Kataklysm | website | facebook | twitter |
Released on July 31, 2015 via Nuclear Blast Records
It’s not easy being in a death metal band these days as the genre stutters along trying to find some sort of handle to hold on to whilst all other sub-genres pass it by. Even doom, that most non-innovative of styles, has found itself producing albums of increasing experimentation and progression leaving its faster and more brutal cousin behind.
It’s not death metal’s fault and whilst it still grapples with past glories and true innovators of the scene, attempts to lead to a more technical edge or add a melodic element has led to rather mixed results. Indeed, its future looked like it would be completely subsumed into the metalcore scene and cast as a footnote in the history of metal.
It still has the capacity to surprise though and great albums from Chapel Of Disease, Sulphur Aeon and Cattle Decapitation this year prove there is life in the old dog yet. We can add to that this new Kataklysm album, Of Ghosts and Gods as yet further proof that we may yet have a renaissance.
Not that Kataklysm are new to this game and over the course of their lifetime, the Canadian band have released numerous albums of differing styles and quality. They are most well known for their extreme blastbeats (or northern hyperblasts as they were nicknamed), and have made a career based on this intense style of drumming. Very much to the fore on this album, they offer a ferocious background to some rather exciting music.
Kataklysm know how to build an atmosphere too and with the added samples of dialogue throughout Of Ghosts and Gods, they veer towards a more progressive death metal sound. The riffs are heavy, but they are also intelligent and lend themselves to some interesting points rather than being heavy for heavy’s sake which is a trap many bands fall into.
It’s hardly going to change the metal world, but albums like this form an important part of the culture. Cementing a sub-genre in people’s minds, there is more than enough here to stand tall with the best of class. It may lack slightly in depth, but on the whole Of Ghosts and Gods is a very good listen. For a much younger band this may even be regarded as something of a minor triumph, for Kataklysm it is business as usual and long may they continue to pursue their well trod path.
