It’s amazing to think that this is the 14th full length studio album from Kataklysm. It also appears to be Oli Beaudoin’s swansong after drumming for the band on the last 4 albums, and I must say that his northern hyperblasting shall be missed.
The album wastes very little time going from the acoustic guitar with building military drum rolls to Maurizio Iacono throwing in a roar as Oli kicks off the blasting on “The Killshot” with JF Dagenais and Stéphane Barbe following suite on their guitar and bass respectively, yet somehow still managing to keep a great melody going throughout. If you haven’t watched the video for this yet, do yourself the favour of doing so.
Next up we have “Cut Me Down”, which features additional vocals by Tuomas Saukkonen of Wolfheart on the chorus, as the bruising song charges along, again featuring an awesome melody being played by JF on his 7 string.
Feeling far groovier is “Underneath The Scars”, where the popping bass adds to the manic drumming while the second guitar track pulls back to make for easier listening as its groove hold you enthralled.
“Focused To Destroy You” is an extremely precise track, with no frills bar the lead guitar break, as it pummels its way from beginning to end.
Buzzing guitar and bass over the steady paced drums for “The Way Back Home” give the song an almost ballad-like feel when compared to the rest of the album, but is it by no means a slow song for that matter.
The catchy riff on “Stitches” is emphasised by the drumming pattern that breaks down into clever fills and rolls while “Defiant” is plain and simple blasting with its main emphasis on speed rather than groove or melody.
They even incorporate a piano into “Icarus Falling” with its heavy but concentrated riffing and drumming to go with Maurizio’s angry roar, which sounds even more malicious when solely over the piano before everything else kicks in once more.
Finishing off on a strong by slow note we have “When It’s Over”, where even though there’s no blasting, they still manage to get more than heavy enough to drive their message of despair home.
What I really enjoy about Kataklysm is the energy that goes into everything they release and somehow, they seem reenergised on this album, making it even more enjoyable to listen to.
(8/10 Marco Gaminara)
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