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Released on November 6, 2015 via Moment of Collapse Records
After teasing us with two extremely promising tracks, Cataya have now finally put together and released this astonishing 4 song EP called Sukzession (or should I say LP as this goes over 40 mins). I have to say this was one of my most anticipated releases of the year.
This six piece German/Belgian band formed in 2014 is a unique blend of post-rock, post-metal, doom and even blackgaze. What they created is epic in every sense. Perfectly conceived build ups, their insatiable sense of urgency… They clearly know where to get and how to get there.
The opener ‘Cumbre en Niebla’ (Summit in Fog) offers us all what we most like in an instrumental band: blistering guitars and orgasmic releases of energy and emotions. Their sense of urgency, as mentioned before, is a crucial part in how Cataya sound. There’s definitely not a boring moment with unnecessary breakdowns or repetitive riffs or melodies. They want to get to the point and they want to get there now!
Expect the unexpected. Nothing is predictable. They will throw curveball after curveball and they will play with your emotions. It’s incredible to see how they challenge themselves as musicians and how they want to challenge the listener.
After the first track, you’d probably expect more of the same but ‘Sombre Sommeil’ (Dark Sleep) proves you wrong. It’s doomy and heavy as fuck! It makes you feel that you are in the gloomiest and most depressing place on earth but the light and hope quickly starts shedding in and both slowly blend together in a final epic explosion. I can just imagine how great this track would sound live.
The storm has settled and in comes ‘Ascended From the Depth’, which is a 13 minute mammoth that brings back the gloomy and dark vibes. This is by far one of most intense pieces of music I’ve heard this year. The mid section, the blastbeats… just wow! The guitars are to die for, the catharsis… I have no words for, and when you think it’s over, then comes the most massive of riffs. Such a great ending to the most complete song on this EP.
Don’t get fooled by the short ambient passage as ‘Tal Sperre’ (Dam) quickly releases all the repressed emotions. However, there are so many of these emotions and Cataya knows how to perfectly blend these and take you from one mood to another culminating in the epic ending.
With the year coming to an end and everyone wanting to get their best of lists ready, this is by far one of the best instrumental releases of 2015 and maybe worth including in your list.
I’d also like to mention that it’s incredible how mature they sound. This might just be their debut but they sound like they’ve been playing together for decades. So tight, such a well oiled machine. I will be following them closely.
