, in ‘Scarlet Woman Bleeding In My
Mouth’ with jarring keyboards and a dour but carefree feel, seemingly
lackadaisical but flowing in an appointed direction. ‘Miedo Al
Anochecer’ has that willowy gawf guitar throughout as the vocals drone
and moan and the song dips and sprints in bursts, wicked and sprawling.


‘Tumbas’ is short and cheeky, with plenty of witty singing,
then ‘Break The Mirror’ comes on like Christian Death tunnelling
beneath a carnival, with ‘Espasmos De Agonia’ equally slippery, but
more committed. Insanely dramatic vocals make ‘Traicion’ keep up in the
delirious rush and then tumble through the wobbly, demanding ‘28th June
1996’ which is quite basic as it pushes along, which is why some people
might not get their sound. It can seem quite rough and lurching, but
you either appreciate raw life in music or you don’t.

‘Why You
Say Dead?’ is back to a basic clatter and so slips by with an unhinged
and pleading vocal over itchy drums, and for a closer they give us the
weird shapeshifting ‘El Mas Alla’ packed with mystery and eerie beauty
which suggests there may be a story running throughout the record, but
with so few in English I hadn’t got a clue about that.

It’s a
welcome, varied record, with reliable noise and commendable excitement,
and a hint of how they might bring more atmosphere into play in future.
Good show, chaps!

http://mickmercer.livejournal.com/878377.html#cutid1

by Twilight

La musique de la Peste Negra est spectrale...Des orgues, des guitares
agonisantes, des structures qui se cassent, sans parler du chant. Si
l'atmosphère captive d'emblée, il faut du temps pour apprivoiser ces
mélodies maladives, il faut s'y plonger, car le parti pris de la
production épurée et claire confère à chaque instrument une existence
bien distincte, presque un brin déstabilisante qui prend au fur et à
mesure des écoutes sa place dans un puzzle hypnotique dont le charme
vénéneux devient vite irrésistible. Ecouter 'Voices from beyond', c'est
comme se placer au centre d'une maison hantée et y rester tout en se
sachant entouré de présences mystérieuses et frôlé en permanence par
d'étranges sensations. Pour ce nouvel opus, la Peste Negra s'est assuré
la présence d' un vrai batteur, ce qui ne modifie pas radicalement la
composition mais donne une certaine fluidité au jeu. Si les premières
chansons évoluent dans ce halo spectral et ces vocaux quasi
incantatoires, les suivantes prennent une forme d'assise plus marquée,
notamment sur le point d'orgue, l'excellent 'Tumbas', LE hit du disque:
riff deathrock imparable, chant hanté, atmosphère film d'horreur série
B...Une merveille. Cette touche deathrock plus appuyée se retrouve
d'ailleurs sur 'Espasmos de agonia' ainsi que 'Traicion' dont les
vocaux sont assurés par David. L'espagnol colle parfaitement à ce genre
de climat inquiétant même si les pièces en anglais tiennent la route
également. Comme une séance de spiritisme, l'album se clôt sur un titre
récité sur fond d'orgue et un sample de chant d'église malmené. Le
style de La Peste Negra est, à l'instar de bien des formations
hispaniques, assez particulier; il séduira ou rebutera. N'hésitez pas à
vous y frotter, il a au moins l'avantage de proposer quelque chose
d'original et personnel. 4,5/6 (mardi 2 septembre 2008)

http://www.gutsofdarkness.com/god/objet.php?objet=11339