Pathology- Awaken To The Suffering - 2011 Victory Records

Considering the constant evolving state of electronics and what some would call increasing success of modern day audio engineering, it has become rare to hear bands come out with raw, unique sounding records that are packed with feeling and the flaws are audible and appreciated.  It is far more common to have a band go into a studio and have the engineer clean everything up and make them sound like the perfect musicians they are not.  Here, however, Pathology manage to get a clean, crisp sound while still having their passion and talent shine through.  The best of both worlds?  Maybe.

The first track on this album, "Dissected by Righteousness" wastes no time at all.  It immediately goes right into a very groovy, brutal, blasting riff.  Next we are lead to the first of this album’s brutally catchy slams in which we find proof of Jonathan Huber’s super-human, or super-something, guttural abilities.  Don’t worry, don’t rewind, these are showcased throughout Awaken To The Suffering’s entirety.
A creative but repetitive riff with a harmonic struck over and over again seems to go on forever and then stop briefly and return.  Then my favorite part of this song, a super awesome and surprising melodic riff is repeated, creating an amazingly haunting atmosphere, ending just in time for a perfectly placed and beautifully played guitar solo.

Now, if you are following along with the correct album and song, the last twenty seconds of this song, you know, the part right after you thought it was ending, will blow your mind, and crush your skull.  All while perfectly wrapping things up.



"Ingestion of Creation" plays back and forth with brutal ‘marching’ riffs.  Reminds me a lot of Visceral Disgorge.  Hopefully though it will remind the Slam/Brutal Death community that it is possible, and very rewarding, to insert insanely creative guitar parts to this genre.   Very refreshing.
At about one minute in, the reality of intense and fun songwriting is slammed back into the listener.  Everything about this is made much more disgusting and fun by the vocals.

"Hostility Towards Conformity" starts with more of what I am really loving about this record, huge, melodic riffs that create so much atmosphere and feeling.  Only a few key notes are changed to switch this up to something that sounds so different but really is not before it all returns to that main atmospheric riff that this track is built around.  Time signatures are played with and all instruments are very nicely balanced and blended together.  This is also one of the few instances in life that a fade out seems fitting.
"Media Consumption" is a short straightforward track where the drums keeps things pounding forward and the vocals get creative and crazy.   Then we have guitar solo number two which is, yet again, great.  Following that is this "breakdown" that has everyone up in arms.  It is really not that hard to enjoy, and if you are one of many people saying how much it sucks, I bet you are bobbing your head to it at the same time.  Loosen up and enjoy yourself.
"Society’s Desolation" starts with precise hammer-on pull-off guitar work and a stop and go pounding feel that begs to be resolved.  I wouldn’t really say that it ever is resolved, it just flows so nicely into the next blasting sections that you forget about it.  Due to the truly amazing song writing though, it will be back.

Obie Flett graces this track with his literally monster-sounding gutturals and it is nice that you can actually tell when it is him.  The most impressive part though, vocally, is Huber’s incredible lung capacity displayed at the end of this track.
Following a short, simple instrumental track is “A Perverse Existence” which has my favorite intro thus far.   Fast, blasting buildup with Dave Astor once again showing his creative excellence on the drums.  More time changes will have your head spinning before a slower slam ended by Huber’s reoccurring mid-range “bla”, which I absolutely love.  There is also a really cool sliding riff to end this track.

"Humanity’s Cesspool" Will force you to bob your head along with its chuggy, groovy parts.   Some far-in-the-distance yells are heard and this track starts having a weird, dark, almost black metal feel.   It’s awesome.  Another guitar solo and we are off and running with more melodic, full of emotion riffing, only to end with slammier versions of the same riffs.  This track does an awesome job of repeating all the right things in all the right ways.
"Festering in Filth" starts very fast and does not slow down until A.J. Magana says so.  Possibly my favorite part of this album starts at 1:15 and changes the whole mood of the track.
Then a solo that makes you feel like you are riding a horse brings in “Opposing Globalization”.  This intro seems very out of place until, of course, it’s return at the end of the song.

Pathology rerecorded the song “Emesis”, previously on their 2009 album “Age of Onset”.  This is proof that this band makes great songwriting sound easy.  Amazing, flowing transitions from every instrument.

"Awaken To The Suffering" ends beautifully with"Revocation of Earth", a soft, pretty display of Kevin Schwartz’s guitar mastery.  As if the solos were not enough.  Kevin Schwartz and Tim Tiszczenko both do an amazing job on this whole album.  Oscar Ramirez also puts out his share of brutal riffs and Dave Astor is his usual amazing self.  Jonathan Huber has impressive range, several different vocal styles and can hold a note/gurgle/burp longer than most.

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