While I was searching for random bands on Bandcamp I happened to come across a post-hardcore band with interesting artwork named Pathkeeper. I eagerly listened to their single “Into the Water” and it really drew me into the New Jersey water that is Pathkeeper. Their debut EP A World To Come is going to be released for free on June 1st and I can say that it is really something that you should pick up. A World To Come begins with a soundclippish intro that transitions into a spoken word part. While not much of a song itself, it really builds right up straight into the next song which features the vocalist, Frank Cerbone, hitting you hard as soon as he comes in. The vocals themselves are really quite unique. Cerbone constantly switches between highs, lows, and mids. The lows and highs sound like they could come right out of the deathcore scene while the mids really have a hardcore feel to them.The drumming, all done by Ken Garvey, really leads the music in the right direction. Fast paced and ground shaking, it’s something that can really get me moving. The guitar work however, done by Chris Konopka and Adam Heise is pretty bland for the most part. The riffs do nothing to stand out from the crowd that is the post-hardcore genre at all. This is not a very bad thing, but as heard in tracks such as “Ethereal” and “Into the Water”, there could be so much more.
Adam Heise also performs the clean vocals on A World To Come and I must say that they are spectacular. Combined with Cerbone’s brutal screams, Heise’s vocal work is the eye of a raging hurricane. The bassist, Vincent Favilla, is good at what he does. Although he is not heard at times, when he is heard, he really accents the music.
Although Pathkeeper really has it’s moments in songs such as “Fucking Waste”, “Ethereal”, and “Into the Water”, there are still other times when the band doesn’t hit quite as heavy. I quickly lost interest in other songs like “Marked for Death” because of the constant chugging. Pathkeeper also abuses filler tracks. On an EP with seven songs, two of them are instrumentals and one is an intro. That’s nearly half of the EP. However, the production on A World To Come is divine. For an unsigned debut EP, I was shocked by how great it sounded.
Pathkeeper is making a name for themselves with their debut EP entitled A World To Come. While it is not a masterpiece, it really shows what this band is capable of and it really shows that there is still lots of room to improve. If Pathkeeper can keep to the path they are on now, they are bound to go somewhere far.
Links: Facebook – Bandcamp
