Like
Angels Weeping (The Dark)
Let Them Burn
Crippled & Broken
Open Scars
To Reign again
In Words of Desperation
Temptation's Nest
It Turns To Rust
The Road to Devastation
Maurizio
Iacono - vocals
JF Dagenais - guitar
Stephane Barbe - bass
Max Duhamel - drums
Nuclear
Blast
Produced by J-F Dagenais, mixed by Tue Madsen at Antfarm Studios
release date 17.02.2006
previews
by dalia di giacomo and
Alex
Ramirez
"
preview-review by dalia "gryphon_spirit"
di giacomo____ 
| An angelic monster awaits you as if there were no tomorrow |
Devastation as
if there were no
tomorrow. Devastation in all meanings of the word: brutality ,
destruction, but also desperation, desolation, tears of pain and
sorrowful feelings . Kataklysm's eighth album is a masterpiece in which
waves of brutality and merciless strength reflect a dolorous
intense rage. If "Serenity in Fire" was "Shadows
& Dust" turned more extreme and rabid , this "In the arms
of Devastation" underlines the melodic groove and dark side already
present in "Shadows", but none of the
typical hyperblasting ravaging is sacrificed, only darkened through
wings of violent obscure, gloomy sorrow, while memorable melodies
and exciting, virtuoso loops are served on a silver tray. Also
fresh and lively riffs and many new elements ignite
surprisingly the carburetor : for example a wide heavy metallized
rocking attitude , a big excellent reinforcement of the guitars (Into
Eternity guitars are guest too) , a pounding bass- guitar work, an
outstanding duet between Maurizio Iacono and Morgan Lander (Kittie's
singer). Typical Kataklysm elements convey
in order to give songs that are perfect in every passage, in every pace
change. This album is an angelic monster whose 9 songs are
energizing killers and sorrow bringers and implacable enslavers. The
cover art, chosen by the fans, reflects the dual soul of this monster:
winged scorpionic beast of bloody brutality twinned with scales of melody, gazing the light.
Behind the skins, Max Duhamel strikes
back, fully supporting the new obscure journey, delivering
the right measure of hyperblasting discharge but without that almost
inhuman mechanical hypereruptive quality that marked Serenity. We
get deadly double kicks in different paces, a fragrant snare, and an attentive use of cymbals that give, at the right moment,
the color to each track.
Lyrics are razor sharp, explicit, brought straight in your face,
with a certain rhyme research, the musical
resources are generous: we go from pounding mid tempos to
hellrides, from emotional melodies to doomy chords and adrenaline
-injected roller-coaster effects, like in the song "To reign
again" that is pure vertical limit and abrupt pounding free
fall. Vocals are deep , might ,
mature, impressive: growls alternated (but not always) with sore
screams, and words come out clawed, forged in fire, full of hatred and pain
yet very understandable. Both production and mixing couldn't be better:
there is care in every detail without any trace of overprocessing,
without saying goodbye to that rawness that makes Kataklysm so
unmistakable, so powerful and crude and genuine.
The opener Like Angels weeping (the Dark)
is a bridge between "Shadows & Dust" and "Serenity in Fire".
It is aggressive , it is thunderous but lets surface the gloomy spirit
of the album. With Let them burn,
a blasting killer with obscure grooves, Kataklysm impose an acceleration
spreading hungry violence, while the threatening Crippled
& Broken is the panzer that will take you
at the thresholds of Thrash and Doom, so you can imagine how
fluent and cadenced, at times slow and at times fast'n rhythmic it
can be. Crippled & Broken was
presented in preview during the Summer tour 2005 and it will be
director Maurice Swinkels to film the video for it in Amsterdam. It will
be a concept video in film quality.
Ok, but now be ready for the major ignition,
for the adrenaline kick with roller-coaster effect: sublime!! I'm
speaking about To reign again, as mentioned before. This
track begins with a seducing harmonic guitar arpeggio and
goes into a spin around vertical limit- loops that lead to
the maximum height from where you then jump in free fall
towards an abyss of determination and rage. A breathtaking stop
start at the climax - to reign again ! - and you feel the attack in
descent, the skydiving. Fasten your belt or fly, if you can! Very
noticeable the work done by the bass.
It turns to Rust is another vicious
enslaving killer, here Maurizio Iacono performs an outstanding duet with Morgan
Lander. Maurizio growling vocals perfectly balances the
hoarse, hissing and harsh, poison spitting Morgan. Open
Scars is a blasting Death metal with much rock
inside, that will arise carpets of moshing and headbanging's in the pits;
drums here provide every kind of blasting discharge, with
the usual melodic catharsis . Temptation's
Nest , together with the following, In
Words of Desperation offers a particular fast surprising
turnaround picking , while obsessed chords and recurrent stressed
loops make of these songs another example of finest possessed Melodic death
metal.
The album closes with another masterpiece, the true road to sorrow and devastation as the title suggests:
The Road to Devastation
. Based on irresistible yet quite catchy musical concepts,
it is ,in my opinion, the gloomiest and the most addictive song,
with an infernal morbidity, with the more conquering effect. Misery invades
you and prevail. The duality with evil vicious screams and
literally abyssal growlings is orgasmic, as well as the refrain is
and the guitar solo at the end. This track fades out then in a
ambience melodic/instrumental outro - with a clock work effect of pink -floydian school.
My personal attraction towards this song slowly becomes maniacal. Cannot wait to listen it live
( i hope that it will be included in the new setlist) for banging my soul out,
down on my knees.
In the Arms of Devastation awaits you
voraciously, as if there were no tomorrow.
rating: 10/10
review by Alex "Costa Rican
Fan" Ramirez___ 
| The brutality and the speed for the blast freaks, and technical virtuosity for the mature experienced ear |
The
Canadian devastators are back with what seems to be their best disk to
date. There’s a sense of
freshness and renovation in the air.
But don’t worry the old brutal spirit still remains strong.
The
production is flawless and the band achieved the sound that they where
searching for. They handle
the mixing to Tue Madsen , cause JF Dagenais produced and mixed the last 5 Kataklysm
releases, so they wanted a
new perspective.
Somehow
this disk reminds me of “The Prophecy” the disk that redefined the
way people saw Kataklysm. But
at the same time I think that each Kataklysm production should be judged
individually. Like different brothers in a family, “In the arms of Devastation” is the big brother. This new production is more mature,
deep and intense and it features the right amount of ingredients to
please every kind of Kataklysm fan. The brutality and the speed for the
blast freaks, and technical virtuosity for the mature experienced ear.
There’s
a technical improvement and my guess is that it has to do with the
amount of time that this guys dedicate to the creation of this glorious
masterpiece. In their previous efforts they didn’t have much time to
play around and improved the songs. Now they have shown what they can
accomplish.
This
album delivers nine tracks of packet brutality.
The
second track “Let Them
Burn” is killer. Lots of melody put into it. But
sick and twisted at the same time. You will hear some surprises on the
vocals here. The dual vocal attack is better than ever.
“Crippled
& broken” is the typical Kataklysm track. With an excellent
mid-paced sound and a melodic background. The guitars sound clean and
powerful.
“Open
Scars”, here again the guitars sound perfect and I mean that their
sound really surpass what this guys have done before.
“To
reign again” has a nice peaceful guitar intro ... and then all is
unleashed . It’s a real mind mangler. With persistent ear piercing
double bass. And clean cut riffs. Actually this is one of the best
tracks in this record. And it will be a great track to hear it live. I
can imagine the moshpit.
“Temptations
nest” it’s a track with great lyrics, some guitar surprises and a
brutal vocal performance by Mauricio.
The
track “It turns to Rust” is just vocal galore. It’s the track
where Mauricio and Morgan Lander destroy everything. It just
brutal!. This song will prove wrong all who opposed Kataklysm’s
decision to have Morgan Lander as guest vocals. The combination of their
voices is just amazing. The song is melodic and pretty rhythmical.
The
mid-paced passed track. " The Road to Devastation” it’s slow but it
pounds your head like a machine. Different vocal styles meet here to
delight the listener.
This
disk is a must for all extreme metal fans out there.
rating: 10/10
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