PESTIFER unveil cover artwork

Progressive Death Metal band PESTIFER unveil the cover of their forthcoming EP "Defeat Of The Nemesis", set to be released on April 21st. Created by Belgian comic artist David Caryn, the artwork shows the downfall of humanity and destruction of planet Earth, giving an insight into the concepts behind the record.

The EP features five crushing and virtuosic compositions (including a short intermezzo) which tell the story of humanity trying to colonize different planets in the wake of earth's destruction. Four distinct civilizations are established in outer space, however each of these newly created societies is a mirror for the flaws and weaknesses of the human mind.

"Defeat Of The Nemesis" analyses the human psyche through the lens of science fiction. Singer and lyricist Jérôme Bernard elaborates on the concept:

"Firstly, I must say that I read a lot of science fiction books – from hard science fiction like Liu Cixin, Arthur C. Clarke, Stephen Baxter to classic sci-fi books such as H.G. Wells, Isaac Asimov and Dan Simmons.

Science fiction novels often tend to put the human race in unmanageable situations, facing uncontrollable phenomena. As a reader, I have a guilty pleasure with a bit of pessimism in witnessing the failure of humankind. And the most exciting thing about science fiction is that it can become reality (especially with hard science fiction). Humans have got so many dark faces and it is always interesting to push them a bit further in the future to see what happens if they go on being so human. So, science fiction brings a perfect scenery to confront humanity with its own flaws.

The idea of writing about different states of mind came from PESTIFER's new songs seemingly having their own personality. One song sounds a bit angrier, the other sounds maybe a bit madder and the next one depicts total hopelessness. The period of time we are living in also significantly influenced me. I started to write the lyrics just after the war in Ukraine was declared. I actually wondered about the fact that we had come up to a situation where a few powerful people can rule the world the way they want. A part of them obviously has no empathy and can kill without shame for money, power or even ego. They can ruin their own planet and the lives of billions of people for that purpose. I have read a bunch of articles about the state of mind of those powerful people, notably a book called "In Sickness And In Power". That is how I came up with the idea of writing a story about four civilizations influenced by a specific state of mind, in a world they cannot perfectly manage, far from Earth."

Artist David Caryn narrates about giving visual form to the concept behind "Defeat Of The Nemesis":

"The image was born based on Jérôme's visions, but the first drafts did not look at all like the final version. It's often a tortuous path to arrive at the right place. At the beginning, I went for a more first-degree interpretation of the texts. This means that characters appeared which were later deleted from the picture because I judged them to be superfluous. Having, like many people, this feeling of the end of the world approaching, which may turn out to be rather brutal, drawing a potential vision of our own downfall seemed to resonate with the spirit of the album. And it proved to be the right choice given the band's enthusiastic response.

My graphical influences are those of a kid who grew up with 90s Metal: Dan Seagrave, Edward Repka, Joe Pentagno, Andreas Marschall, Sebastian Krüger, and more. It would be impossible to list all other artists here which were and are also lifelong influences. On the technical side, I used good old-fashioned acrylic paint! We are getting used to digital images, and I also work in this way. But for me it remains more stimulating to work directly with the material and this also accounts for the rendering, in my opinion.

PESTIFER and I have a long history of friendship. We were still handsome, beardless teenagers when we met, which goes back to the last century (gosh!), and we have since had the opportunity to drink a litre of beer together. And it's only natural that we collaborate on the covers, this is already the fourth."

"Defeat Of The Nemesis" will be released on April 21st. Pre-orders will begin mid-March. More information will be shared soon. Follow the band on their Facebook and Instagram page.