Earache & the Pathological Compilation (1990)

Question: I\'ve got a CD called the \"Pathological Compilation\", from the label \"Pathological\" (PATH 1). It was distributed by Revolver/Cartel and marketed by Earache. There\'s no date on the disc, but IIRC I picked it up new around 1993. It\'s got Earache bands from that era like Carcass, ND, and Godflesh; along with other bands like Coil, Silverfish, and God. The whole compilation is more industrial than grind - the ND track in particular is uncharacteristically industrial. What was the story behind this disc? Were there anymore releases on Pathological through Earache or otherwise? From: tsukaesugi@yahoo.com


Answer:Earache's leading grindcore bands were starting to make breakthroughs in the wider UK Independent music scene during the late 80's and came to the attention of noted London Indie scenester Kevin Martin.Kevin had earlier promoted one of the earliest Napalm death shows in London- at his 'Mule' club, which was a hotbed of the more open-minded underground London scenesters at the time.
Kevin was a major supporter of the early Earache bands and fancied doing a compilation of the more adventurous UK independent bands around at the time- which included a few of the Earache bands, as well as some of his fave traditionally Independent bands who were doing the rounds at the time, Silverfish, Terminal Cheesecake etc.

Kevin gathered the tracks from the bands (which was probably the first time the Earache bands had the freedom to record songs outside of the album framework, which is why they went for more experimental material)He also named his compilaton and did the art but crucially couldnt find the funds to press the record or distribute it.
Earache liked what he was trying to accomplish so I took on the marketing of the CD for him.Earache released the debut Pathological compilation- i think we did 5000 copies, and after the first pressing sold out we didnt repress it anymore.
After the debut,kevin/Pathological went on alone, to release several more records,- Earache was not involved anymore by that stage- by bands like Terminal Cheesecake and Oxbow..and notably, kevin started the first of his many artist collaborations with Godflesh's Justin Broadrick on the Techno Animalproject (Pictured with kevin, right) which Pathological also released.
Pathological folded a few years later.Kevin and Justin Broadrick went on to record countless collaboration projects for the next decade.