That “so bad it's good” cover art just screams of TOXIK or some other band you haven't thought of in 15 years, but that's not exactly the kind of sonics on display here. On their sixth (!) full-length, San Diego's PATHOLOGY (don't get 'em mixed up with any of the other metal bands called just that) prove that they've got their sound—brutal death metal—nailed down. These guys have a long history of a) insane album covers and b) concise, short, brutal albums. Here, it's check and check as they dish out a solid 30 minutes of slamming death metal that skirts slam and core but really just ends up pure SUFFOCATION-worshipping guttural death. There's no shortage of ugly groove and blasting bass, of guttural growling and grinding cacophony. Then it's over. And, you know, mission accomplished. Could hover anywhere between 7.5 and 8.5 depending on a few contextual factors, so, boom, 8.0 it is.
