Review PIST.ON ‘Cold World +’

When someone returns after decades, one cannot seriously assume that everyone still knows you. It’s best to present yourself in the here and now, while also showing the ties to the past. That or something like that might have been the thinking of Pist.On when they decided to delight the music world with new song material after 21 years.

It all started in 1993 in NYC. Pist.On was founded in Brooklyn and became known relatively quickly. Tours with Type O Negative, Testament and Korn helped Pist.On to introduce their alternative metal to a larger audience.

In 2001, however, after the band had just returned from a tour of Europe, the quartet decided to let things rest. What was planned as a short break resulted in a 21-year hiatus that ends these days. Pist.On got back together, started writing new songs and have a new EP on the way with ‘Cold World+’.

Nevertheless, the band can’t just present new material, because in the meantime a whole new generation of metal fans has grown up, who might know Pist.On from hearsay. That’s why the four-piece has decided to put the 2001 EP ‘Saves’ on this release, in addition to three new tracks. Four demo tracks and ‘Exhume Her’ from 1995 complete the musical retrospective and bridge 20 years.

Musically not much has changed with the Ney Yorkers. Alternative metal is still what comes out of the speakers and since this is well done you can comfortably listen to ‘Cold World+’.

‘Cold World’, ‘Ruin Your Day’ and ‘Icicles’ are smashing and modern metal tracks that, provided with a good melody line, absolutely know how to please. In comparison with ‘Exhume Her’ you can notice that Pist.On have maintained the basic principles of their sound throughout the years. At the same time, of course, the sound of the new recordings can no longer be compared to the sound of the 90s, which means that a small part of the original underground punch is lost. Still, ‘Cold World+’ is a very good EP with new songs that give hope for more to come.

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