Pyre are an act from Saint Petersburg, Russia, formed in spring 2011, and consisting of members involved within the Black and Death Metal scene out there (think: Drama, Chamber Of Torture, Ragor, Ulvdalir etc.). After a first demonstrational recording, Pyre signed to Blood Harvest in order to release the 7”EP Ravenous Decease (2012). In 2013, Soulseller Records offered the audience a split-EP (12”) with Dutch horde Entrapment, and now Mexican Death Metal label Chaos Records release the first full length, which is called Human Hecatomb. The material was recorded in their home town, it got self-produced, and mix + engineering were done once again by Kostek Dolganov, who worked with the band on their previous recordings too.
Human Hecatomb lasts for almost forty three minutes and brings universal Old School Death Metal of a very high calibre. This material brings everything that made the international scene as huge as it is now, yet with a concentrated focus on the sound we all fell in love with more than two decades ago. But it is not just some tribute to the Old School what Pyre do on this album. This goes much further. Pyre are such a combo that are able to put their own mark on a scene that seems to be sucked dry; Pyre re-inject it with fresh blood! Comparisons are legio, and then I am thinking about Asphyx, Morgoth, Grave, Entombed, Massacre, Pestilence, Autopsy, Obituary or Dismember. Especially the Dutch and Swedish scene do caress my brain time after time, but still these Russians are able to do it their way. It’s not that they come with experimental or progressive elements; it’s just that their song structures are created with in intelligent feel for border-trespassing traditions and self-created compositions. Vocally I am not exaggerating as I mention Martin van Drunen, for Dmitry ‘Dym Nox’ sounds as if he borrowed Martin’s vocal chords, as if he tore them out of Martin’s throat and swallowed them.
Seriously, Human Hecatomb is a classic-to-be, conceived with persuasion, craftsmanship and intelligence. And the comparisons I mentioned in the former paragraph, well, they are the top of the scene, as you know, but Pyre minimalize them to proportions of unimportance. Okay, that’s little exaggerated, but you get the point, don’t you.