You have to hand it to the lone remaining founding member/ drummer Dave Astor; he is certainly persistent and keeps shuffling lineups and releasing albums on multiple labels, even with all the above he’s seemingly settled on a somewhat stable lineup for a few albums now (Obie Flet on vocals, Dan Richardson in Guitars, Ricky Jackson on bass.

And now on Agonia Records, and while the label and lineups change, the quality of Pathology’s sneakily melodic brutal death metal/slam is as consistent as ever, as Unholy Descent sees the band continue to deliver the goods.

A number of staff have covered the band’s releases since 2011’s Awaken to the Suffering, to 2021’s The Everlasting Plague. Myself included with 2019’s Reborn to Kill. And when I dug through all the reviews, one thing stood out; there wasn’t a bad review in the bunch, although 2017s Self Titled effort was considered below par for the band’s output.

Well, album number 12 certainly stays the course as it is another fine pathology album, arguably one of the top ones in their career.

The formula is as solidly consistent as the last 9-10 efforts; traditional US brutal death metal/slam, but with just a little melody here and there, and now with some new, minimal orchestration as well ( intro, “Cult of the Black Triangle”)

From “Cult of the Black Triangle” to “A World Turned to Ashes”, Unholy Descent is a Pathology album. Nothing more nothing less. The slams slam (i.e. “Psychotronic Abominations”, “Archon”, “Malevolent Parasite’), the blasts blast (i.e. “Diabolical Treachery”), and the little harmonies (leads, etc) here and there keep things interesting (i.e. “Hermatic Gateways”, “Whispers of the Djinn”, “Diabolical Treachery”, “Demons in the Aether”, “Apostles of Fire”,”A World Turned to Ashes”) and not just a mere Devourment clone, like many of their peers.

Zach Ohren’s (another consistency for a few albums now) recording is perfect- heavy and clear and a perfectly rendered delivery system for Pathology’s expertly crafted 12th studio album.

From 2012 to 2018 the band became a studio only project with what could be considered the closest thing to a classic lineup for the group in the form of founder/drummer Dave Astor, guitarist Tim Tiszczenko, and vocalist Matti Way. Though it was during this time and amongst the three albums subsequently released, Lords of Rephaim, Throne of Reign, & Pathology, that my interest in the band began to wane. While neither of said albums are bad the band seemed to be regressing here and there a bit and also beginning to sound a little clinical and formulaic, a lot due to Astor’s drum machine like performances. In fact in my review of 2017’s self-titled album, I brought up that the album was good yet mediocre for the band and that they needed to up the ante with the melody, add a proper lead guitarist again, and break up and liven up Astor’s performances or the consequences could be dire. Well you know what? I’ll be damned if that’s not exactly what Pathology did.

With 2019’s Reborn to Kill, Astor put together a whole new lineup and brought Pathology out of the studio and back on the road with new blood, guitarist, Daniel Richardson (Condemned), vocalist, Obie Fleet (Inherit Disease), and bassist, Ricky Jackson. Bringing a revamped freshness and much stronger lead guitar and melodic sensibilities, Reborn to Kill was a damn fine step in the right direction if there ever was one. Now with The Everlasting Plague we get even more of what made Reborn to Kill a success. In fact, the band may have just crafted their catchiest and most mature and lead-tastic/melodic album of their career. Now don’t get me wrong, the band still swings the brutality like a ten-ton hammer, crushing all in its path(ology)… sorry, word play is fun and all….I would even dare to say that The Everlasting Plague is the band’s most accessible album. Take that with a grain of salt though, because even a cleaner, more focused and growing Pathology is still about as brutal as they come;, and if you couldn’t handle the oodles of broodles before, well, surprise! You still can’t. For the rest of you, prepare to be dazzled.

Fantastic album opener, “A Pound of Flesh”, starts out with a Cradle of Filth-ish sounding intro/opening before leading into some straight up tasty ass melodic guitar  finger tapping with crushing brutality quickly following. The slow down moment at the 3:21 mark is simply terrific and somewhat uncharted territory for the band. It works marvelously, accompanied with a slower lead that is wonderful in its simple beauty; almost Killswitch Engage-like, if I’m being honest. It’s so good and really does work well.

Making a plea for album highlight just halfway in is “Diseased Morality”, the track showing a different nuance and maturity to the band’s songwriting. Brutal death metal though more commanding in a pulled back way and mentality, maybe even more so as its overt heaviness meets an evil melodicism, with Richardson’s lead work being quite stellar as well. The song eventually ends, fading out in a nice dose of slammy riffing. “Corrosive Cranial Affliction” is simply just some awesome stuff. Brutal, moving, and catchy as fuck with a technical and melodic flair that wouldn’t necessarily sound different from something you might find on an At the Gates or The Black Dahlia Murder album. Obviously, that’s not a sleight. This is good shit with plenty of patented Patho-slamming brutality to boot.

“As the Entrails Wither” is another notable number as the track is a powerful driving force that mixes various tempos to its advantage resulting in a great representation of slams, blasts, grooves, and melodicism to more than a standard degree of success. The Everlasting Plague‘s last tracks I have lovingly resorted to referring to as the “triple D’s”…yeah, childish I know, but I never claimed to be high brow (just long-winded). “Dirge for the Infected”, Death Ritual Deciphered”, and “Decomposition of Millions” are extremely successful of how to close out an album of this caliber with finesse and fortitude. “Dirge for the Infected” showcases power and  dynamics in its clean picking and fat driving chords. Patho-bruto takes over with a mighty tech-death aplomb mixed into the fury of the catchy groove. The song’s solo work is so good and thought-out, nothing too crazy but definitely hitting the spot. The track fades out a  bit too soon for my liking though.

While “Death Ritual Deciphered” isn’t necessarily as “progressive” as some of The Everlasting Plague‘s other tracks, it is a fat Patho-styled classic that gives you everything you need from a brutal death metal band in a compact three minutes of power and authority. Album closer “Decomposition of Millions surprised me with it not only being an instrumental, but also for sounding more deathcore than I may have ever heard from the band. For some reason I just kept expecting a vocal onslaught to jump out at any moment yet that never happened. We do get some fantastic and damn near beautiful leads of melodicism at the 1:37 mark. The solo moves and eventually the song fades out into an outro not too far removed from the album’s intro, a totally awesome track.

I tend to gush a bit much about Pathology. I’ve always liked the band and have always found something of interest in all of their albums and having opened for both Pathology and Inherit Disease back in my playing days, and experiencing hospitality from the bands, seemed to have created a forever fan syndrome with me. Fanboy or not though, it’s clear to me that the band have used the time between Reborn to Kill and The Everlasting Plague to continue to gel as a band and as songwriters within the Pathology  parameters. Taking an additional year between releases seems to have paid off for the group, allowing more time for growth and reflection and the opportunity to build off the success of the previous album.

As a reviewer and a fan, I am more than happy to give Pathology credit where credit is due. I’m truly 100% satisfied with not only The Everlasting Plague but the possible directions the group could continue to take from here. In all honesty, I can find zero faults with  The Everlasting Plague. If I had to be a nitpicking bastard I guess I could say that at 40 minutes run time the album could probably use a tad of self-editing to bring things together to a compact 30-35 minutes, yet with material this good I think 40 minute does just fine.

The Everlasting Plague is a smart move for Pathology. Especially given the fact that they are now on Nuclear Blast Records, the top dog for a band of their style/genre. The band has no doubt made the most of their career, changing when needed, be it bandmembers or album labels, touring or not, and tweaking their sound for the best, nothing seems to have held back the entity that is Pathology. Hopefully, for the sake of this fanboy, nothing ever will.

Either way, album number 10 sticks to the tenets of the last few albums, where the band delivers effective, slamming brutal death metal, but somehow manages to add some melody to the proceedings. As with most of the last records there’s some turnover from the last self titled album, with vocalist Obie Flett (Inherent Disease, Iniquitous Deeds), bassist Rickey Jackson (ex –Suffokate) and guitarist Dan Richardson (ex Lord Of War) joining the orginal-ish duo of drummer Dave Astor and guitarist Tim Tiszczenko, but you’d be hard pressed to really tell as Pathology sound like they have for the last few records.

And that’s a good thing, as there is plenty of quality slam here, but as I mentioned above, what has made Pathology just a bit different (at least since 2011s Awakening to the Suffering), is a sneaky sense of melody amid all the bludgeoning. Case and point an acoustic instrumental number in “Empathy Ends”, the super melodic, sweepy leads of “Pit of Bones”, “Crematorium Flames” and “Stone Axe Dismemberment” or really harmonious but still grinding closer “Celestial Condemnation”, Pathology add just a little something to the mix that makes it stand out from the crowded slam pack.

But if its a pure bludgeoning you want, Pathology still have the goods as heard on the likes of opener “Hieroglyphs on Cement Walls”, “Forced Regression”, with a killer closing stomp, “Frothing at the Mouth”, more restrained, punishing lope of “The Druid’s Gavel” and blasting penultimate track “Predation”, where the slams hit hard thanks to a crisp, killer Zack Ohren production.

And speaking of the production, truth be told, and I know this is heresy, but I’m giving this a lot more attention than Devourment’s Obscene Majesty, largely to the super mushy production on the latter, and so far Reborn to Kill is up there with Rendered Helpless and Organectomy as far as 2019s best slam.

First things first though, the production and mix of Pathology is just flat out bad. Okay, maybe bad is a little harsh and not really the best term of conveyance. Used to be, when a production was “bad” it usually meant muddy, hard to hear, unrefined, or something of that nature. Pathology is neither of these things. The instrumentation is clear and clearly defined, almost clinical and maybe even a bit sterile, but most of all, Pathology‘s production/mix is just too thin. The guitar is devoid of needed low end heft, or maybe it just sits behind the vocals too much, which seem too high in the mix and step all over everything with little variation (it’s Matti Way though, so I guess I can’t really gripe about that, it’s just his style/calling card),the bass is non-existent, and the drums lack any “thunder and lighting”, they have no “oomph” to them and are too controlled/concise, resulting in an almost programmed like presentation. The whole thing being too clean for its own good. Think Krisiun‘s Ageless Venomous production job, but not as sad or atrocious.

Alright already, enough about the production of Pathology. What about the music of Pathology? Well, it’s pretty damn good, solid at the very least. There are some strong ideas and riffs going on here and the band obviously knows what it’s doing. A one, two knock-out opens up the album with “Lamentation” and “Dolorous”. The former being more of a slammy, mid-paced affair, full of gurgles and grooves; its catchy rhythm and vocal cadences giving the song a nice Dying Fetus feel to it. The latter being a bit faster with some nice tremolo picked riffs meshing a Cannibal Corpse influence with a slight ominous feel to the groove, while the riff at 1:36 to 1:54 gets the blood flowing and the head banging, with some vibes of Suffocation permeating throughout.

The middle of Pathology paces wonderfully, as the next four tracks are easily among the album’s highlights. Whether it is “Litany” and its fat, crushing Suffo/Fetus grooves, or the more classic death nods of Obituary mixed into the slamming brutality of the head-bobbing madness that is “Dissevered”; or maybe it’s the punishing vocals and slam meets Hate Eternal tremolo picked twists and turns of “Servitors”, or the intensity achieved in “Putrescent” with its plethora of change ups, slight tech flares, and quality drilling riffage. Whatever floats your boat down the river of brutal can successfully be found among these tracks. The band does seem to stumble a bit here and there on the album’s latter half. To put it bluntly, Dave Astor’s drumming sometimes does more harm to the tracks than good. Don’t get me wrong, the man’s performance is spot on and nothing if not notable and commendable. He really does have the potential to be a force to be revered within the material, pushing and driving, yet giving and following when needed. Sometimes he does exactly that, but the majority of the time, Astor is merely a force to be reckoned with along the material. It’s mostly a full on, balls out, pedal to the metal, kill everything in sight mind set that simply works against the groove just as much as it may work with it.

“Opprobrium” proves my point perfectly, as there are some strong ideas and killer moments to be found in the guitar work, but for the most part, the drums step all over these ideas and dulls them to a banal sound. Just letting the material breathe a bit would help the song’s dynamics by ten-fold. Pathology, the band, closes out Pathology, the album, with “Vermilion”. Not a bad song, but things tend to get too samey sounding by this, the tenth track. “Vermilion” does become more interesting and even down right dynamic shortly after the 2:00 minute mark, (Hell, there’s even a tasty lead!) the song benefiting immensely by this slight change up.

Even at thirty minutes running time, this type of metal/album can be long winded. I sometimes wonder why Pathology bothers releasing full length albums with the consistency that they do. In all honesty, the band could trim the fat, on damn near all of their releases, resulting in what would be some awesome EP’s. I see and understand wanting to put out “proper” full length releases, but when you do so almost every year, what is the difference besides some songs being below average quality. The group also needs the input of an actual lead guitarist. Not guest or session players, but an actual full fledged member that can see and understand what is missing, in the formula and supply it. Sometimes that is all that is keeping these tracks from achieving so much more.  If Pathology had more moments akin to the last ¼ of “Vermilion”, the album would stand as an absolute must hear for brutal (broodle?) death metal fans this year. As it stands, I feel that some, maybe even the majority of the riffs, on Pathology fall above the aforementioned average median line, but ultimately, the album falls below.

First thing that is evident is the songwriting is much improved over the last 2 releases and Matti’s vocals sound brutally amazing. The songs breathe a little more on this cd and the band spent some time crafting memorable songs and trust me you will be humming along to these songs in no time, awesome riffs abound. The title track pummels the listener over and over with a mid-paced slam fest. HEAVY! Awesome guttural vox from Matti, straight from the toilet bowl. Check out the highlight at the 2.10 mark with the stunning gutturals and riff! ‘Autumn Cryptique’, at the 58 second mark, goes down in Pathology history as one of the best beat down slams the band has ever done, combining the song with tight blasts and more mid-paced heaviness. I do have to question the re-recording of ‘Code Injection’, which is only three years old, I found it a bit pointless. The bass bomb drops are missing, groove parts are sped up and the original owns this newer version.

The production is crisp and punchy, what you would expect from the band. Album cover is a continuation of the mad scientist, he is now on a planet with his alien/hybridized minions he created, lyrics included as well. I really have to commend the band on the songwriting for getting back to writing memorable brutal songs and Lords of Rephaim is not only a welcome back to the best Pathology line-up, but also for creating one of the best American brutal death metal albums 2013 has seen.

”Imprisonned By Fear” reveals a slightly muddy production that seems to stabilize as the album progresses, to eventually end up as relatively perfect for this type of record, which is whether an actual correction of levels, or the fact that my ear stopped picking up on the grainy’ism going on thanks to the major kickassery at hand on the musicianship front. The drumming is energized, the riffage is dandy, and I find I actually love the gurgly vocals of John Huber (ex- I Declare War), which I heard some divided opinions about thus far. To me, it simply fucking aces throughout the entire ride. It never lets up; at all. The groovery, as previously mentioned, is this record’s dominating element; it’s a winning bet in all the contexts we have here. The riffage seems a tad on and off with some signs of reluctance as the tune progresses, but that’s incredibly subtle, and no one’s gonna care enough to grab a microscope and nitpick; it seems the effectiveness of the drumming and the vocals makes up for it so well, the flaw virtually doesn’t exist. The neoclassical lick at 1.14 is no less than stellar, and the melodies are also well-nailed. The riffage, at 1.31, gets a lot more threatening and thick, with a tasty hardcore stomp going on around the end of the cut. ”Tyrannical Decay”, my personal fave (and no, not simply because it was chosen as first single; this is definitely about the number of hooks at handreach) kicks off on a fairly addictive groove roll as well, and the bass drum sounds no less than orgasmic here. I dig the variations in the pacing of the riffage (the main pattern is SO badass) and this skin-breaking drumming. The hooks seriously abound. This is a truly old school and true-to-the-recipe type of brutality. It’s no Programmed-to-Innovate machine, but truthfully, the familiar feel to it is still something to be worshiped up to this point.

”Corporate Harvest” has this fucking frenetic intro, with a nice kick to the drumming and a generally ape presentation. The old school hardcore influence crawling in ’round 0.33 adds a ton of ‘tude to this (I never thought I’d ever put those words down on paper in the history of my life). About one minute in, the hyperspeed patterning doesn’t seem that original, but there’s something about this front man’s vocal that makes it sound apocalyptic and far beyond inhuman. The hardcore slamming, being so well balanced out with the brutality going atop, both styles throwing the ball back and forth; it all makes for yet another track I can’t argue with. It’s catchy all the way through; getting bored would require some seriously poor knowledge and understanding of what it takes to make violence worthwhile musically. ”Torment in Salvation” is the point where I started noticing a couple minuscule, but still a tad more obvious fuckups. The riffage is more reluctant, and the groovery sounds stuck in a bit of a box. Still, the heavy duty drumming is a really great consolation. 1.03 minutes in, it feels the grooves finally sort of break free from their constipation, and I’ll even add that there’s a tinge of neoclassical feeling in the air. The ”marching” drums going atop make for a nice affect. This goes into a full blown melodic section that’s simply no less than awing. The soloing also happens to be stellar. ”Asphyxiation Through Consumption” is definitely a highlight in various departments. The intro is characterized by solid groove and varying drum patterns. That seems to get slightly watered down by an obsessive need for speed, although this linearism is quick to get corrected. I’m instantly reminded of Dying Fetus with the deathcore going on at 1.03. Seconds later, the buildup showcasing even more varied takes on the drumming is just massive. The wall to wall guitarwork is truly riffy, never missing the mark. 1.44 also has a good groove section; it’s all really really tight, and keeps on being this tight, for the most part, ’til the last note of the album. The moments where I had a feeling there was some wear and tear to that concept made me wonder if I was listening to the same band; they don’t have a reputation for losing headway, for damned sure.

”Remnants of Freedom” has an intro à la modern-day Cannibal Corpse, with melodies that definitely have a way of reminding me of their latest records. Even some slightly technical-sounding licks make a phantomatic appearance 43 seconds in. The downtempo hardcore-ish pacing of things a couple nano’s later fits this band perfectly, but I gotta say the varying approaches to the drumming have a way, all of their own, of infusing multiple styles of DM into the swing of things. That’s totally classy. ”Dissection of Origins” truly got me kinking an eyebrow with its proggy lickery in the intro; I half-expected it would be an entirely different kinda deal. When the typical groovery kicks back in, it’s easy to tell it’s the same ole; and that’s perfectly okay by me, but it was definitely an interesting suggestion going on there. 48 seconds in though, I hear a clear lack of coordination between the drumming and the guitars, or maybe the drumming technique wasn’t the best one he could possibly pick to tag along with *those* types of riffs. Nevertheless, 1.34 has a nice and distracting pile of melodic ideas that go straight into a buildup, keeping the whole from falling into this drastically linear mode. There’s some nice atonality and melody progressions going on in the small interlude, and that’s easy to appreciate. ”A Bleak Future”, regardless of being good for what it is, sure ain’t perfect. The cutting and dirty intro riff is the coolest thing out there.

Again, the ‘core spirit of this track just rocks my socks. The stompy drumming, the nice variations in the vocal approach, it’s all very engrossing. Still, there’s a few odd choices of riffs here and there ’til about 1.21. It seems the emphasis on thick groovery is often cut too short. 1.49 tries to go for some hint of a melody that sounds like it’s turfing somewhere between atonality and fatigue. The solo is fine though, but the buildup around the end of the cut seems to be there only for the sake of saving face. This sure ain’t the best tune on here. All I truly liked is the intro riff, to be brutally honest. ”Oppression by Faith” and ”Cultivating Humanity”, on the flipside, are nifty little fuckers. The former has groove, and even progressive tendencies to the riffage, and to the basswork I wish I’d heard for longer than a split second. It’s somehow nicely different in terms of the pacing of the development of the ideas. The vocal is especially fired up here. ”C.H.” is no bored to death dwelling either; the riffage ’round the beginning sucks, but it seems to escalate towards a melodic buildup with more skilled drumming to boot. There’s a very simplistic but efficient hook going on shortly after the cool part at 0.41, and the downtempo slaying following it makes it obvious, again, that this band’s familiar array of tools is simply the one they should stick to. Simply because it’s fucking beautiful that way, needing no sort of replacement spare fallback experiments to make it a safe bet. ‘Round 1.47, the drums seem to be centerpiece (moreso than the guitars), and the solo seems oddly cut in half and slightly reluctant, but that’s a small problem.

There’s simply no way it sounds half as tired as ”Earth’s Downfall”. The thick ‘core groove at the beginning sounds cool at first but is quick to feel a bit old. Very ordinary progressive riffage atop stupidly muffled drumming is how this gets served at first. Around 0.50, the riffage visibly tries to go somewhere, but I simply don’t get what the hell it’s doing. 1.13 attempts to forge a nice pattern with slightly accentuated drumming, but it still sounds weak at best ’til the techniques start to vary a touch at 1.44. ”The Everlasting Plague”, as I pretty much expected, is dizzyingly fucking good. The intro riffage is wonderful, going in all directions, and sounds especially gorgeous when it goes into a downtempo stomp; that part sounds very state-of-the-art. 0.28 is a cool lection with some nice swirly licks. This feels like some sort of a bullet storm. 1.12 has more of these nicely tight-knit licks going on, with more neoclassical influence rather evident. This whole tune works as a buildup with more nice melodies and nifty grooves closing it out.

All things considered, and absolutely all, even the couple question marks along the way, petty as they are; ”The Time of Great Purification” is simply yet another fucking awesome delivery from this band, showcasing just how consistent and knowledgeable they are about what they really care for in death metal. I don’t think I truly needed to be reassured on any other sort of aspect at all before going into this listening session, and I’m sure as hell satisfied. They’re not going anywhere; they’ll stick to their guns and fucking use ’em up, without a trace of an afterthought. Great job. More please.

It bothered/fascinated me that there was this whole subgenre out there I didn’t know much about, so I jumped into the filth with both feet, floundered around for awhile and tried to make sense of it all. And here’s what I came up with:

a) Slam death represents death and decay in its purest musical form – a disgusting sludge meant to evoke the horrible, inescapable reality that one day, your flesh will brown and liquefy before sloughing off your cold, brittle bones

b) Slam death focuses exclusively on thick, vomitous vocals and massive, fat, ceaseless grooves in an effort to strip death metal down to its purest and most gratifying elements – much like how some porn has discarded narrative in favor of pure fuck compilations

c) Slam death is not worth intellectualizing, much for the same reason that you don’t dwell too much on why some grown men obsess over pro wrestling or monster truck pulls

In any case, most of what I found was not terribly impressive. Some of it, like San Diego’s Cephalotripsy, was oddly hypnotic in a stripped-down, hip-hop kind of way, but that was the extent of it. Some, like Wormed (from Spain), was completely indecipherable. And others, like Gortuary, sported morbidly fascinating album covers (like the one for Awakening Pestilent Beings, which just looks like an awesome horror movie), but failed to make much of an impact beyond that.

So why all of this prologue? Well, it goes back to that argument about which is better – brutal death or slam. Despite the similarities, it seems clear to me that brutal death is still far more musical and interesting, even while keeping things completely, well, brutal. Case in point, Pathology’s newest, Awaken to the Suffering.

While album opener “Dissected by Righteousness” starts things off with a more traditional slam sound, the fourth track, “Media Consumption,” with its virtuoso tech-death soloing, makes it clear that this isn’t going to be your usual slam death vomit-a-thon. Perhaps that’s because the San Diego-based band started off as brutal death, and so even though they’ve moved towards the simpler pleasures of slam death (and on ‘core-haven Victory Records, no less), they’ve retained enough elements of structure and complexity to keep things interesting.

For example: the thrashy, busy riffs that form the backbone of “Opposing Globalization.” Makes it much easier to get into a groove when you have something to grab onto, rather than just mindless chug. The same approach applies to the vocals as well (courtesy of new member Jonathan Huber, most recently of deathcore act I Declare War). Sure, much of it is your basic revolting slam gurgle, but there are also weird modulations that sound like animal snarls employed throughout. And yeah, it’s almost pointless to wonder what the lyrics are, as the vocals here are almost entirely percussive, but the varied delivery makes for an engaging interplay with the drums. Finally, tracks like “Society’s Desolation” and album highlight “Humanity’s Cesspool” definitely show a mix of tech and slam, with nimble lead guitarwork riding atop a simpler baseline of slams and relentless percussion.

I’ll be curious to see what the posters on those aforementioned message boards make of the new Pathology. Most likely, the slam purists will deride it for not being troo enough, and the BDM fans will decry the incorporation of slam elements. In either case, it’s that hybridization that makes this, at least for me, worth listening to. My death metal diet all year keeps going back, again and again, to Benighted’s excellent BDM/grind masterpiece Asylum Cave, but I’m finding more than enough chewy bits on Awaken to the Suffering to add it to the rotation.