PESTILENCE Mainman Says 'Spheres' Album Was 'Definitely' Ahead Of Its Time

Metal Discovery webzine conducted an interview with guitarist/vocalist Patrick Mameli of the resurrected late '80s/early '90s death metal outfit PESTILENCE on April 12, 2009 in London, England. A couple of excerpts from the chat follow below.

Metal Discovery: Did you have any reservations or apprehensions initially about resurrecting the PESTILENCE name in terms of how long time fans would react, or was there a demand for PESTILENCE to return?

Patrick Mameli: Well, you know, we were never into the scene that much and we still are not. We don't know what's going on in the scene; we don't know what's going on really, so that's really easy for us just to make an album and it's just what we do. It's like being PESTILENCE. But I do understand that people have, I guess, big expectations after the "Spheres" album which wasn't received very well, so people might expect something like a "Spheres Part 2" but, you know, of course, "Resurrection Macabre" is something where we left off the "Testimony of the Ancients" album so it's like a response to that album. And I guess that everybody's pretty much surprised that we're going in that direction but, then again, nothing really has changed about us. I guess only just me having a better understanding about what the fans are all about and what they want. Instead of just like me trying to portray, or being more egotistical and trying to show off what I can do, it's more about the fans now.

Metal Discovery: Do you see "Spheres" as ahead of its time when it was released?

Patrick Mameli: Oh, yeah, definitely. And I don't even want to go there again. That is something that has been done in the past for us because we're so, you know, kind of hooked up on ourselves trying to make sure that we're portrayed as the good musicians that we are, and let the fans…you know…

Metal Discovery: What do you think of the new CYNIC album out of interest? Is that an album you've listened to much?

Patrick Mameli: What, CYNIC? Oh yeah, well, you know, it's not CYNIC. For me, it's not CYNIC. If you go way back to the old days with Tony Choy on bass — that was CYNIC to me because I love Tony Choy. That's my brother, so if I listen to that shit I'm like, dude, that was CYNIC, you know! Paul was doing some fucking kick-ass grunts and shit, and it was all high-tech, but I think, like PESTILENCE, they've evolved in the right direction. But, you know, the fans, for some reason, they don't like that stuff. So I don't think the new CYNIC is gonna cover a lot of new ground. Just because of that, you know. But they're great musicians.

Metal Discovery: Have you continued to write music over the years during your long break from the scene?

Patrick Mameli: No. No, I just quit music.

Metal Discovery: And playing guitar as well?

Patrick Mameli: Well, yeah, playing guitar; anything. Anything that has to do with music. I was just fed up with that crap. It's like hanging out in the scene and then you have the record company, and all these people that expect so much of you. Like I felt I was being led by everybody else, you know, I just wanted to be normal. So in this fifteen year span I married, I got two children, and I'm a happy father. So, for me, going back into the music scene was like C-187 but for me that was something valid as I wanted to do that. And then it kinda like fucked me off because…that was a mind trip because I thought I was doing something good and then people didn't like it, and I was like fuck off again! You know, I'm just gonna fucking leave for another fucking thirty years and not do anything but…well, here I am.

Read the entire interview from Metal Discovery webzine.

Quality video footage of PESTILENCE's April 25, 2009 concert at P3 in Purmerend, The Netherlands, can be viewed below (clip shot and uploaded by "letthemetalflow").