In 2009, ATRIARCH, was born in the United States as a Blackened Death Rock Doom mix. Their lyrical content is based on darkness, death, destruction, peace, love and hatred. They create music to teach "the reality that is subjected upon us verses the reality we seek". They create music for the higher self, tearing through the veil that hides our true selves and the massacre that occurs when we succumb to the superficial ideals that are forced upon us every day.

ATRIARCH is back with their third full-length album "An Unending Pathway" released October 27, 2014. It comes in with seven tracks at just about 40 minutes of listening time, a decent listening time for only seven tracks. The album is a blend of "Death Rock, Doom, Black Metal, Punk, and Psychedelic Drone", and they pull it off with flying colors. This album is one of most creative albums I've listened to in a while. The ability to mix such a wide variety of genres into one comprehensive piece of art is impressive. The album as an atmosphere about it that isn't found any genre except Alternative, which adds to the lengthy list of genres the band incorporated in "An Unending Pathway".

The album has incredible synths, which make it unique on its own because it is mixed so well with Doom that it's heavy across the album, and it makes a perfect combination. The first track, "Entropy" comes in soft and slow, as many Alternative records do. It has that creepy, in a haunted house whispering feeling, a song of condemnation.  The guitars have memorable riffs, but for the most part keep a low tone playing alongside the bass. The drums are great. I enjoyed the creativity that where put into the drum performance on this track. This could have been a blast beat, bleak drum track, but it's not. The vocals stay pretty low throughout the entire track, bringing in the Blackened Rock piece. This track is a good listen and a perfect intro the album.

Track two, "Collapse" is even more sinister and tells the tale of all who seek the truer self then turn to prayer as their backing. I love the drum intro then the bass and guitars mix in. It sounds like ancient music, and the vocals add right into that with the humming lyrics that remind me of ritualistic music. This is my favorite track on the album, strictly for its "old" feel.

"Breavement", track four, gets pretty hard for a Rock genre. Its start is pretty intense with the drums blast beat and the hard gritty vocals and guitars that keep the speed up. The track slows dramatically, which makes it sound even more baneful. Although I like the track and think musically its brilliant, the production sounds horrid. The slide of the guitars and the vocals are sound off. Whether the track was intended to be that way, I am not sure, but it took away from the flow of the track and from the album.

Track five, "Rot" is another one that is on my favorites list. The Doom feeling in this one is incredible and overpowering, in the best way. From start to finish this track is brilliant. Guitars are low and slow following along with the bass line. The drums are just a low and never overpowering. This is a great track to test the waters.

Over all, "An Unending Pathway" is a great album. There are some places that are off in production, but otherwise the music is skillfully crafted and thoroughly played. This album is a great addition to any metal head or rockers collection. There is a great balance in all the genres that flow through "An Unending Pathway".<