Kataklysm have a solid case for being True Warriors of death metal. Aside from a perplexing one-album transformation into a hardcore band they’ve waved the flag of mono-directional, bombastic martial DM for two decades now. A pity, then, that in a year which has seen death metal rise to greater heights than it’s occupied for years, a new Kataklysm album sounds so weak.
For a band who seem so monolithic it’s more diverse than you might expect – a sinister black metal riff here, saccharine Gothenburg melody there, touch of grind in the corner and even some riffs that border on (sharp intake of breath) nu-metal – but it’s all delivered in this flat, passionless mode that strips it of any real power. There are some real dabbling-with-arena-metal moments, too – ‘Under Lawless Skies’ in particular switches between chugging grooves and the kind of eyes-turned-heavenwards soaring choruses that would have positively screamed “play this on Scuzz!” in 2005.
It’s not all bad, of course (another cliché. I’m still blaming the band). The playing is competent throughout, song-writing is pretty tight and streamlined, and they certainly know how to write a big crushing riff. There’s no passion to it, though – no balls and ultimately no meaning. They sound like they’re playing fast and shouting because they’re a death metal band and that’s what death metal bands do, rather than because they have any valid emotional reason to do so.
It’s hard to imagine who Waiting For The End To Come (Nuclear Blast) is really aimed at in 2013. “The Kids” who once would have snapped this sort of thing have moved elsewhere – and in all honesty had better bands to turn to before they did – while Old-School death metal fans will turn their noses up at the shininess of it and people looking for something fresh in death metal are more likely to go to Portal and Ulcerate. If You Like This Sort Of Thing, This Is The Sort Of Thing You Will Like – I am the king of clichés and I claim my £5.
5/10
Richie H-R