Ari: ”Pestilence” is the oldest title we have. I remember writing a song by that name when I was 14 or 15, sick with flu at home, playing with my new Marshall amp.

I was very impressed with the latest Metallica single ”One” and tried to write something similar. I didn’t get even close, but I came up with a song that had both arpeggio and riff parts and lyrics about a lethal disease.

The guys liked it and we played it at a couple of our early gigs. To be honest, had I known the song would develop into what it now is and that a metal deity like Ripper Owens would sing on it on our album in 2023, my head would have exploded right there onstage.

The song on Trust Betrayal has little to do with the original ”Pestilence” – the little being the middle part riffs. The creepier of the two used to be the arpeggio part, believe it or not, and the chords Ripper sings on were something like a bridge part or a verse extension in the original. The intro/chorus riff and the verse riff are written for the Trust Betrayal version.

”Pestilence” is one of my personal favourites on Trust Betrayal. It has a lot to do with the tight groove of the band and the fantastic vocals and lyrical magick by Mr. Herkman.

Kristian: As people gather closer to each other the diseases rise from poor hygiene. People want to find someone to blame for the disease. The main principle in magic is to direct your attention to somewhere else while you do the trick and this is what some people in charge may use to their advantage.

PESTILENCE

People in despair, victims of the germ

Contagious in the air

Fight for living, Social distancing

Set up the quarantine

We die, as pestilence takes on the world

With hatred and fear

We burn, as witch-hunt turns all against all

When the sickness returns

Start the treatment for pestilent

Catalyst to development

Our old ways are left behind

Inventions changing our lives

We die, as pestilence takes on the world

With hatred and fear

We burn, as witch-hunt turns all against all

When the sickness returns

It started silently

Spreading violently

Infectious disease

From neglect of hygiene

Became the unseen

Invisible being

Epidemic parasite

Fever will arise

Heading to demise 

Vomit and diarrhea

Morbid nausea

Bleeding viscera

(solo)

We die, as pestilence takes on the world

With hatred and fear

We burn, as witch-hunt turns all against all

When the sickness returns