Album Review: The Everlasting Plague by Pathology (Nuclear Blast Records)

Gore fuelled death metallers Pathology return with their 11th studio album The Everlasting Plague, due for release on the 19th of November via Nuclear Blast Records.

The Everlasting Plague is originally a song title from a previous album. 2012’s The Time of Great Purification. Pathology felt it was a fitting title for the new album as founder and drummer, Dave Astor explains:

 “We thought it was fitting as [they] wrote the album during a global pandemic that never seemed to end. It also pertains to the general ills of the human condition; and that’s what the songs are about. The themes on this album range from death rituals, to premeditated murder, to torture and addiction.”

Pathology have been consistent out putters of extreme metal since their formation in 2006 in San Diego, California. 15 years of the band and 11 albums is outrageous really and a run between 2008 and 2014 of an album every year is unheard of. It isn’t always smooth sailing with the band though who have as many ex members as they do albums though at least they have managed to hold the same line up for The Everlasting Plague as on their previous release, 2019’s Reborn to Kill.

With founder Dave Astor being the only ever present, he is joined by Obie Flett on vocals, Ricky Jackson on the bass and Daniel Richardson on guitar.

The demented priest sometimes seen gracing the cover of other Pathology albums makes a reappearance here as an apex zombie ripping the flesh from his fellow dead man as he ascends to the top of a demolished city. Long time artist companion Par Olofsson returned to the Pathology fold to design the piece. Astor states:

“We have fun with the doctor in our covers. He’s become part of our imagery and changes from cover to cover. He just does his thing and we have fun with it“

I don’t know what I expected, knowing very little from Pathology but the opener, A Pound of Flesh, was not it. A little synth leading into full blown orchestration sets the scene before the brutality comes. Starting with a twisting solo and transforming into an aggressive writhing beast of a track. Everything seems to be firing at ridiculous speed – the drums, the riffs and bass are almost indeterminable at times becoming a wall of extremity. Its crazy heavy but clever because just when you feel like it may be too much, they switch to a solo that transforms the song. The solo plays for a bit, you are ready for more so in comes the aggression again.

Perpetual Torment continues on the intense aggression with furious riffing and blasting drums. The vocals, like in the opener, are deep guttural growls – I must admit, this particular style isn’t a favourite and even here at track 2 they are becoming a bit monotone and grating. Mostly it doesn’t matter too much as they bed in well enough with the songs to push forward that feeling of intense aggression. I find I have to try not to focus on the vocals too much though or I get a bit irritated by them.

Again, like the opener, it may be a bit much at times but clever use of guitar soloing breaks the song up and offers a ray of light in a dark cavern. Engaging in Homicide follows a similar pattern of intense music and demonic vocals with occasional breaks offered by a switch to a solo. The Everlasting Plague is definitely not for the casual listener so far.

The wonderfully titled Procession of Mangled Humans switches things up a little bit and it is welcome. It isn’t a massive change, and the vocals remain the same, but the more rhythmic verses are very welcome. They still carry all the brutality but with just a touch of melody. Viciously Defiled goes back to the straight up punch in the face style with 3 minutes of relentless extreme metal before Diseased Morality really shows what the band are capable of. A slower, chunkier groove really captures the imagination and actually suits the vocals really well. It hits hard with a dark tone and stomp to it before a screaming solo alleviates the tension a little. It’s a banger.

Submerged in Eviscerated Carnage is a sub 3 minute ripper with insane drums and rhythm designed to destroy pits. Corrosive Cranial Affliction has a nice balance between the in your face speed and aggression at times but transitioning back and forth into slower stomping sections. It also has an absolute corker of a solo too and is a real favourite track on The Everlasting Plague so far. As the Entrails Wither (lovely) surprised me when it started off with clean ringing melody. I expect it to not last too long and I’m not wrong. What a cracking track though. The drums in the intro are fire, the drawn out guitars work brilliantly before a sudden change into extreme ferocity. The solo is fire and I love how the song returns to the intro melody to fade out almost like the insanity in the middle didn’t happen.

Dirge for the Infected keeps that more experimental sound going with a slower intro and a huge drawn out roar before it all fades away into dark melody. It slowly builds it way back up into a heavy mess of a track (in a good way) and then gently fades away again. The penultimate track is Death Ritual Deciphered and this one confused the hell out of me because it is so bloody similar to Dirge for the Infected at the beginning it is unreal. So much so I relistened to the intro to both as I thought I was mistakenly listening to the same song again. Outside of the intro, well, by now you know what to expect. It is fast, heavy and pretty much relentless in it’s violent assault.

So we reach the close with Decomposition of Millions and it’s nice to see the band stretch their creative limbs a bit more. The intro is clever, the stop start riff after that is absolutely brilliant and as the guitars start blending in with the drums, you have to be impressed. It’s an instrumental to close and it’s probably one of the best songs on the album with some sublime guitar leads blended in with the aggressive and quite technical sounding rhythms.

Well, I didn’t know much about Pathology before starting The Everlasting Plague. I definitely know now that they are one of the most extreme, brutal bands I have heard in a long time. That may be off putting to some, it was at times to me, but the saving grace is that surrounding all of that intensity, there is a bit more to the band. I admit that three tracks in, I was struggling to get passed the wall of noise, desperate for a solo to come and break the song up. As the album progressed Pathology showed a bit more of themselves and it changed the album for me. The lead guitar work is supreme and the solos strewn across the whole album are phenomenal.

Switching songs, where the band push the boundaries a bit like Dirge for the Infected or Entrails Wither really freshen the album up with changes in tone and tempo. It was also in these more progressive songs that I felt the vocals come into their own and really bed in with the songs for me. It’s a strong album, not for the faint hearted but worth checking out for any fans of the heavier stuff or for anyone needing to release a bit of aggression and let loose.

The Everlasting Plague is out on the 19th of November and can be preordered or presaved now from this link.

Pathology Links

Website – Facebook – Instagram – Twitter – YouTube – Nuclear Blast