Pestilence (support: DamnatioN)
Wednesday, March 25, 2026, 8:00 PM – 10:15 PM
Ljubljana / Menza p. k. / Slovenia
Pestilence, Dutch masters of technical death metal who many — alongside Cynic, Death, and Atheist — rank among the big four of the genre, are back at Metelkova. For the third time in their long career. Third time in Ljubljana, third time at Metelkova (last time they played in Slovenia was two years ago in Laško at the Metaljot Raspaljot festival). As for this latest Ljubljana stop, they didn’t head to Gala hala but to Menza. Legends with a remarkable musical journey that’s seen every high and low, and albums in their back pocket that have fundamentally shaped the development of extreme metal. The first four records are and remain the hallowed foundation of experimental death metal. Even though those days of being on Roadrunner Records and sharing stages with the likes of Death, Entombed, Cannibal Corpse, and Dismember are long gone, the mark the band has left on the development of metal remains unshakeable.
This time Menza drew just a few more people than eleven days earlier at the same venue, when Norwegian avant-metal weirdos Vulture Industries played there. So there might’ve been around 70 of us. More likely ten fewer. But mostly veterans of the scene — the kind who’ve been running into each other at these club gigs for years, long past the point of counting up all those accumulated miles. The club vibe was spot on; shame there weren’t a few more headbangers showing up that evening.
Opening duties went to young extreme metallers from Laško, DamnatioN, who jumped on the bill at the last minute as replacements for Razvaline. The promising trio gave it everything they had. Solid and committed — as far as their current reach allows, both creative and in execution. The lads need as many gigs as possible, that’s a fact. They’re still being forged. Death metal with old-school thrash influences and adventurous, exploratory detours of a more complex nature. DamnatioN — bearing in mind there are only three of them — filled out their sound brilliantly and also convinced you that they don’t need any extra members for what they do. In every respect you’ve got those snarling bass fifths underpinning the guitar riffs, sufficiently varied transition structures, entries and exits where all three building blocks breathe in unison, backed by a growl of decent quality… Although we had to wait almost until the end of their set for the signature track from their early era — that being Jack The Ripper — it has to be said that DamnatioN are hard-working guys who already presented a fair amount of new material (The Sounds Of Hell, Motorka, Prodigy Of Terror, Slaves of Society) that apparently can’t wait to take shape on a debut studio record. Here’s wishing the trio good luck!
Pestilence rolled into Ljubljana with the opening night of their new European tour, named in step with their upcoming tenth studio album “Portals”. Patrick Mameli, the band’s unshakeable figurehead and chief visionary, guitarist and growler, has assembled a completely new crew of musicians around him for this tour. This past winter Pestilence were joined by two newcomers, relatively unknown bassist Dario Rudić and guitarist Max Blok, while Michiel van der Plicht has been behind the drums for Pestilence for the sixth consecutive year.
Given that Mameli has once again refreshed the lineup — those constant changes are perhaps the only annoying thing about the modern era of Pestilence — the revamped quartet showed excellent chemistry. No room for half-measures. Full commitment only. The band put together a great setlist, built around material from the two most celebrated, respected, and revered achievements of their career — “Consuming Impulse” (1989) and “Testimony Of The Ancients” (1991) — which together accounted for a full two-thirds of the set.
The performance convinced on every level, great sound included. Right from the opening classic The Secrecies Of Horror. Mameli still conjures that genuinely menacing, destructive fury when he unleashes his brutal growl. He operates with intense focus — and honestly, with music of this nature, absolute focus is the only option. You can’t really be running around all over the place when you’re handling vocals and guitar leads simultaneously, and on top of that in a band that demands a high degree of precision and meticulousness in delivering complex compositions. There wasn’t much talking between songs either. New guitarist Max Blok has already locked himself firmly into that situation. Trading leads with the boss flowed without a hitch. The rhythm section was brilliant too. The groove of the bass guitar’s resonant runs, ultra-smooth but occasionally hellishly fast flicking, added an intense contour to the varied drum performance. It’s very likely that the band will build further on this growing chemistry among the new components of Pestilence’s live lineup at the upcoming tour dates.
The band didn’t do the classic theater of walking off stage only for the crowd to demand an encore. After two thunderous “Testimony Of The Ancients” classics, Twisted Truth and Land of Tears, Mameli simply asked the crowd if they wanted one more song. The finale too belonged to another outstanding ancient classic that no Pestilence show should be without — Out Of The Body from “Consuming Impulse”. Early in the show we also got to enjoy the live premiere of the title track from the upcoming album “Portals”, which was also the only new song Pestilence played across the hour-and-fifteen-minute set.
Compact, crushing — bottom line, Mameli is nowhere near running out of steam. Pestilence showed up in excellent shape and form. What more is there to add? Hmmmm… The crowd, though — pretty reserved. Apart from the occasional pinball-style stumbling of three or four headbangers right at the very front. This concert can genuinely be counted among those special gatherings of biblical elders who — all of us together — saved the show of a cult pioneering outfit from what might have been a rather uncomfortable experience of playing to the venue’s bartender and bouncer.
text: Aleš Podbrežnik
photos: Aleš Podbrežnik
Pestilence – setlist:
1. The Secrecies of Horror
2. Portals
3. Morbvs Propagationem
4. Dehydrated
5. Deificvs
6. The Process of Suffocation
7. Chronic Infection
8. Prophetic Revelations
9. Resurrection Macabre
10. Devouring Frenzy
11. Twisted Truth
12. Land of Tears
13. Out of the Body
