Review Summary: Solo. Riff. Solo. Repeat.
Pathogen is a bizarre record. Every song has at least one solo and is filled with melodies and lead lines and multiple riffs. This may be making up for the fact that the vocalist is awful and has literally no range at all, or it may be just a way for guitarist Mike Kostrzyński to show off his obviously technical abilities. The glistening lead lines run through songs like
Lock 'N Load and
Friend, yet, these are almost the only memorable parts of the songs. For the most part, the songs are literally driven by guitar and drums, with the vocals and bass contributing very little other than another dimension to the songs. The lyrics for the most are nothing spectacular, merely standard, run-of-the-mill lyrics that you'd expect to see from a band like this. For example, the track
Friend, it begins with in an unspectacular fashion:
You were born/You will die, or in the song
Question:
Why did you wear the mask?/Why did you tell me lies?/Why did you step in my life?/Why didn't I see you through?. Really quite unspectacular. The lack of range in the vocals makes every line delivery almost monotonous, with the exception of the small build up in
Russian Roulette. For all the shredding capability on this album, the solos get repetitive, in regards to the note choice, after 3 to 4 tracks, which puts a strain on the listener as the whole record becomes a jumble of solos and riffs with the mildly interesting drums. The drums are a stand out here, demonstrating good use of double kick and cymbal work throughout, whilst avoiding pitfalls that are so commonly found in a lot of death metal drumming, ie; overuse of blast beats.
In short, the majority of the record feels like it was put together to cover up for the vocal abilities of frontman Radek Półrolniczak's lack of vocal talent and ends up sounding like
My First Melodeath.
