PATHOLOGY (Eng.)
– Hello, thanks for your time. What are you currently up to?
Right now we’re just promoting the new album and waiting for the next tour.
– First of all, could you please make some history of PATHOLOGY?
I started the band in 2006. I used to play in the bands The Locust and Cattle Decapitation. Pathology is now a full-time touring band. We put out 3 underground releases before Victory Records picked us up in 2009. We’re now on our fifth record, Awaken to the Suffering is our second with Victory.
– How did you come up with the band’s name?
I was browsing through my CD’s for some ideas when I came across a General Surgery CD called Left Hand Pathology. The name just made sense for what I wanted to do.
– And what are the band’s main musical influences?
We’re influenced by lots of different music. We like the brutal stuff. When we write we don’t have a plan on what style we want. It just comes out the way it does.
– You are a band that, since its creation in 2006, haven’t stopped touring and releasing albums; can we expect this huge activity for the upcoming years as well?
Oh yeah! Right now we are planning our 2012 schedule. We already have a few fests that we’re playing next year. We will do a few US tours and probably go back to Europe and some other stuff.
– You have recently released your latest «Awaken to the Suffering»; how’s its feedback going so far? What were your expecations before unleashing this piece?
So far this is the best reaction we have gotten for one of our albums. The first week we sold 600 SoundScanned in the US. That is very cool for a band like us. We toured with Grave when the record came out and the fans seemed to really like the new stuff. I always hope our albums do well and this one is better than I could of imagined.
– I personally think this is your more brutal and straight-forward album to date. Was this something you aimed for or did everything just come naturally?
It came naturally. I mean every album there is something that bugs me and we try to make sure that it’s perfect. I like everything about this one. When we write we try to write the most catchy stuff that we can.
– Anyway, for all those who haven’t heard the album yet; how could you describe it?
I would say it’s very heavy and crushing and fun to listen to. It’s got that brutal death metal sounds but with much more catchy and rhythmic riffs. The vocals are low and guttural and with no high vocals at all. We even threw in a couple guitar solos this time.
– How was the songwriting process this time around?
Easy. We do pre-production demos of the songs at my house. It took us about 2 months to write the album and a month to record it. Basically me and my guitar player will get together and work on riffs. We record them, then I edit it on my Pro logic recording system. I then send it my singer to complete.
– Daniel Castleman (WINDS OF PLAGUE, etc.) took production duties; are you satisfied with his work?
Yes, very. He’s a real nice guy and easy to work with. He made us use a click track. We have never done that before and it made all the difference. This is the tightest thing I have ever recorded. I would absolutely go back to him.
– The artwork was crafted by Pär Olofsson. I would like you to tell us a bit abut it; what does it represent, how did you work on it, etc.
It is a pencil drawing with color added over it. We basically just shared ideas back and forth till we came up with the Awaken cover. The cover is our crazy doctor that is the zombie’s leader. The doctor and his army are taking over the world.
– If I’m not mistaken, on prior albums your lyrics dealt with gore and death, now you also cover political subjects, etc. Was there any concrete reason behind that change?
Our lyrics have always kind of been on the political side. We like to talk about a lot of different stuff. Like end of the world 2012 stuff. The gore lyrics are cool but not really what we’re into.
– And what are some of the lyrical ideas behind this new «Awaken to the Suffering»?
I don’t think I could give a good answer on that. I just deal with the music. But the lyrics are printed in the CD booklet for all to interpret.
– You have shot a video for «Media Consumption»; would you mind elaborate a bit?
We were going to shoot a video with the band in it when our singer broke his leg and couldn’t do video. So Victory came up with the idea of doing the video without us in it. We did not have much to do with it but approve the script. It was all done in Chicago by them. We’re very happy with it.
– Though you have been around for 5 years now, you have been through several line-up changes. Could we say the current one is a steady line-up?
Absolutely. This has been the strongest lineup yet. All the lineup changes were out of our control and we learned what not to do. This lineup is here to stay.
– A few months ago you toured Europe with GRAVE and OBITUARY. How did everything go?
It went really well. It is one of the best tours we have done. It’s so different how we were treated over there. We’re hoping to go back next year. Touring with Obituary was killer. Touring with a band I grew up listening to was amazing
– And what are now your near-future plans?
Right now we’re preparing the 2012 tour cycle for the new album and in discussions for a couple tours. We will also be doing several festivals and a Europe tour next year. We should be announcing some stuff soon.
– That’s all, thanks again for your time. If you now want to add some final thoughts, take the last lines.
Thanks for the interview and thank to all the fans. Our new album Awaken To The Suffering is out now on Victory Records.
