Kataklysm Archives - Page 3 of 4

HIGHER CRITICISM: KATAKLYSM CONCLUSION

Mar 292013

(Beginning late last year, TheMadIsraeli embarked on an assessment of the music of Kataklysm. For more details about what this is all about, check out his introduction to the series here. Previous installments can be found via this link. And today we have the wrap-up.)

So, it’s time to finally wrap up the first edition of “Higher Criticism” by coming to my final conclusion about Kataklysm. It was an interesting experience for me to listen through this discography, especially since the last two albums were completely unknown territory to me.

So let’s establish how these summary conclusions are going to go — because I don’t intend to stop with Kataklysm. I present general opinions on the band as a whole, how they have evolved, how I think the future looks for the band. I then decide if there are particular albums from their discography, very select ones, that are worthy of being deemed essential listening. With that said…

Kataklysm have remained an oddity to me. I began this expedition, as much as I didn’t want to initially, because an ex-girlfriend told me this was one of her favorite bands. Ever. From what I had heard, such an opinion sounded completely and utterly unfounded to me, and writing for NCS finally gave me a platform and excuse to dig into this music. Continue reading »

KATAKLYSM: “PREVAIL” AND “HEAVEN’S VENOM”

Album Reviews 11 Responses »

Feb 092013

(After a bit of a break, TheMadIsraeli completes his reconsideration of the music of Kataklysm. To see what this is all about, check out his introduction to the series here. Previous installments can be found via this link.)

Alright! Now that we’re finally getting back to this, it’s time to wrap it up with the final two albums in Kataklysm’s present discography. Prevail and Heavens Venom are albums that, until this point, I never even listened to, but about which I always heard extremely mixed opinions.

Starting with Prevail, this was pretty much an attempt to recapture what Kataklysm had channeled on In the Arms of Devastation. I don’t blame them, because that album was definitely the best work of their modern era. Prevail is not as impenetrably unstoppable as In the Arms…, however it is still an extremely solid, excellent piece of work. I really love the opening song (title track) especially; it’s full of bulldozing groove and surging power.

The problem is, this album is obviously trying to cash in on the mark its predecessor left. The songwriting is as solid and MOST of the songs are as good, but this album suffers from a couple of draggers that really harm the consistency factor. That’s a flaw this album couldn’t afford, given that In the Arms… was a perfect record, insofar as their current sound is concerned. Songs like “Taking the World by Storm” just feel shamelessly phoned in. Contrasted with trailblazing numbers like “Chains Of Power”, they just feel a bit off as you listen. Continue reading »

KATAKLYSM: “IN THE ARMS OF DEVASTATION”

Album Reviews 5 Responses »

Jan 092013

(TheMadIsraeli continues his reconsideration of the music of Kataklysm. To see what this is all about, check out his introduction to the series here. Previous installments can be found via this link.)

If I were to tell NCS readers which Kataklysm albums I consider essential listening, I’d name Temple Of Knowledge, Victims Of A Fallen World, and this one. In The Arms of Devastation (2006) is quite possibly the best album modern Kataklysm has produced. By retaining the core of the new sound while introducing new influences, this album is infectious, brutal, and full of rage.

It also benefits from the fact that it’s the first album since Temple Of Knowledge that contains the diversity that album did, mostly assisted by the fact the band takes influences from all over the map. You’ll hear the typical Grave influence that has stayed with this band (especially in the guitar tone on this particular album), but the music also reflects the sounds and styles of Vader, Hypocrisy, and Amon Amarth, among other bands.

This album also includes a lot of the best songs of this era of Kataklysm. “Like Angels Weeping the Dark”, “Crippled And Broken”, and “The Road To Devastation” are good examples. Continue reading »

KATAKLYSM: “SERENITY IN FIRE”

Album Reviews 1 Response »

Jan 052013

Serenity in Fire (2004) is the first of newer Kataklysm albums I heard in full, and I have to say it still holds up as one of the best and most consistent representations of their modern sound. It benefits immensely from an almost perfect combination of melody and ballsy groove on songs like “As I Slither” (a song which musically fits its name) or the album’s extremely infectious opener “Ambassador Of Pain”, which has a Slipknot-ish feel in a good way.

There are other songs on this particular album that also really get me going, such as the blackened melodic death like fury of “For All Our Sins” or the outright blistering chaos of “Blood On The Swans”. The closing track “Under the Bleeding Sun” is also quite good, invoking Dark Tranquillity a bit.

This is a good album and it’s a fun album. Definitely worth a listen. Music after the jump. Continue reading »

HAPPY HANGOVER DAY (Part 1): ETERNAL TEARS OF SORROW, AMON AMARTH, KATAKLYSM, AND MUMAKIL

Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC 3 Responses »

Jan 012013

Your humble editor has been so busy over the last four days with year-end lists, Most Infectious Song posts, and non-blogging life events that I haven’t compiled a news/new-music round-up since last week. However, I was watching out for developments, and now I’m finally collecting those which seemed worthy of notice. I have enough items to vomit forth into your laps that I’ve divided them into two posts, this being the first.

ETERNAL TEARS OF SORROW

It would be poor form to start the new year at NCS without some Finnish metal. As it happens, this first day of 2013 has delivered something new from Finland, and what it delivered also gives us a chance to start the new year by again confusing people. Sowing confusion makes life worth living.

The news is that Finland’s Eternal Tears of Sorrow have a new album entitled Saivon Lapsi that’s scheduled for release on February 22. It features album art (above) by Travis Smith. In addition to that news, the band also premiered today a music video for one of the new songs, “Swan Saivo”. The video is a beautifully made allegory with a visually arresting finish (and includes some great footage of the band headbanging). And I enjoyed the song, too . . . though its appearance at this site will indeed confuse some people. Continue reading »

KATAKLYSM: “THE PROPHECY”, “EPIC: THE POETRY OF WAR”, “SHADOWS AND DUST”

Album Reviews 2 Responses »

Dec 312012

The Prophecy (Stigmata of the Immaculate) (2000) is definitely the weakest entry in Kataklysm’s body of work up to this point despite the fact it is more certifiably brutal than the album previous. This also begins the thing about Kataklysm that is really going to irk me for the rest of this discography — opening albums with downright stupid monologues or silly movie quotes. This is also going to be the shortest review of this series up to this point, so I think we’ll just include reviews of two additional albums because of that.

The Prophecy can be summed up pretty easily. It’s nine songs of bland, uninspired, blasting melodic death metal that attempts to recapture an intensity reminiscent of the band’s Sylvain Houde era material that they just don’t have it in them to do anymore. A bad move on the band’s part. The mix is also intrusively grating in all the wrong ways.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v5m5v71ePyE
Continue reading »

KATAKLYSM: “VICTIMS OF THIS FALLEN WORLD”

Album Reviews 5 Responses »

Dec 232012

(TheMadIsraeli continues his reconsideration of the music of Kataklysm. To see what this is all about, check out his introduction to the series here.)

Yes. That’s really the album cover.

I can just imagine what it must have been like for a fan of Kataklysm to buy this album upon its release in 1998. Because of the more limited channels for disseminating information (compared to now), people who weren’t local and in touch with the band probably didn’t know that vocalist Sylvain Houde wasn’t in Kataklysm anymore, and didn’t know that with the exception of Iacano and Dagenais, the lineup was completely new. They probably weren’t prepared for this album.

You start the first track “As the World Burns” and a resounding “what in the fuck?” permeates every fiber of your being. It’s a melodic death metal riff. One of the most insane, feral death metal bands from the Great White North begins their opening song with a mid-paced melodic death metal riff that you would have heard a million times already, if you had caught wind of anything from Sweden in the 90’s.

I mean, the riff is good, really good actually. It’s got a triumphant marching-into-battle feel and a memorable progression, but still, this probably wasn’t what you bought this album to hear. Continue reading »

KATAKLYSM: “TEMPLE OF KNOWLEDGE”

Album Reviews No Responses »

Dec 222012

(In this post, TheMadIsraeli continues his reconsideration of the music of Kataklysm. To see what this is all about, check out his introduction to the series here.)

Temple Of Knowledge (Kataklysm Part III) (1996) is a fucking intense low tuned flesh stripping cacophony of almost demonic overflow that you either love or hate. There are reasons to dislike this album for sure. The mix, while well rounded on the frequency front, kind of blows. It isn’t very loud; the guitars, while sludgy, don’t have a lot of life to them; and Houde’s vocal phrasing is kind of off the wall with extremely mixed results. The style on this album is very reminiscent of the feral hyperblast insanity contained on The Mystical Gate of Reincarnation, but taken to a whole new level.

The drummer on this particular album is also worthy of note. Nick Miller (who as far as I can gather only played on this album) has a really intense style. If he’s not blasting or grinding the grooves he does have a jazz fusion technical style attack that makes even the more reserved moments on this album froth at the mouth.

This album also cements what would become part of Kataklysm’s identity from here on — tuning their guitars down to B. While I will admit that the songwriting on Temple Of Knowledge is sketchy, what can’t be denied is that, so far in my Kataklysm listening, this is the best album on the guitar front. Jean Dagenais writes some downright sinister stuff this time around, blending styles of melodic death metal, tech death, black metal, grindcore, and even a bit of hardcore during the groovier parts. Continue reading »

KATAKLYSM: “SORCERY”

Album Reviews 5 Responses »

Dec 212012

(In this post, TheMadIsraeli continues his reconsideration of the music of Kataklysm. To see what this is all about, check out his introduction to the series here.)

As you can see, this cover is for a version of Kataklysm’s 1995 debut album Sorcery that includes the EP I just reviewed. There is actually an EP before this album called Vision the Chaos that only has two songs on it, but I decided not to bother as the Kataklysm fandom doesn’t seem to give two shits about it either.

Sorcery is the band’s first fully fledged album, and one that within its first seconds immediately distances itself from the style of hyperblast insanity found on The Mystical Gate of Reincarnation. The first thing you’ll notice is that the band has actually tuned their guitars UP from their EP days, moving from C to D (for all the guitar geeks out there who care), and the tone of the music has an overall sort of blackened edge to it. The mix is very trebly, very harsh to the ears in comparison to The Mystical Gate…, which was rather well rounded for a mix at its time.

The music is also far less manic, still as deadly but with a more precise yet varied attack. The thing about this album that will throw people off, I think, is that the band almost sounds as if they didn’t know what they wanted to bemusically. Some of these songs are blistering death metal mammoths that are all over the place and have more of an emphasis on alien or unconventional melodies, while those numbers are completely contradicted by trailblazers that are purely melodic death metal. Continue reading »

HIGHER CRITICISM: KATAKLYSM’S “THE MYSTICAL GATE OF REINCARNATION”

Album Reviews 5 Responses »

Dec 202012

(In this post, TheMadIsraeli begins his reconsideration of the music of Kataklysm. To see what this is all about, check out his introduction to the series here.)

It’s time to begin our journey into the music of Kataklysm. I really couldn’t think of a benchmark for how far back I should start in reconsidering a band’s music, but in this case I figured the band’s debut EP The Mystical Gate of Reincarnation was a good place to begin.

I feel it best to start by noting the line-up differences between then and now. Kataklysms’s current line-up is Maurizio Iacono (vocals), Jean-Francois Dagenais (guitar), Stéphane Barbe (bass), and Max Duhamel (drums). Iacono and Dagenais are founding integral members of the band, but they had a different drummer at the time of this EP (Ariel Saied), as well as someone else who handled the vocal duties by the name of Sylvain Houde.

Sylvain Houde played a huge part in what made early Kataklysm what it was, as he had one of the most overwhelming bestial voices out there. Iacono played bass at this time, providing backup vocals here and there. Dagenais’ guitar style was also quite a bit different. The mix for the time (’93) is really good for an underground death metal EP.

The style going on here is sludgy, messy, but most of all bestial. The fast-as-fuck-full-of-riffs-and-transitions style of writing is something pretty atypical of death metal at the time. You could hear this kind of shit on the early Cryptopsy, Suffocation, or Immolation releases as well, and it works. Continue reading »

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