Pathogenic - Crowned In Corpses

Labels: Skepsis Recordings

Formats: Vinyl/CD/Digital

Release Date: 07 Feb 2025

Tracklist:

1. Mass Grave Memory

2. The New Rot

3. Dead But Not At Rest

4. Exiled from the Abyss

5. Fragments

6. Crowned in Corpses

7. Drag Your Crosses

8. Silicon Regime

I decided to take a few days off recently and it has proven to be the wrong decision. My rhythm is completely out of whack, especially when it comes to writing. I've had this review queued up for about the same amount of time and I couldn't sit on it any longer.

Crowned In Corpses is the latest album from US prog death band Pathogenic and it's due for official release on February 7th via Skepsis Recordings. Pathogenic formed in 2004 and this is their third full-length to date. They have shared the stage with the likes of Suffocation, Revocation and The Faceless amongst many other, while also performing at festivals including the mighty New England Metal and Hardcore Festival along the way.

It’s prog-death time again thanks to Massachusetts quintet Pathogenic. Crowned In Corpses will be released on Friday, so this review acts as another quick heads-up on it. Opening with ‘Mass Grave Memory’, you’re greeted with dissonant guitars, off-kilter drums, creepy modern synth work and guttural vocals. It has quite a clean sound for such a heavy album, but don’t let that worry you. From what seemed like a straight-forward first salvo, ‘The New Rot’ dials up the progression a couple of notches, adding in more off-kilter bass/guitar drops and wild lead work throughout. There’s plenty of full-throttle moments in there but it’s the closing section that really hits the spot. Just when it sounds as though it’s coming to an end, Pathogenic throw in a final dramatic solo amidst the death metal backdrop.

The wholesome acoustic intro and seductive guitar build-up on ‘Dead But Not At Rest’ smacks of classic progressive heavy metal before Pathogenic’s true sound takes over once again. There’s a lot more made of the instrumentation here, though the vocals aren’t hiding away. This is a beast of an album so far. Talking of beasts, ‘Exiled From The Abyss’ is the perfect song to close out the first half of Crowned in Corpses. There’s more of a European/Scandinavian tone to it and the slightly shorter length means it has a crushing urgency too, even when the bridge section slows things briefly.

Kicking off the album’s second half with ‘Fragments’, Pathogenic take a gentler approach (if that were possible) by replacing their dissonant death metal sound with something more brooding and melodic. There’s no break in momentum either and as soon as ‘Fragments’ comes to it’s final conclusion, the album’s title-track ‘Crowned In Corpses’ takes over with barely a breath. Normal service is very much resumed too, as the careening heaviness is back in spades on what turns out to be the shortest song.

“Drag Your Corpses’ is everything you want and need this far into a record. Hard and heavy, it prepares you for the album’s curtain closer ’Silicon Regime’, which delivers a truly progressive high-bar. I’ve been putting off using this comparison up to now but I feel that Pathogenic sit absolutely perfectly alongside many past/present Willowtip bands (like Electro Quarterstaff, Wormed, Vale of Pnath etc). Maybe I’m way off but that’s how this hits me.

If you’re waiting for release day to stream/buy this then you’re gonna be in for a treat. Pathogenic have been plying their trade now for over twenty years and that experience shows. Top-tier stuff for sure!

You can stream and purchase three of the album's singles including 'Dead But Not At Rest' below:-

You can pre-order physical copies and also merch from the Skepsis Recordings store here:-

https://www.skepsisrecordings.com/collections/pathogenic

Pathogenic - https://www.facebook.com/pathogenicmetal

Skepsis Recordings - https://www.facebook.com/skepsisrecordings