MYTHOSPHERE

MYTHOSPHERE – “Pathological”

By Colonel Angus

The reason this release came across my desk is because I’m a big FATES WARNING fan. I even like most of the off-shoot material the members have been a part of so when I saw Victor Arduini’s name in the credits, I just knew that I had to get a copy. The two albums that he played on, “Night on Bröcken” and “The Spectre Within”, are very important records that shaped my musical tastes back in the day. If I had a dollar for every time I listened to them, I would be a very rich man. But it wouldn’t be fair to cast this as another FATES WARNING prog clone as most of the band are members of PALE DIVINE. I have run into their music before and have thought that their self-titled and “Consequence of Time” were really good doom metal releases. Certainly better than most of the doom metal merchants out there and truth be told, I like Dana Ortt’s vocal better than Greg Diener. Both are good but I just personally like Ortt’s vocals so it should come as no surprise that I was happy to hear his voice all over this disk.

Musically, I feel that a lot of the material does have a lot in common with PALE DIVINE. How could it not with three-fourths of that band represented here? But I do have to add that Arduini certainly makes his presence felt by adding that prog rock element making this a more enjoyable listen. The title track is a good example of marrying that classic doom metal sound but still giving the prog rock room to build upon that solid SABBATH-y base. That SABBATH riffing is all over this disk; just grab a listen to “Walk in Darkness” and “King’s Call to Arms” and bask in the glow of some of the best doom metal playing. Even the solo in the latter is worthy of Tony Iommi and sounds like something he would have written during the “Heaven and Hell” album timeframe. Make no mistake, those two tracks are prime examples of how doom metal should sound.

“Ashen Throne” starts off the disk with some very un-doomy metal and yet it still somehow fits in with the rest of the material. It has a different vibe with some atmospheric vocals and some prog rock elements which gives the overall album some depth and variety. The last song “Through the Night” is similar in a way and bookends the other doomy track nicely. Honestly, all of the songs are quite good and there isn’t a filler track in sight. Granted it is a short record by today’s standards but the quality is there as there was never any question whether these guys could write good songs. The results are actually better than I thought they would be (and my expectations were already high) and while not earth-shatteringly unique, the material and performances are top shelf. I even enjoyed the production which had an old-school sound. Listening to “Pathological” brought me back to the 80s and the sounds were so reminiscent of all those great records from back in the day. The press release mentioned that the band were committed to continuing their partnership and based on this, their debut, I feel we are witnessing the start of something really special. If you are into BLACK SABBATH or doom metal with a twist of prog rock thrown in for good measure, then you have to get MYTHOSPHERE’s “Pathological”.

CRUZ DEL SUR MUSIC

MYTHOSPHERE