CATHARSIS - Rhyming Life and Death (MAD LION - CD 2014)
Have you ever heard of band
called Catharsis? Haha, yes, I know it is a foolish question, because this is
one of the most common band names! So, which Catharsis I mean, if Metal
Archives mentions 14 bands with this moniker and I am not even counting the K-atharsis,
Kaa-tharsis or whatever?! Seriously, it is just unserious. Anyways, this
Catharsis is Polish and they’re probably among the oldest bands with this name,
being formed originally in 1992. But I doubt they’re well known even in the
Polish underground. They did a 1993 demo and 1995 full length album, but then
split up and were silent for nearly twenty years. And now Catharsis is back
after almost two decades with their second album and new line up. Honestly, I
don’t remember ever hearing their old recordings. I have seen such “Bitter
Disdain” tape several times, but never bothered to give it a listen, so knowing
Catharsis only by the name I simply had no bad or good feelings about their
sudden comeback. Mad Lion Records has released their new CD “Rhyming Life and
Death” and that’s what you should know at least!
So, I didn’t really expect
much after “Rhyming Life and Death”, after all 90% of bands, which is described
as technical or progressive death metal lays far from my usual interest and
musical taste. And it doesn’t help if you mention bands like Death, Atheist,
Sceptic, Sepsis, Esquarial or even Trauma as their main influences, as I am
simply not that big fan of any of them (well, maybe except Trauma). But yes,
certainly the music on “Rhyming Life and Death” is very close to these
mentioned bands. It has similar feeling and technical riffing, with quite cool
bass and drums arrangements, some really good riffs, including few melodic
parts (especially the guitar leads), etc. Luckily, the music is also quite
dynamic and energetic, so it’s not so dull as some of the mentioned bands. So,
even if I am usually listening to more aggressive and obscure type of bands,
then I can still quite enjoy Catharsis. It’s simply solid and well written
music… OK, I will call it progressive death metal, why not!? I am actually
quite surprised myself that some of these songs are so easily listenable, like “Without
Vocation”, “Those Who Have Never Risen” for instance or my favourite “Ecological
Violence”. Oh, I need to also say that the production is really nice, heavy and
clear, perfectly fitting this kind of death metal.
What I don’t like most about
“Rhyming Life and Death” are both piano interludes, which I think are
absolutely unnecessary… I also don’t like that fragment with female vocals in
“Breath of Death”, because they sound just not good and I hate to hear such in
death metal. Generally though I can admit that this is a solid, decent album.
Well, I guess that Catharsis is sort of band, which has quite big commercial
potential and if their music was promoted well enough then this name would be
more known around the European circles. I guess that even fans of such Arch
Enemy would like it a lot. So, if you care about any of the bands I mentioned
in this review, then don’t hesitate and find a copy of “Rhyming Life and
Death”. I don’t think I will be coming back to this album often, but I can
appreciate the quality of Catharsis music.
Standout tracks: “Without
Vocation”, “Those Who Have Never Risen”, “Ecological Violence”
Final rate: 60/100
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