New developments at Pathogenic.
After a little silence, the band led by Jake Burns (vocals, live for Cognitive), Chris Gardino (guitar, Wolfsmyth, ex-Unflesh), Justin Licht (guitar, Graviton), Dan Leahy (bass, Vaulted) and Tyler Montaquila (drums, Mephala) unveil their third album, Crowned in Corpses.
We attack without delay with Mass Grave Memory’s groovy modern sound where thick riffs and furious vocal parts come together, even welcoming a few cybernetic samples into their violence. The track remains influenced by devastating Death Metal underneath its jerky Prog touches, just as on The New Rot, which shows us with its piercing, worked harmonics coupled with the crushing rhythm. The orchestrations allow the sound to become more imposing and develop its almost always aggressive approach, which continues with Dead But Not At Rest, where the introduction is slightly more melodic, but which in turn is carried away by the flood of violence. If the riffs slow down, it’s only to become heavier and create a contrast with the harmonics, as on the dissonant Exiled from the Abyss, which attacks with a frenetic, relentless rhythm to bludgeon us as it should, aligning moshparts and more complex elements. The apocalyptic final is perfectly suited to an explosive live show, then Fragments gives us a moment’s respite before blowing us away in its turn, exploiting the most of Prog Metal and Djent influences, as well as more ethereal touches in the closing moments. Crowned in Corpses follows with an overdriven rhythmic beat that hits us hard and doesn’t slow us down for a moment, but the eponymous track is short and quickly gives way to Drag Your Crosses, which doesn’t last much longer, and offers an equally virulent approach packed with abrasive sounds. We return to a moment of tranquility with Silicon Regime, a long composition that starts off gently but doesn’t hold back from exploding and offering us its flow of raw power, albeit with a more ethereal break before the final surge.
Despite having opted for a more modern approach, Pathogenic still knows how to use its violence to good effect. Crowned in Corpses lies somewhere between Deathcore, Progressive Death and Djent, but it’s sure to get your head bang!
85/100