Paths Of Possession – The End Of The Hour
Posted on October 16, 2007 at 8:00 am by admin
I’ve heard different interpretations of what the previous “Paths Of Possession” album was supposed to sound like. I heard everything from metalcore, to 80’s thrash to mid-paced death metal. I never got to hear “Promises In Blood”, so I couldn’t tell you, but man does it sound like people can get in a big tiff or what something’s supposed to sound like.
Pretty often, I’ll tell people what my interpretation of what an album sounds like, since people tend to get hung up on genres so much. In the instance of “The End Of The Hour”, I can easily say it’s old-school European death metal in the “melodic death metal transitional phase” played by American death metal vets. The dead giveaway is the tone of the instruments. The prevalent bass with a similarity to Alex Websters, to the powerful guitars that don’t quite have that buzzin’ double distortion sound (but they get close), to the picture perfect production with no reverb give a strange feeling. “The End Of The Hour” sounds like Paths Of Possession could’ve stepped out of a time machine from the mid-90s and transported to Florida to record, and got brand new equipment.
There’s only a few death metal bands in North America that really make use of the more Maiden-esque styled melodies and harmonies (at least if you count melodic death metal as its own genre), so it’s always interesting to hear some of the few death metal vets who really try and tackle the stuff. Mind you, this isn’t a melodic death metal album, so there’s plenty of beefy bashing and buzz-saw chords dished out from the guitars, as well as the plodding march that just stomps along. George “Corpsegrinder” Fisher also adds a change-up to his primary band Cannibal Corpse by sticking closer to the mid-range of his vocals, and moving between that area and his highs for accents.
If you also take a closer look, there’s even a few unexpected moments beyond old-school European death metal pulled from of course other slightly experimental death metal as well. The hints are subtle, but there. “The End Of The Hour” is a great ride to escape standard American death metal doldrums.
Released October 16th, 2007
The Official Paths Of Possession Website
Paths Of Possession at MySpace
Paths Of Possession at Metal Blade
Buy this album at Amazon.com and Amazon.ca
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