Interview with Jonathan Huber of Pathology - 2011

Shortly after Jonathan Huber was recruited as new vocalist of Pathology back in 2011, I conducted the following interview with him:

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Cerebral Reviewment-  First of all, thanks a lot for doing this. I hope your recovery is going smoothly. For those who don’t know, would you mind saying how you were injured, causing you to miss the current tour?

Jonathan Huber-  No problem. I was severely injured while riding my bmx bike at my homies trails a couple hours from my hometown. I broke my leg in 4 places. 3 full breaks & 1 small fracture. No compound fractures but def was the worst pain I’ve ever experienced in my life. Let alone the worst crash I have ever had in my 16 years of riding bmx.

CR-  Congratulations on your spot in Pathology! I’m sure it has been a very rewarding experience thus far. Anything you can tell us about the band and how you fit in with them?

JH-  Thank you. I am def still siked on being in this band. I enjoy playing & hanging out with my bandmates Kevin, Oscar, Tim, & Dave. It still is very surreal being apart of this band. Seeing how I was a fan on theirs since the time of the release of “Age Of Onset”. I have always wanted to be in a brutal death metal band. Doing guttural vocals & what not. So, it literally is a dream come true to be doing it. Let alone I have to thank my bandmates for allowing me to become a part of this band. I feel that I fit very well with them. We all get along great & love to play music & get rowdy. I came from the hardcore scene which is much different than metal but bring a live element that most metal frontman lack. So, if you are curious I suggest you come out to a Pathology show/tour soon ! ! ! ! !

CR-  As we all know, you missed this last tour and were replaced by the one and only Shawn Whitaker. Can you tell us of any future touring plans? Are you excited to get back on the road?

JH-  I def will be back out on the road once I can walk on my own & perform to my highest ability. I feel that as a frontman/vocalist I need to always be at my best. For the crowd/fans/promoters as well as my bandmates & myself. I love playing in this band. Like I have already stated. I hope to be back before the end of the year. It’s really out of my hands right now. My injury was very serious & will take time to heal properly. I will NOT rush it or hinder my ability to walk or do the things I love. But, rest assured I will be back.


CR-  When on tour, do you do any specific things to help your voice? Do you eat or drink certain things to keep it going night after night?

JH-  Well, first of all I don’t smoke. I believe that your voice is a gift & can be taken away at anytime. If, you don’t take care of it. I drink a lot of teas & sports drinks. I drink room temperature water before playing. Along with vocal warms ups before we play. I do humming exercises & do yelps & grunts to warm up my vocal chords. It seems to help & I take my job very seriously. Although, I do hate the way my voice sounds. So, I’m always looking to become better at what I do.



CR-  Can you tell us about the lyrics on Awaken To The Suffering?  What is your opinion on lyricism in general for this genre of music?

JH-  I think that in this style of music, especially brutal death metal there’s too much of the “GORE” element. I understand & respect the bands that do it well. As well as started this genre of metal. However, I can’t write lyrics like that & not sound cheesy. The lyrics to “Awaken To The Suffering” are straight forward lyrics that discuss my/our/your issues with government, religious, & social issues that plagued our everyday lives. While they have meaning & substance to them doesn’t mean they aren’t pissed or angry by any means. I still wanted them to be very dark & morbid but still have something behind them. It’s something that I read & research a lot about & feel it needs more attention. So, what better way to convey a message than through music.

CR-  The album has countless places where you seem to have inhuman lung capacity as well as guttural range. Have you been practicing different vocal styles for Pathology?

JH-  Like I stated prior I hate my voice/vocals. Always have & always will. But, I have been toying with the “guttural” style of vocals for a couple years now & am always trying to become better. While growing up in the hardcore scene all I knew was push & be loud. So, I take that into trying to make inhuman, putrid, & disgusting vocals. I can only hope people will dig it. I am no Matti Way by any means & replacing him is not easy or something I am proud of doing. I am honored everyday to be following in a brutal death metal legends shoes. I just hope I can be that good one day.

CR-  How was it to work with great vocalists such as A.J. Magana and Obie Flett?  Did they have any instructions to follow or were they free to do as they pleased?

JH-  I had good ideas where I wanted them to do their guest vocal parts on the album. I gave them some verses & let them run with it. I have full confidence in their abilities as vocalist & amazing ones at that.  We were just stoked to have them on the album.

CR-  Is the band pleased with all aspects of how the album turned out?

JH-  I love it. Daniel Castleman is a amazing producer & did a awesome job on it. Let alone is a rad dude too. This was his first time working with a guttural band so it was different for him but he got the idea & killed it.

CR-  Who are some of you influences vocally?

JH-  Def a lot to list.  I could go on for hours.  Anyone that is burly, gnarly, putrid, pissed, inhuman, disgusting, & guttural.  That about sums it up.

CR-  What are your favorite kinds of music to listen to?

JH-  I literally listen to about everything. Lately I’ve been into old country, punk rock, & new wave heavily. It always seems to be changing throughout the year. Just depends on how I am feeling at the time.

CR-  What are some of your all-time favorite foods?

JH-  Anything Seafood.

CR-  Thanks again man! Get well soon!


JH-  No problem. Pick up the new album out now on Victory Records ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !

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Pathology - Lords of Rephaim - Sevared Records - 2013

Artwork by PAR OLOFSSON



Ever since Pathology announced the return of legendary vocalist Matti Way (ex-Pathology, Abominable Putridity, Cinerary, Obscured Secretion) and original guitarist Tim Tisczcenko to their ranks, fans were very excited for any new material from the band.  I think probably a lot of people also figured that the return of old members might have also meant music in the vein of the bands older material.  Well folks, Matti Way is a vocalist.  Tim Tisczcenko is a guitarist.  This album seems to be getting a lot of flak on the internet.  I mean, Pathology’s last two records, “Awaken To The Suffering" and "The Time of Great Purification" were both fairly well received albums.  They also marked a turning point for the band.  Apparently, they wanted to steer further from their old, straightforward Brutal Death Metal approach to things and delve further into the realms known as Slam or Slam Death Metal.  So they lost fans here and gained some there.  Both of the aforementioned albums also featured vocalist Jonathan Huber.  Huber was formerly of Seattle, WA Deathcore outfit I Declare War, a band that most fans of Pathology had probably never heard of at that time.  Despite his seemingly unfitting influences and roots, Huber proved to be a good fit for Pathology's new breed of brutality, and that's when he undoubtedly gained the band loads of new fans.  Older fans, however, know that Matti Way brings something else to the table altogether; He is an OG of the Brutal Death Metal scene, a vocalist on most vocalist’s ‘favorites’ or ‘influenced by’ list.  If you cannot get as into "Lords of Rephaim" as you were expecting to, you're not alone, but you cannot entirely blame the vocalist switch.  Let's discuss what's really going on here.

People are jumping the gun to judge this album just because they liked 2009/2010, Matti Way era Pathology.  This is still Pathology and it is still brutal and heavy guttural grossness or whatever you want to call it.  This is also Dave Astor's, The bands drummer, first time recording and producing a whole record, or at least a whole Pathology record.  Production wise, it may be Pathology's best work yet.  Good job Dave.  Mixing and Mastering was handled by Danial Castleman, the man behind Lambesis Studios in it's entirety, due the unfortunate current events affecting Tim Lambesis.  Production and mastering and how it all sounds, to an extent, is pretty subjective.  I mean things are mixed well and everything is clear, but it's definitely missing that raw feeling that the band used to exude.  The sometimes enhancing clarity is at other times hindering to the feeling and personality of the riffs.  Parts sound a little too robotic and other parts are way more atmospheric than Pathology has ever been.  Everything flows on the individual tracks, it's just the album as a whole that struggles to be cohesive.

Overall, with “Lords of Rephaim” you get an album that feels like it is trying to hard to be brutal and, in fact, comes off less brutal than any of the band’s previous releases.  There are no more guitar solos.  There is a weird atmospheric, Deathcorish, synthed out track.  There is a rerecorded version of the song "Code Injection" that doesn't come close to the original.  There are guest vocal appearances by Mallika Sundaramurthy of Abnormality and Parasitic Extirpation and Josh Smith of Gutfucked.

The guys in Pathology are obviously exploring some new ground pertaining to building atmosphere and straying from the straightforward slam-blast-slam formula, I just wish it didn’t sound so forced.

Check it out for yourself!

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