Pathology (US) - Pathology (EN)

For over ten years, the US-boys follow their path in the metal business and have achieved more than a staid reputation along the way. In fact, they have underpinned it so far with eight impressive albums. Now the ninth one follows with the self-titled album.

I followed the guys ever since the album of 2012 "The Time of Great Purification" and it was a pleasure for me every time they released new stuff. Even this time it is a huge pleasure and I am not disappointed because it beats one round the head with great music on the current album that not only bangs, but is also frequently melodic.

They have retracted the blunt kind of banging compared to the last album "Throne of Reign" and now there is obviously less Technical Death Metal. This is reached, as already mentioned, by real melodies that appear at times so that the severity takes a backseat to a certain extent. One can already listen to it in the first song "Lamentation". One, who has celebrated the album of 2014, could be a bit disappointed. Nonetheless "Pathology" reaches the nieder degree of hardness and efficiency and should be handled as a solid Brutal Death Metal album in my opinion.

Of course, one shouldn't expect semantic high-attitude flights or even clear vocals. The vocals will be performed in deep growled manner as typical for this genre and it gives the music the brutality thereby. Even the bass playing is again top-notch and invites one to teeter along. Once more I must refer to the guitars at this point, because they convey a great mood and form the base for the pace of the songs. Finally the drums should also be mentioned as it isn't out of the ordinary but it is solid and beats rich in variety everything off.

The quality is defined through the production, here each beat fits and nothing is overmodulated or booms excessive out of the speakers. All of the songs have nearly the same duration and seldom, if ever, they break out of the strict range of 2:50 to 3:20. The duration turns out poorly as a result but this does not do any abort to the pleasure.

Conclusion:
It is another great album in the discography of the Californian and hopefully also in your collection. It is also worth to listen to it for fans of Death Metal and even fans of hard (extreme) Melodic Death Metal.

Rating: 8,5/10

Recommandations: Dissevered, Putrescent, Opprobrium