Plague Rider is an Experimental/Technical Death Metal band from the United Kingdom. On November 10th, 2023, Plague Rider released their second studio album, Intensities, weaving together vile, repulsive, and challenging death metal, which would gratify fans of Atheist and Pestilence. Intensities was released through Transcending Obscurity Records.
Introduction:
Plague Ride, Intensities: This review will evaluate every aspect of the album, from its intricate musical composition to its production. Our analysis will provide valuable insights to help you determine if this album is worth adding to your collection.
The First Three Sins of Intensities
Let’s start by discussing the first three sins of Plague Rider and their Intensities album.
The First Sin, The Strings/Keys: Comprise nimble fingers dancing across the strings to create an intense, thrilling, and intimidating sound. Bass lines provide an unapologetic and forceful energy that will exhilarate you. The Second Sin, The Vocals: Involves frenzied madness to guttural growling. The Third Sin—The Percussions: Which delves into the vast world of a complete arsenal of booming and dynamic beats and fills.
The Fourth Sin: Overall Discussion: A tour de force of aggression & brutality that is truly unforgettable!
As soon as the listener presses that play button, the opening piece, Temporal Fixation, greets the listener with clean passages and drum work, following suit with this rotten avant-garde extreme blitzkrieg.
One continues with the second piece, An Executive, and the remaining five pieces, where this raw and unsettling music is not for the faint-hearted.
This Newcastle/Durham quartet, Plague Rider, has come together once more to record a new album and features ex-Live Burial (various other bands) members: guitarists Jake Bielby, drummer Matthew Henderson and bassist Lee Anderson (ex-Horrified). Vocalist James Watts, who has been a part of various other bands.
Plague Rider is the epitome of death metal. It is an extreme, twisted metal that will leave you breathless. This music is not for the faint-hearted, music that’s weaved together in a vile, repulsive, and challenging way, so twisted and decomposed beyond recognition. Offering a unique experience to the listener. The raw and visceral sound will engulf you and leave you gasping for more.
The music is a rotten fruit of the art of tour de force of aggression and brutality that is truly unforgettable! With a production sound that sounds like it was recorded in the rubbish dump, giving the music a visceral, primal quality; the twisted and unforgiven music and devilmanship composition are not short of experience.
Jake‘s guitar playing is a mesmerising blend of dissonance and repetitive riffs that will keep you hooked. Lee‘s bass lines provide an unapologetic and forceful energy that will exhilarate you. Nimble fingers dancing across the strings create an intense, thrilling, and intimidating sound that is not to be missed.
Matthew‘s drumming! His beats are intense, raw, and unforgettable. The cymbals, snare, and bass drum work in perfect harmony to create a booming and dynamic sound that will make your heart race. James‘s singing is electrifying, with a range that spans from frenzied madness to guttural growling. The sheer intensity and raw emotion conveyed with every note are awe-inspiring.
Again — not for the faint-hearted, but for those who seek something genuinely challenging, this album will not disappoint. So, if you want a musical experience to take you to the edge, this album is worth considering. With just seven songs, ranging from five to nine minutes, the fourth track is only two minutes long, while the last song lasts over twelve minutes, producing over fifty minutes of pure intensity.
If you are a fan of experimental/tech death, post-death or avant-garde dissonant death/extreme metal and want to explore the genre’s darker, more extreme side, then this album is perfect. So, experience an extraordinary audio adventure that will take your breath away for fifty minutes. Immerse yourself in pure intensity and let the sound waves wash over you.
The album comes to an end with the last song, Without Organsa. We want to give a shoutout to Plague Rider for letting us review their Intensities album. Now, we’re going to wrap it up by talking about the final three sins and concluding the review.
You’re Listening to “An Executive”
PlayThe last Three Sins
Let’s discuss the last three sins, our thoughts on Plague Rider and their Intensities album.
The Fifth Sin, The Memorabilia: Although it may not conform to the conventional standards of technical or avant-garde death metal, this album is an actual-forbidden fruit of the art of avant-garde dissonant death/extreme metal. The music’s twisted intensity perfectly embodies brutality, extremity, chaos, darkness, and heaviness in one play.
The Sixth Sin, The Artwork:
The artwork is a striking representation of the band’s music, perfectly capturing its essence.
The Seventh Sin, Disrelish:
Nothing to disrelish within the musical spectrum of Plague Rider, and their album Intensities.
This concludes the Plague Rider, Intensities review.
Track-Listing:
- Temporal Fixation
- An Executive
- Modern Serf
- Toil
- The Refrain
- Challenger’s Lecture
- Without Organsa
Plague Rider is:
- Lee Anderson – bass
- Matthew Henderson – drums
- Jake Bielby – guitars
- James Watts – vocals, noise
