TRACKBACK: PATHOLOGY’S ‘GREAT PURIFICATION’
Action follows San Diego brutal death metallers Pathology: In about a half-decade, drummer Dave Astor and crew has six albums, a stressful recording contract, a terrifying van accident, a killer pedigree via Cattle Decapitation and The Locust, and like a hundred crushing Obituary-by-Dying Fetus jamz marked by brooding crunch and crystalline guitar solos. Apparently this band is putting off sleep until the afterlife.
So Astor and Pathology — and their awesome new record The Time Of Great Purification (out tomorrow) — make perfect subjects for our inaugural half-interview/half-track-by-track MetalSucks TrackBack feature, in which we visit all points on an artist’s timeline and stop to take in the sights, sounds, and smells. Trust us, it’s physically possible to mosh and read at the same time.
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Song “Imprisoned By Fear”
Album The Time Of Great Purification (Victory)
Year September 25, 2012 (here)
Anso DF: Few things in life are as sweet as the first notes of a new Pathology album. How do you characterize the making of The Time Of Great Purification? Are you super-pumped to be finished?
Dave Astor, drums: It was a very fun and easy process writing and recording this new album. It took us roughly two months to write. Kevin [Schwartz, guitars] and I would get together and we would write a song in a day, then demo it out and add stuff/fix things as needed. We spent about a month in the studio recording this album. I am super excited to be finished and really stoked how it all came out. I really enjoy making these albums.
ADF: For Purification, Pathology again used producer Daniel Castleman at Lambesis Studios. What do you ask of Castleman?
DA: Daniel is a awesome producer. And thankfully he lives in the same area as us in San Diego. We really don’t have to ask much of him. He is real easy to work with. He did a few records that had a lot of sub bass and heaviness to them. I wanted that. That’s why I chose him.
ADF: Dude, again Pathology cover art rivals Spiritual Healing, Lovedrive, and Naked City for disturbing scariness. Thanks a lot.
DA: You’re very welcome… We think hard about these covers. The 2012 prophecies just made sense and is a cool subject.
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Song “Dissected By Righteousness”
Album Awaken To The Suffering (Victory)
Year 2011
ADF: “Dissected” kicks off Pathology’s first album to include vocalist Jonathan Huber. What is it like to break in a new guy? Is it as simple as pointing to the floor in front of your kit, handing him lyrics, and saying, “Stand here and growl these”?
DA: It can be hard breaking in a new guy. Thankfully Jon already had a good presence and a good voice. He could also write good lyrics which is important. It was an easy change, and if I had to tell someone where to stand or to sing, it would not work and we would move on.
ADF: I must say Pathology’s 2010 van accident looked scary as hell. How long did it take you to regather your marbles after that brush with a horrible death? How many drugz did it take to get back on the road for the Awaken tour?
DA: It was the scariest thing I have ever been through in my life and I still can’t believe that no one was killed; I think about that wreck all the time. Our new van is the same kind of van — but just a year newer — so I still get flash backs when driving it. For about a week I was bummed, and then got over it and started to regroup. We took about three months off, then we did the Deicide tour.
It was hard to get back in the van. No drugs but had to smoke a large amount of weed.
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Song “Afterlife”
Album Legacy Of The Ancients (Victory)
Year 2010
ADF: I love this album, the band’s first for a big label. If I were a member of Pathology then, I would’ve had a moment like “Man it’s serious now. This label expects us to make money.” Did u stress?
DA: I’m still stressed, haha. Brutal death metal does not make a lot of money. And at the time we were the first brutal death band the sign to a major label. After we signed the contract at the end of 2009 things started to get very real. Thankfully some people seem to enjoy the album and things have worked out well.
ADF: Is my ear crazy, or are there two snares in your kit on Legacy?
DA: I believe it’s just layered.
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Song “Impious Brain Donor”
Album Surgically Hacked (Amputated Vein)
Year 2006
ADF: Dave, take us way back to 2006 lol: By this song, we might judge that during your time in The Locust you were dying to cut loose and grind gorily?
DA: Yeah, I was dying to cut loose. I stopped playing in Locust 2001, and Cattle in 2002. I took about four years off, so yeah I was ready to start something brutal. Death metal is always what I was into, even back then.
Back during the Surgically Hacked album we were trying to find who we were. We were only a band for a few months when that record came out. We also recorded it in one day.
ADF: It’s hard to pinpoint, but somehow I suspect that it’s more fun to be a fan of bands like The Locust than to be a member. Was it taxing to use that level of energy and concentration on The Locust’s kinda fluctuating, stuttering songs? Didn’t the Mr. Bungle guys always appear to be nursing tension headaches?
DA: Being in The Locust was one of the best and greatest experiences of my life. I liked every moment of it. The music scene was a lot different back then, it was fun.
Back then we would only play 20 minutes max. It took a lot of energy to play like we did for that amount of time. And the amount touring we did back then was really taxing.
At the end the music was not what I wanted to do. I needed the brutality.
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Song “Defiled Autopsy Remains”
Album Incisions Of Perverse Debauchery (Grindhead)
Year 2008
ADF: After The Locust, you had a healthy tenure in Cattle Decapitation. Would you agree that Pathology is less political and more fun than Cattle Decap? Was that your intent?
DA: I would absolutely agree with that! We talk more about conspiracies and world demise. And yes that was the plan, did not want to be a political type of band.
ADF: Your departure from Cattle Decap is partly credited to band turmoil. It’s easy to imagine that there were some strong personalities in that band.
DA: At the end of my departure both the band and I were not getting along at all.
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Song “Symptoms Of Bleeding”
Album Age Of Onset (Comatose)
Year 2009
ADF: In my daily life, I am always thinking of a drum part in this jam (at 1:50). I bet you have a handful of drum beats/fills/whatever that are always in your head? SHARE.
DA: That’s actually the only guitar riff I wrote for that album, funny. Very simple one- note. Yeah I only have a handful of beats; I just try and figure out ways to arrange them.
I would say my blast beat is always in my head.
ADF: Pathology’s third album in four years, Onset was the band’s first to come out the year following its predecessor. Did you know in 2009 that Pathology was going to be a 24/7/365 pursuit?
DA: Yeah I did. That was the plan from the start. Put out a few underground releases, play a few shows, then sign to a big label and get busy. This is my third time starting a band, so I knew what to do.
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Song “Tyrannical Decay”
Album The Time Of Great Purification (Victory)
Year September 25, 2012 (here)
ADF: When I got really into Pathology, the first dudes I pitched your jamz to were those who love that band Obituary. Does that make sense to you?
DA: Yeah! Both band are death metal and heavy. One is just faster than the other. Obituary is one of my favorite bands and are some of the coolest guys. We got a few obituary inspired slow parts in our music.
ADF: I imagine at Pathology shows you see some Carcass-shirted fans too?
DA: Oh yeah! When the band first started we were trying be a Carcass-type clone of band. It didn’t work.
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Song “Asphyxiation Through Consumption”
Album The Time Of Great Purification (Victory)
Year September 25, 2012 (here)
ADF: This song goes hard as fuck. It must kick Pathology shows up into top gear! Does it get played in the middle of your set? The end?
DA: No, we have not played that song yet. As of now we play “Tyrannical Decay,” “Imprisoned By Fear,” and “A Bleak Future.”
ADF: Say, there has been no mention of guitarist Tim Tiszcsenko lately. What’s his status in Pathology?
DA: Tim left at the end of 2012. He has a full time job now here in San Diego. Still a good friend and we still do a studio side project band.
-ADF
Pathology’s The Time Of Great Purification is out Tuesday on Victory Records. Pre-order fancy CD + poster + shirt packages here.
