Ashes of Eternity

Extremely obscure and fiercely evil, those are the words which perfectly describe Pathogen's fourth studio full-length offering "Ashes of Eternity". Everything in this album, from the song writing to the production, is quite impressively constructed and done. Sixteen years of crafting morbid and gruesome forthright death metal music had made these Filipino quartet masters of their domain.

The guitar riffs present here is utterly straight forward, fast, and entirely dark in nature. The tone interlude advocates a number of tension and uncertainty which gives the listeners that feeling of something bad is about to take place. Despite being simple and uncomplicated, the riffs are extremely expressive and powerful. After all, simplicity is the ultimate form of sophistication. There are also a number of memorable solos that can be found here. These solos are really satisfactory and shredded, which momentarily permits the audiences to let flow all of their anger and resentment.

As we go deeper into the crusty and smoggy portion of the album, the guitars will conceal you in a mass of dissonant insanity with the drums establishing an unforeseeable hellish pummeling. The drum work is obviously worthy of praise, especially the speed and power of the blasting. The drummer had dispensed loads of savage drumming which is clearly designed to pulverize the listeners' eardrums. Furthermore, the bass provided in this release creates a very clandestine and dismal atmosphere, one that only a few death metal groups could ever accomplished. It also ideally compliments the riffing style of the guitars.

I would also like to praise the front man for his imposing vocal execution. The delivery is in really deep and pain-tormented growls, and they are a great fit with the rest of the elements in the record. That ultra deep, low, and guttural vocals sound pretty much like the weeping from souls trapped in the depths of hell. It's really hard to find a faulty section in this album. From the slow to fast and to the mid-paced tunes, the offering is loaded with great fragments that we can only find in mandatory death metal releases. This offering of Pathogen will take you to a back and forth roller-coaster ride of anguish and desolation that only few best death metal bands can conjure.

In summation, this magnum opus of an album is a proof that if a band can combine its influences in a staggering orientation, and is evidently charged with a passion to crush everything on its path, the outcome is relentless to say the least. What Pathogen had provided us here is a record that is essential and mandatory to own. From the great music to the awesome cover art, "Ashes of Eternity" is without a doubt a quality release.