Kev Rowland
Pathology are back with their twelfth studio album, and their third with the same line-up of Dave Astor (drums), Daniel Richardson (guitars), Richard Jackson (bass) and Obie Flett (vocals). Astor is the only person who has been there since the beginning and is also known for being a founder of Cattle Decapitation in the Nineties (where he provided bass and vocals). Since their inception in 2006, Pathology have created quite a name for themselves in the brutal death genre, and I was certainly a fan of their last album, ‘The Everlasting Plague’, and it is great to see just how strong this outfit have become since Astor undertook a reset in 2018 when he invited Flett back into the fold (he had briefly been in the band in 2010) along with two new members.
This release was designed, recorded and mixed at Sharkbite Studios by Zack Ohren (Aborted, All Shall Perish, Decrepit Birth) in June 2023, mastered by Alan Douches at West West Side Music (Origin, Cannibal Corpse, Cattle Decapitation) while the cover artwork is by Pär Olofsson (Exodus, Abysmal Dawn, Immolation), so even before putting this on there is a certain level of expectation. I am glad to say that is reached with a death metal release which is both pummelling and complex. The drums are everywhere, while the guitars are hugely complicated, providing both chords and runs in an intertwining pattern which is somehow melodic and massively over the top at the same time, with the bass switching between backing up the guitars and going into foundation mode. Then at the front we have the growls of Flett who appears to be at risk of losing his lungs at any moment. Given who was involved, it is no surprise that the sound is top quality, the result being an album which really rewards being played at high volume – there is a depth within which makes this powerful and easy to listen to, without ever remotely falling into anything like easy listening.
Over the years there has been a significant output from these guys (Astor’s old band, Cattle Decapitation, has released half the number of albums in the same period), yet there is no doubt that there is no reduction in quality as this is a blast from beginning to end.