Pathology-Legacy of the Ancients
Grade: 8/10
One of my favorite things about California is it's metal scene. Within the last few years we've been blessed with slews of great metal comming out. In particular death metal. Bands like Cattle Decapitation, Disgorge, Ghoul, Impaled, Phobia etc are among this ever growing roster. Hailing from the sunny un-frostbitten lands of San Diego California, Pathology will rip your face off!
It wasn't until recently that I was introduced to death metal's rising stars, Pathology. These dudes don't mess around. Theres no cheesy solos, no fancy interludes or overall themes. This is straight forward brutal gore death metal in vein of Haemmorage, Devourment, and maybe even some Deeds of Flesh. Its intensity is magnified by David Astor's drumming (Cattle Decapitation, Locust) and Matti Way's guttural onslaught of vocals(Disgorge, Cinerary). I was pleasantly surprised to find I actually went to high school with the guitarist. You shred Tim! I remember him being into metal but damn, this shit is so good. I'm happy for all of them of there recent signing to Victory Records. The label wasn't originally a metal label, but within the past few years they've been signing more metal-like bands that have always been (at least in my opinion) pretty sub par. Well not anymore.
I think they are making the right decision with signing a band like Pathology. A label that distributes as well as they do might just put 'real metal' in the hands of some hardcore kids or dudes that get there mom to buy em' cds at Hot Topic.
I've always been a fan of the gore/brutal death genre and I knew reading on www.blabbermouth.net a few months ago that the recent addition of brutal death metal vocalist veteran Matti Way, I instantly needed to check this out. His work in Cinerary and Disgorge were among some of the most intense vocals death metal has heard. He delivers a pretty flawless performance on this release, particularly on 'Code Injection' and 'Blood Runs'. There is numerous metalheads in the scene that claim that the sub genre of brutal death metal is just trying its hardest to emulate bands like Carcass and Cannibal Corpse. I say fuck that. Of course influences can be heard when listening to new metal bands. But it is no different than any genre. You really think we can't hear any Celtic Frost or Bathory in Dark Throne or Emperor? We can't expect all bands to come up with something as innovative as Morbid Angel in their early days or Death in theirs. So lighten up a bit and stop taking metal so seriously, its just music.
I apologize for the rant. Back to the album review. While I might not enjoy this one as much as Surgically Hacked (I liked the grittiness, and of course the album cover!) I am excited and thrilled to have downloaded the album. Let the haters hate, but you got a fan here! Great job guys, keep up the good work.
-Emperor Vampirion
No comments:
Post a Comment