Pathogenic Virulence are a death metal band from the UK and this is their second album.
Brought to us by an ex-member of Necrovile, Scourged contains 31 minutes of brutal death metal. It’s ferocious and uncompromising, yet also has more depth to it than many ostensibly similar bands.
Pathogenic Virulence play merciless death metal that contains elements of the brutal, slam, technical, and old-school styles. The combination of these different aspects of death metal brutality are one of the keys to the success of Scourged. The music takes strengths from them all and fuses them into a monstrous collection of tracks that benefit from a bit more variety than, for example, your average one-dimensional slam band usually displays.
The other reason why Scourged is a stronger release than is the norm is the songwriting – as well as effectively combining their stylistic influences mentioned above, Pathogenic Virulence have an ear for what makes a good slab of death metal ugliness. This might be a burst of dynamic energy, a crushing groove, a bass hook, a tasty riff, or a number of other things, but throughout Scourged Pathogenic Virulence show that they are skilled at what they do.
Make no mistake though – this is a raging beast of brutal, relentless, unforgiving, underground death metal nastiness. I’m sure that on the surface of it Scourged sounds little different to many of its peers, but if you’re accustomed to the style’s punishing assault, then you’ll soon notice that Pathogenic Virulence offer more than is typical for bands of this ilk, much to their credit.
A satisfying and enjoyable listen, and highly recommended for fans Defeated Sanity, Devourment, Disentomb, Pathology, Suffocation, etc.
Wonderbox Metal 