Art by Mark Richards of Heavy Hand Illustrations
Style: Progressive Death Metal, Technical Death Metal, Deathcore (mixed vocals, but mostly harsh)
Recommended for fans of: Alluvial, Slugdge, Job for a Cowboy
Country: United States – Massachusetts
Release date: 07 February 2025
As with many of my compatriots here at The Progressive Subway, before I ever wrote reviews or managed aspects of the blog, I was a reader and digester of the original monthly “Reports from the Underground.” One of my favorite finds from that time was Pathogenic’s 2019 eponymous LP. A force of prog death at its best, Pathogenic was verifiably insane, with wall to wall riffs and every manner of harsh vocals you could imagine juxtaposed with sections of soaring leads and melodic composition. After a hiatus, Pathogenic have returned with a slightly tweaked lineup (everyone has returned except the drummer) with Crowned in Corpses. Does this new era compare with what was before, or have Pathogenic been discrowned?
From the opening moment of Crowned, a definite shift in sound can already be felt. Pathogenic’s guitars always had somewhat of a snarl in their tone, even more than is the usual for most low string bands, but Crowned turns that up several notches while simultaneously tightening the sound in a tech-y manner. “Mass Grave Memory” establishes its rhythmic conceit in the very beginning, returning to it multiple times throughout with varying drum flavors and treatments behind it. A minute into its runtime comes the first real hit of Pathogenic’s melodic side, albeit buried behind the harsh vocals and churning guitars so as to be something of a seasoning than anything else. “The New Rot” proceeds similarly, continuing the tech inspired sound but giving the first real taste of their lead lines, layered and large.
The changes in sound from Pathogenic became more apparent as Crowned progressed. Some of the compositional swagger and crazy branches I had liked in Pathogenic are gone, replaced with the tech death tightness and repeating themes mentioned earlier. This isn’t to say the new focus isn’t enjoyable, but it just feels like ground often tread in the genre, losing the sense of uniqueness it had before. Some glimpses of the past have remained, though: the end of “The New Rot” seems to begin a swing towards this sound, with the acoustic section building into another large lead section. Sure enough, when “Dead but Not at Rest” comes in, I feel like I’ve really been dropped into more like what I would have expected as the successor to Pathogenic, with a more prog death esque riff structure and the return of some of Jake Burns’ more eccentric harsh vocal choices.
“Exiled from the Abyss” continues the descent into the -core and prog death aspect of their sound, building from juxtaposed chugs and high note hits into full deathcore territory filth at the end. “Fragments” is by far the closest song to the Pathogenic of old, focusing more on atmospheric builds and the return of the clean vocals, even featuring an extended electronic and synth focused outro. However, “Crowned in Corpses” slams back in right after to return us to the tech, monotone type feel. It’s a bit of whiplash in the album’s pacing, to be given a flavor of a “new” sound, divert our attention into a sampling of a natural progression from before, and then drop again into a streamlined tech oriented sound without warning. Don’t misunderstand me, there’s no change in tonalities or presentation per se, it’s just that the compositional nature of the album seems to take a tangent to different areas and back without much warning. The final bit of whiplash comes from the last song, “Silicone Regime”, which features an actual slight guitar tone change and makes you feel almost as if you’ve been dropped into a Wes Hauch production, or something that would slot neatly into one of his albums with Alluvial.
With all honesty, I found myself most enjoying those moments and songs that felt more like a progression from 2019-era Pathogenic than the songs that felt like a neutering of what made them so interesting in the first place. This album does rip, there’s no question about it: Crowned in Corpses is full of great riffs and all the technical talent you’d expect from any band bearing a banner of “technical” that isn’t completely delusional. This album is punishing and crushing with heaviness and grit from end to end. The disappointment for me came from the change in composition, the loss of the tone shift sucker punches, the loss of the Between the Buried and Me quality of ‘anything goes’, the stripping away of the melodic clean sections, and the streamlining of the sound to something that undoubtedly works, but has also undoubtedly been tread before. If you’d like a crushing prog-death album with technical prowess, no doubt this is it. But if I’m looking for the energy and excitement of Pathogenic, I’ll still be listening to the 2019 version.
Recommended tracks: Exiled from the Abyss, Fragments, Crowned in Corpses
You may also like: Replacire
Final verdict: 6/10
Related links: Bandcamp | Spotify | Official Website | Facebook | Instagram | Metal-Archives page
Label: Skepsis Recordings – Bandcamp | Facebook | Official Website
band in question is:
– Jake Burns (vocals)
– Chris Gardino (guitars)
– Justin Licht (guitars)
– Dan Leahy (bass)
– Tyler Montaquila (drums)
