YES! The return of Katakysm! It’s been a while since these French-Canadian death metal legends blessed us with their presence and, with the aptly-titled Goliath, the band make one hell of a return. Following on from 2020’s impressive Unconquered, Goliath is a brutal, ten-track album dedicated to snapping necks and wrecking heads and oh hell does it do the business. With the song-writing pared to the bone, the emphasis is on causing maximum damage with minimum exposure and the result is an album that absolutely slays across its forty-minute runtime.
It opens, as expected, with a brief sample before the band bow their heads and unleash the splenetic horror of Dark Wings of Deception. Still recognisably Kataklysm, the shifting tempos and brief moments of quiet add in a touch of Behemoth class, and the result is one of the darkest, heaviest tracks to which the band have ever put their name. As always, Maurizio Iacono’s vocals dominate, his presence an indominable force driving both the track and the band forward, but there’s no doubting the power and precision of new drummer James Payne (who joined in 2020), whose relentless percussive assault provides Mauizio with an underpinning thunder that threatens to overwhelm the listener. No less impressive is the title track, which sees Jean-Francois Dagenais unleashing a searing riff that twists and snaps over James’ stunning barrage. Impressively, for all the weight the band deploy, the track achieves an almighty groove, and then it’s over, the band wrenching the listener from their reverie with full-tilt brutality of Die As A King. Yet, as powerful as the opening tracks are, little prepares you for the sheer weight of Bringer Of Vengeance, a stunning track that makes deft use of light and shade to ensure that the listener remains in thrall as the band roll remorselessly forward. It’s rare, in this cynical era, that a simple track can reduce you to the quivering state of a rabbit in the headlights, but Bringer Of Vengeance is one such piece of music and it towers over the album like the titular monster. Combustion rounds out the first half and, as its name implies, it’s a suitably explosive track, the band once more delivering a churning groove guaranteed to give those neck muscles a workout. However, it’s not the riffs that will stick in the mind so much as the feral screams that dominate the piece, only adding to the sense that this may be Kataklysm’s heaviest outing yet.
Opening the second side, the band seek to stun with the mechanistic horror of From the Land of the Living to the Land of the Dead. With James Payne giving the track an industrial feel, it’s a ferocious outpouring of molten metal that rains down destruction upon the opposition. Next up, The Redeemer allows a moment of pause, the band slowly building the track rather than simply unloading on the hapless listener. A darker, more reflective piece, it’s still heavier than an elephant riding an anvil on a sea of mercury, but the brief hiatus at least allows a moment to regroup your shattered senses before the band assault once more. Harking back to the awesome In The Arms Of Devastation, Heroes to Villains is simply a great Kataklysm track, while Gravestones and Coffins opens on a thunderous drum motif and only gets heavier from there. With Stephane Barbe’s bowel-threatening bass and Mauizio’s rhythmic bark ensuring the track keeps the listener pinned to their seat, Gravestones and Coffins sees Kataklysm show no sign of slowing down as they head for The Sacrifice For Truth, the record’s lengthiest track and a suitably epic finale. A truly grandiose piece, The Sacrifice For Truth makes strong use of clean guitar parts and subtle melody to ensure that the album ends on a high, Kataklysm leaving the field of battle strewn with the bodies of their enemies.
Kataklysm remain one of death metal’s most enduring and consistent forces. Driven by great musicianship and given greater weight by Maurizio’s intelligent and articulate lyrics, the band never disappoint. Indeed, on this album – their fifteenth – the band have, if anything, become even heavier, leaving the listener in no doubt that they’ve spent forty minutes in the presence of greatness. 9.5/10
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