California-based grindcore / death metal band Pathology present their fifth album, Awaken the Suffering. It's a blood-pumping journey through 12 songs of heavy riffs and breakdowns complimented by wordless squealing in addition to the beautiful clean instrumental "Revocation of Earth" and the breakdown-heavy instrumental "Prolonging the Suffering". I've seen Pathology described as straightforward death metal, and that is Awaken the Suffering in a nutshell; however I don't believe the phrase was used in a negative manner. Pathology may be straightforward -- and the vocals sound as silly as dubstep bass -- but musically, they deliver what you are looking for.
Pathology sounds like any number of death metal bands you may have heard. They are to originality as death metal is to the mainstream; not very much at all. However, for this genre, that is not a criticism. It could be taken as a compliment, as Pathology's sound is very similar to the more popular death grind bands you may have heard. They definitely remind me of Whitechapel a bit, a band that I thoroughly enjoy. A great asset of Awaken To The Suffering is that the production is not overdone. It's not over-limited or compressed like Suicide Silence or a similar band would do. This is a good thing, as it not only makes the album a lot easier to listen to, but it allows more low frequencies which really give the music thickness. Think of Whitechapel's Somatic Defilement compared to their latest record and you'll understand the difference. Having more thickness to the metal rather than a loud high end is preferable when you go to crank up the volume knob.
Pathology's music is not very long, but it is quite consistent. You can interpret that as an insult or a compliment depending on how you personally consider the compositional dynamics. It's a very well-produced album with a great sound, and a high level of energy.
Track Listing
1. Dissected by Righteousness
2. Ingestion of Creation
3. Hostility Towards Conformity
4. Media Consumption
5. Society's Desolation
6. Prolonging the Suffering
7. A Perverse Existence
8. Humanity's Cesspool
9. Festering in Filth
10. Opposing Globalization
11. Emesis
12. Revocation of Earth
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