| 27.09.2002 | ||
 |
||
 |
In Shadows And Dust
(2:24)
|
Maurizio Iacono - vocals |
| KATAKLYSM: "Shadows & Dust" kataklysm NBR | ||
| released
23.09.2002
|
||
| review by dalia "gryphon_spirit" di giacomo____ | ||
| Ohh what a cool surprise!
This album really kicks ass, and the incredible
fact is that so many metalheads will like it i presume, and not only the
Death Metal freaks. I have rarely heard such a winning
mixture of brutal assault and melody, so that the canonic death
Metal schemas merge with aggressive heaviness but also with
dark melody, making this work nearly accessible to a wide audience
and really
enjoyable in every track. Rarely heard such breakdowns,
such biting and sharp guitars, such extreme death rhythm turning in such
catchy and involving tracks.
|
||
| All tracks of this sixth album of the Canadian quartet are valuable and brilliant, but if possible 2 of them are considered by me as a masterpiece in their genre, so i would at once mention them : Beyond Salvation and Where the Enemy sleeps. In both songs the characteristics of the album are extremely highlighted. Aggression, speed, guitars strokes sharp like razors, incredible stop starts, powering death with black flavors interposed in a winning melody are the features of Beyond Salvation, incredible energetic track which is anyway able to offer in a rush way a rose to every listener. Brutal but fully enjoyable, where lead notes will caress you rough, deep bass and drums will throw in an abyss and hyperblast shoots will hit like a whip, supporting a pulsing restless moshing/headbanging rhythm . What it can seem a sado maso soundscape for the ears, shows itself, on the contrary, like a complete songs which will gift you with a lot of extreme emotions . More melodic, Where the enemy sleeps, presents a good quantity of angriness wrapped in recurring melodies which will meet the European taste, the rhythmic section rules while the mega speedy drums support the energy, guitar and bass work together in many tempo changes, while other changes support the down-tuned lead. Where the enemy sleeps is a masterpiece of rhythmic, a masterpiece of melodic death with some black influences, with heavy nearly mid tempo melodic passages full of anger. | ||
| In
Shadows & Dust is the merciless opener, with a spoken initial
part followed by a fast assault where speedy drum beats and
slower heavy guitars reign uncontested . Illuminati is another
drum-guitar assault where the speedy background is tempered by slower
and heavy passages. Chronicles of the Damned
puts decisively in foreground the vocals , and more complex guitar
works while often the proceeding shows heavy but rather slow loops. Bound in chains
showcases a persistent stop-start riff with more distorted
guitars, tempo changes from very fast tempos to slow ones, temperated
by a good melody. Centuries shows another
good schema of tempo changes and doom melodic moments, and the same we
can say about Face the Face of War,
where again vocals are varied. The same vocals that we find in the
final Years of Enlightment, characterized
by a spectacular melodic proceeding with drums bursts and virtuoso
guitar moments . As already mentioned, a lot of metalheads will
like this album and not only Cannibal Corpse or Six Feet Under fans but
really the whole Death Metal people, reaching also the sympathies
of fans of bands like Agathodaimon methinks or Marduk, and i
even would not exclude listeners of gothic metal too. (me for example!!
hehehe)
Awesome. 10/10 and ....stay metal! |
||
|
||
|
||
Kataklysm here simply prove to be one of best Death act and the
production of the album is awesome. Well mixed and prepared, "Shadows
& Dust" shoots incredible bass tones without sacrificing a
single instrument , so that every chords and guitar riffs are perfectly
underlined. And vocals are well distinct, passing in many
passages from the typical death grunts timbres to the Black
ones à la Dani Filth. And indeed there is in general no trace of
monotony in this album, cause the time changes are numerous but fast and
not difficult to be heard. Brachiality, brutality, doom tones ,
snares assault , double bass drums, tremolo riffs, heavy rhythmic guitars, downtuned lead,
melodic heavy metal, chorus inserts, well there is everything , and everything
contributes to create well balanced and well built songs , that in
this period of intolerance between the various subgenres, are on the
contrary a monument to the Metal, crossovering the heaviest and darkest
genres, nearly reaching the threshold of Black. Everybody who likes Metal
and is a little bit into Death, Doom Death, Heavy and (or) Black, will
appreciate this album and will listen to its tracks for long long time, being
enthralled by the killing riffs and the gloomy heaviness in the
background, and by the melodies that appear masterfully dissolving
a little bit the tremendous assault which turns this way into nostalgia and sadness and even
rough romanticism., without losing energy.
Niederrohrdorf
- Switzerland