As far as my personal evaluation goes, I really haven’t liked this album. But let’s stick into the positive aspects of the record. Pledge Nothing But Flesh as a BM work really went musically far, having developed a peculiar style of raw black metal, sounding almost blackened death metal in some points, as the vocals are way more guttural than sharp. The guitar lines, on the other hand, although appears too generic at times, really fits well into the harmonies of the songs. But unfortunately, this album doesn’t go too much beyond these qualities. Tiresome and too ordinary – while it is not a bad record –, it is too common ground. There are very little reasons for you to listen to this album. Nothing can stand a black metal record that is so ostensibly ordinary.
Don’t get me wrong. The rhythm of the songs is fine, as well as the melodies. But the sound seems too plasticized, and the lack of new elements really leaves the listener excessively tired. While there is some very good passages, they demand too much of your patience. In the end, there is very little on Pledge Nothing But Flesh to defend.
The second half of the record is way better than the first half, although in general little changes, except the best melodies begins to appear. Technically, though, they are fine. They are good musicians, and apparently they understand very much about music structure. But in the end, I found no reasons to recommend this album to anyone. Too boring, tedious and monotonous, Pledge Nothing But Flesh is a black metal album too similar to a lot of other albums in the genre. While the band has its own sonorous identity, the songs are excessively uniform, and not for a single moment I was stunned or petrified. Sincerely, it is just another black metal album. Nothing new, nothing great, nothing spectacular. Just one more ordinary BM record, similar to a lot of other releases on the genre.
Wagner