PATHOS
Four years of silence suddenly come to a thundering end as this sleeping giant of a Power/Thrash outfit emerges from its dormancy. PATHOS roar to life again and I might as well state it here and now: this is amongst the finest releases of 2002 and easily the best Power/Thrash album of the year. Being the sucker for heavy, pulverizing guitars, I am especially susceptible to playing this album at all hours of the night and day, regardless of my social standing with the neighbors.Katharsis explodes with the opening title track and I at once could not shake the Dreaming Neon Black flashbacks. Not just for its massive, weighty guitars but structurally there is much in common between PATHOS and NEVERMORE. PATHOS is clearly the more aggressive, less melodic and darker of the two and tracks like "Violated" showcase this well with its eerily mournful after-chorus and ravenous guitar playing. Comparing this with the band's 1998 release, PATHOS sound as if they have sided with heaviness and chorus-related hooks over varied and intricate riff sections. The prior album wins out in terms of technicality but Katharsis is by far the heavier and more aggressive release. Though others might disagree, I find this one catchier.
Brilliantly recorded and produced, Katharsis marches on a warpath of bruising guitar volleys, trampling drum work and exceptional vocal performances from new vocalist Paul Schoning whose voice bares a striking resemblance to the band's prior singer. Schoning competes with the dual gargantuan guitars for supremacy as this album plows across its 12 cuts. Every track has something killer in its chemistry but especially noteworthy are the aforementioned "Violated", "Revelation", "Detonation", "Inner Ego" and the classic, "Torn". Amid the pummeling musical construct is a touch of industrial effect, which seems to lend a mechanistic but freely flowing atmosphere. Controlling this mammoth beast of an album are the monstrous rhythm sections played by Antonsson and Specht. Largely mid-paced but unrelentingly thick, grinding and bullying, Katharsis has feeling, soul, moodiness and just plain ass-kicking energy. It isn't often we are treated to albums of this caliber and PATHOS appear to have risen from the ashes to compete for the Power/Thrash Metal crown. I can think of no other European act that has produced anything like this in recent years and I can only hope this re-emergence by the band is the start of a long-lasting career that will bring the Metal community more great offerings like this. Perennial kudos and long live PATHOS!
