Pathway to Deviance
Review from www.metalireland.com
Desecration "Pathway to Deviance" Album of the Month :: May 2002
Wake up call! Desecration have done some serious work these last five years and have consistently improved upon their sound and technique. This hard work has now culminated in "Pathway to Deviance", one seriously fucking brilliant piece of death metal mastery and most definitely the best cd they have put out to date. "Murder in Mind" was a very sloppy and ragged album, and though it undoubtedly had its charm it was just a bit too uncouth to be taken very seriously. "Inhuman" changed that however with its increase in proficiency, speed and general rigidity, and most notably the addition of superb sticksman Michael Hourihan. So overall the riffs got more technical, the beats more punishing and the sound a lot more pro. It really is the drumming that stands out here on this album - having seen this guy twice now live I know first hand just how absurdly fast he can get, and I am elated to say that the performance on here is an absolute slaughter - check out the first three tracks for some bewildering stuff ("Offer the Flesh" two thirds of the way through).
The songs themselves stand up head and shoulders above past efforts. In a funny way I can now see just how big a debt Gorerotted owe to Desecration, as the whole tone and approach is very similar - but where Gorerotted take the piss, these lads are just out to destroy. One thing this band has always had is weight as well as pure brutality, and its nice to see that theyre still playing with dynamic - "King of the Missing" slows down (well, for a while anyway) its main riff for a heavy Cannibal Corpse-esque workout, and "None of us are Saints" has a midpace pummelling main hook whose double bass syncs in so well with the guitars its bound for greatness. The only thing about this album that is not as good as Inhuman is the guitar solos though; I am aware that the "Inhuman" guitarist is now away playing in some jazz band, which is a shame, as I liked his fluid sweep picking much more than the typical DM soloing here. A minor complaint however; Ollies vocals still rule and you cannot in all seriousness call yourself a fan of Death Metal whilst not owning this album. Theres simply not enough stuff of this quality about these days, and it is so gratifying to see a down to earth band (practically local!) grow to this standard. Crushing.
4.3 / 5 - Ciaran Tracey ::: 03/05/02