Have you sometimes felt that there was no more menace and cruelty in metal music? And so much of it was commercial? Like it was watered-down, leaking, limping trunk of steel? Yes, there has been loads of that for sure. Do not get buried in distress, because Filipinos Pathogen returned with their third full-length album just over a year ago. 'Forged in the Crucible of Death' is about sheer danger, bestiality and black soulfulness without big label licking or sales promotion mentality. True fucking metal!

'Threshold of Pandemonium' sounds exactly what its title says: Like listener was entering a bad place. It sounds of oncoming maliciousness. Dirty, dissonant guitars jerking sable muck, with drums and roaring bass guitar commanding the forces to march into battle. Everything has more or less echo in it, and the dry-throat and disruptive vocals sound like humanity's death throes. This is not a good place, but you have no chance of turning back anymore. It reeks of pollution, malignance and death. It sounds like last two, three decades never happened. When drums sounded like drums, and metal music wasn't polished beyond credibility of bands. However, this still sounds genuine and good, even though at some points it can get a bit congested. Add individual fanzine style black/white artwork and cool layout and voilà: It's like 1980s again!

Pathogen are an amalgamation of death metal, thrash metal, punk and crust, and they sound universal. They go from brutal death metal assault to D-beat antics and anarchy without any kind of noticeable bump or wandering out of matrix. Still, there are enough of turns in the songs to avoid monotony and them bogging down. Pace of the music can vary from faster blasting to almost doomier loitering; this happens for example on 'The Ominous Parallels' and 'The Storm from the East'. 'Lord of the Undead' is more of a crust punk song metallized, and one of the catchiest tunes on the album. Pathogen's death metal roots can be easily traced down to Autopsy and such pioneers of scurvy and barbaric sonic mutilations. Of course this release presents nothing new musically. Pathogen's music isn't technical, but focuses on savagery and reaches that goal with ease. The lyrical themes are common ones: War, death, horrors, anti-religious ranting. Let's not forget those Slayer-esque mad and sporadic guitar solos.

If old style death metal with rather voluminous punk influence does sound convenient, then 'Forged in the Crucible of Death' is a safe bet. It's a good exhibition of old school brutality, when many things still were one and same.

Rating: 7½ (out of 10) ratings explained

Reviewed by Lane
11/18/2013 17:51