Album Review: Pathology - The Everlasting Plague
Reviewed by Daniel Phipps
Few bands have the continued musical output that San Diego’s Pathology have provided. In the 15 years since the band’s inception, Dave Astor and crew have churned out a total of 11 full length records including the newest release titled The Everlasting Plague seeing the band team up with Nuclear Blast Records for its release in November.
Now Pathology have never been shy of mixing up their sound, Surgically Hacked for example the bands 2006 debut is very much a different animal than for example Awaken to The Suffering the bands 2011 release now with The Everlasting Plague brings a whole new level to Pathology’s sound. The first and most noticeable addition to the sound of this new record would be the more technical approach to the song writing, the records opening track A Pound of Flesh setting the tone for this straight away its opening riffs showcasing that approach which will continue throughout the record which weaves in between a more traditional Pathology sounding song elements. Another unexpected direction that Pathology bring in is melody, they flirted with melodic guitar work in places on last full length Reborn to Kill however this has been expanded and lots more of it can be found on The Everlasting Plague. This could be in the form of lead work on tracks such as Engaging in Homicide or the darker melodic undertones of Diseased Morality. This melodic element has more of a larger presence compared to the Reborn to Kill record of 2019 and was unheard of during the band’s earlier years.
Now I’ll stop concerning everyone this record is still a downright vicious animal with the vocals of Obie Flett ringing through each track full of low guttural nastiness, however The Everlasting Plague definitely has a more thought out and crafted song structure than just a barrage of brutality which should help this record appeal to a new range of people, it’s also still a Pathology record so long time fans of the band are still going to get what they want from the band. As the Entrails Wither is the albums highlight its opening guitar intro moves into an assault of chugging brutal riffs, the track has a much more natural flow then some of the other tracks on The Everlasting Plague.
Pathology continues the evolution of their sound with The Everlasting Plague, this cleaner approach will be able to attract a new range of fans to the band and the song writing quality and the fact they have not abandoned that brutal edge should mean that older fans will also get a great deal of enjoyment from this record. When you are 11 albums in you need to keep things fresh and The Everlasting Plague adds a that fresh feeling to Pathology, it will be interesting to see how they go from here.
