Style: deathcore, progressive metal (mixed vocals)
Recommended for fans of: Between the Buried and Me, Slugdge, Infant Annihilator
Review by: Josh
Country: Massachusetts, United States
Release date: 13 September, 2019
NOTE: This album was originally included in the September 2019 issue of The Progressive Subway
Most of the time, whenever I listen to a good album, I get it right away. However, when I listen to an excellent album, I often can’t properly digest it at first, and only on repeat listens do I realize how good it is.
Pathogenic is, absolutely, one of those albums. On first listen, I dismissed it as “Slugdge but bad”. Looking back on that now, I have absolutely no idea why I thought that as, not only does this album have many stylistic differences from Slugdge, it’s also arguably better than Esoteric Malacology.
Pathogenic have the uncanny ability to slide into any style of music and completely nail it. They use this to its full extent, switching tracks up more than The Dillinger Escape Plan. When listening to a song on this album, I’m never entirely sure where it’s going to go. The first song alone goes from acoustic stuff to major key death metal into slap bass just within the first few minutes. Later on, Pathogenic pack in everything from Jazz sections to Deathcore breakdowns to full choirs. It’s absolutely insane, and it shouldn’t work nearly as well as it does.
The reason they can pull all of this and make it work is because every single member of the band is incredibly skilled. The vocalist consistently nails every style of screaming I can think of short of pig squeals, and his cleans are nothing to scoff at either. The dude could easily be a singer in everything from a prog rock band to an emo one and make it work, even without the screams. He’s easily one of the most skilled vocalists I’ve heard all year.
The rest of the band brings skill to match. I’d like to take a minute here to praise the guitarists for their incredible work throughout the entire album. Every acoustic section sounds incredible and serves perfectly to lead into the next part of the song, and many of the solos sound straight out of a Sithu Aye song. However, the real standouts are the riffs and the breakdowns. This is the hardest shit I’ve heard all year, and the riffs are what get it there. These guys throw out new riffs as often as every thirty seconds sometimes, and each one makes me feel like hunting down and killing a gorilla with my bare hands. And the breakdowns, oh my god. The breakdown at the end of We Weep Only for Ourselves causes tsunamis in Japan. It needs to be heard to be understood. If there’s one song you listen to from this album, make it that one. You won’t regret it.
Of course, though, I can’t talk about the riffs and the breakdowns without mentioning the bassist and drummer. The riffs simply wouldn’t feel as full without the bass running along with them, and his use of slap bass adds a unique feel to this album. The drummer, meanwhile, is the one really running the show. That dude can take one riff and make it sound like six different riffs by switching up his playing. If I took a shot every time he switched to a new drum pattern, I’d be dead five minutes into the first track. In a year of incredible drumming, he remains a standout.
The only thing I can really dock them points for is occasionally retreading the same ground, but I can forgive them for that given that the first song throws out more ideas than most bands do in entire albums. Pathogenic is not a band to miss. This album’s gotta be heard.
Recommended tracks: Testimony, We Weep Only For Ourselves, The Stories We Choose to Tell / The Danger in Well Crafted Words / Suicide Itch (it’s one big song)
You may also like: The Alpha Incident, Pangaea, The World Is Quiet Here
Final verdict: 9/10
Related links: Bandcamp | Spotify | Facebook | Instagram | Metal-Archives page
Label: Independent
Pathogenic is:
– Anthony Simone (drums)
– Chris Gardino (guitar)
– Dan Leahy (bass)
– Jake Burns (vocals)
– Justin Licht (guitar)
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