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Made Of Hate

Pathogen

Written by: PP on 25/12/2010 02:49:52

Okay, so apparently I didn't get very far on my crusade to axe all power metal bands with a heavy hand, because already by album number two on my list, I found something interesting and different enough to not make me want to bang my head against the wall. The release I'm talking about is called "Pathogen", by a Polish group called Made Of Hate, but I guess it's unfair to lump it into the power metal category anyway considering how little it takes from the genre, as opposed to melodeath and thrash from Scandinavia.

The premise is to take Children Of Bodom and/or Soilwork styled melodeath, and interpret it in a larger soundscape, one that closely follows the ideals in power metal. Then they've added a grunting vocalist on top who resembles those from the Norwegian/Swedish rumble-n-roll bands, which doesn't really fit together in this instance. The guitars are slick, however, and the carrying force of this album as they provide both variation and interest points to keep this album going, despite the attempts to hinder it with monotone vocals from start to finish. I hear these guys used to have a standard melodeath growler instead in the past, I haven't heard their old material but I'd imagine it to fit their sound much better than the current vocalist. And this is essentially the biggest downside to "Pathogen". Songs like "You, Departed" display an ability to write a good chorus which is a must in this sort of music, plus of course the great axemanship that's carried on throughout the record. But without a good vocalist, all that guitar talent is lost in songs that start to sound more and more alike the longer you listen to the album.

Download: You, Departed
For the fans of: Archeon, Imperanon, or CoB / Soilwork with bad vocals
Listen: Myspace

Release date 27.08.2010
AFM Records