PAK "Bestial"

PAK “Bestial”

Haha, anybody picking this up and expecting typical metal or hard rock is going to be in for quite a rude surprise! I would like to see the face of Joe Headbanger after hearing “Repent Recoil” from this fucked up avant-metal collective. Suffice to say, expectations will not be met. But if you like math metal with tons of noisy squee and squonk and lots of improvised sound, you might find “Bestial” is up your alley.

PAK has its relatively straightforward shredding moments, but you have to sift through a LOT of whacky sonic bilge to get there. First cut here “Attrition” is a patience-challenging bit of jazzy drum rolls coupled with skronky guitar sound effects and nothing in the way of actual riffs. The aforementioned “Repent Recoil” is insanely noisy guitar torture based on repetitive rhythms that reminds me of getting a root canal at the dentists. With “Prophecies of the Sybil”, we finally get something resembling a conventional song. It’s a math metal workout that sounds heavy and Meshuggah-ish with a great screaming guitar workout. If you like math metal, the song is actually fairly conventional in that sense.

“Chirascuro” is another long song focused on drum patterns and odd guitar sounds that will challenge your brain while “Sub Specie Aeternatatis” is more math metal with hot solo work. In fact, the lead work here will fry your eyebrows off. “Reflection Consumer” actually has some very crushing doomy chords and for the first time, actual vocals, which are nowhere near as crazy as I would have imagined given the rest of PAK’s sounds. As you might guess, the album ends with a 13 minute plus “Trideskaphobia”, which packs a lot of improvised and coherent licks both into its too long length.

“Bestial” is a real mindfuck not for the conventional listener. As for myself, from time to time, I find it kind of refreshing and entertaining to hear a soundscape such as this

NEFARIOUS INDUSTRIES

PAK/RON ANDERSON