I’m not sure what is more surprising- that this is Pathology’s 10th album since 2006, or that its released on Pavement Music/Entertainment, once a prolific extreme metal label, now home to the likes of Dishwalla, Puddle of Mud, Flaw and Tantric.

Either way, album number 10 sticks to the tenets of the last few albums, where the band delivers effective, slamming brutal death metal, but somehow manages to add some melody to the proceedings. As with most of the last records there’s some turnover from the last self titled album, with vocalist Obie Flett (Inherent Disease, Iniquitous Deeds), bassist Rickey Jackson (ex –Suffokate) and guitarist Dan Richardson (ex Lord Of War) joining the orginal-ish duo of drummer Dave Astor and guitarist Tim Tiszczenko, but you’d be hard pressed to really tell as Pathology sound like they have for the last few records.

And that’s a good thing, as there is plenty of quality slam here, but as I mentioned above, what has made Pathology just a bit different (at least since 2011s Awakening to the Suffering), is a sneaky sense of melody amid all the bludgeoning. Case and point an acoustic instrumental number in “Empathy Ends”, the super melodic, sweepy leads of “Pit of Bones”, “Crematorium Flames” and “Stone Axe Dismemberment” or really harmonious but still grinding closer “Celestial Condemnation”, Pathology add just a little something to the mix that makes it stand out from the crowded slam pack.

But if its a pure bludgeoning you want, Pathology still have the goods as heard on the likes of opener “Hieroglyphs on Cement Walls”, “Forced Regression”, with a killer closing stomp, “Frothing at the Mouth”, more restrained, punishing lope of “The Druid’s Gavel” and blasting penultimate track “Predation”, where the slams hit hard thanks to a crisp, killer Zack Ohren production.

And speaking of the production, truth be told, and I know this is heresy, but I’m giving this a lot more attention than Devourment’s Obscene Majesty, largely to the super mushy production on the latter, and so far Reborn to Kill is up there with Rendered Helpless and Organectomy as far as 2019s best slam.

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