Band: PATHETIC
Country: Canada
Title: Rat King
Label: Total Darkness Propaganda
Year: 2019
Style: Death Metal
Review:
Debut album from this Calgary, Alberta based trio, coming after released after a couple of EPs and a split with Peruvian Putrid, but also before a second full-length that's already out this year. This first album is out on Hungarian Total Darkness on both CD and tape format, and what I have here is the CD version, don't know if it features the same amount of tracks. This one is made of 10 tracks totaling almost a full hour of old-school, raw and unapologetic Death Metal, and it's clear from the first few riffs that you're going to get some dirt on your ears from it. Although it starts with a slower paced track that almost makes you feel comfortable, the album soon switches lane and starts to pummel the shit out of your senses with some fest paced, totally blunt and abrasive (sometimes dissonant, too) ancient Death Metal a la end of the '80's, what we used to get on demo tapes back in the days, lead by a growling vocal that's darker rather than loud, that type of whisper-like growls from Horror movies if you know what I mean. There's also plenty of room still reserved for slow, doomy type of Death Metal in Pathetic's music, where things get almost mystical, occult, or at least they sound like that, so all in all the Canadian trio produced a good and varied debut album here, check them out if you're into raw, dark, doomy and dirty old-school Death Metal.
Reviewed by Adrian
Rating: 7.5/10