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Kataklysm - Heaven's Venom review



Reviewer:
8.1

169 users:
7.39
Band: Kataklysm
Album: Heaven's Venom
Release date: August 2010


01. Soulless God
02. Determined (Vows Of Vengeance)
03. Faith Made Of Shrapnel
04. Push The Venom
05. Hail The Renegade
06. As The Walls Collapse
07. Numb And Intoxicated
08. At The Edge Of The World
09. Suicide River
10. Blind Savior

Kataklysm has been on the metal scene for a long time. Long enough to lose musical focus. Happily this is not the case as they have come back with one hell of a record. Heaven's Venom is the god forsaken love child of In The Arms Of Devastation and Serenity Of Fire. It's melodic and crushing to say the least.

The opening song, "A Soulless God," is a good start to the album: it sets the tone, has a cool chorus, and includes the crazy scream vocals I loved from In The Arms of Devastation (seemed to be lacking in Prevail). However the 40 second intro is a bit much. That voice is also becoming overused. It has opened the last couple Kataklysm albums. Other notable songs are "Determined (Vows of Venegence)," "Hail The Renegade" and "At The Edge Of The World." The song "Faith Made Of Shrapnel" has a very interesting slower part in it. It also features the most metal title on the album.

The album has some less than stellar moments as well. Their first single, "Push The Venom" I found to be one of the weaker songs. It's set at a very monotonous pace. Lyrics also seem rushed at times. The first 15 seconds of "Blind Savior" is very annoying. However the rest of the song is reminiscent of "The Road To Devastation." "Das Feuer Lebt (Anthem)" isn't very good either.

Heaven's Venom sounds very polished, and is one of their most inspired offerings of their 19 year career. A big step above Prevail. It sounds like Kataklysm.


Rating breakdown
Performance: 8
Songwriting: 8
Originality: 7
Production: 8

Written by Svneatr | 02.01.2011




Guest review disclaimer:
This is a guest review, which means it does not necessarily represent the point of view of the MS Staff.

Staff review by
Troy Killjoy
Rating:
5.7
Death metal
Canada
Nuclear Blast

Line-up on the CD:
Maurizio Iacono - vocals
J-F Dagenais - guitars
Stephane Barbe - bass
Max Duhamel - drums

Commercial death metal is - in the eyes of this reviewer - a dead sound. It is far too safe and lacks the integral extremity that makes for something in the genre's style worth listening to in the first place. Kataklysm, one of the more notable Canadian death metal connoisseurs, have taken their Northern Hyperblast trademark sound and ventured into generic territory. So much so you can judge this accurately just by the cover art: yet another appearance by the infamous gargoyle. It will probably sound a lot like the other gargoyle-graced albums.

Read more ››
published 12.03.2011 | Comments (63)


Comments

Comments: 4   Visited by: 71 users
03.01.2011 - 01:42
Rating: 8
MétalNoir
Fils du Lys
Suicide River should be mentionned as a highlight... It's the only Kat song that actually sends shivers down my spine, the leading riff is so fucking epic!
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Notre destinée n'est pas encore tracée....
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27.01.2011 - 02:54
Rating: 8
Kuroboshi

Their best ever, I mean, it sounds like they finally found their sound to me. Prevail was just so shitty in comparison. And many of the earlier albums didn't seem to have the right... flow.
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28.01.2011 - 09:00
LordMoe

Written by MétalNoir on 03.01.2011 at 01:42

Suicide River should be mentionned as a highlight... It's the only Kat song that actually sends shivers down my spine, the leading riff is so fucking epic!


I agree. Best song on the album.
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12.07.2020 - 19:26
Rating: 10
thewall30

This is the perfect Kataklysm record imo. Brings back memories and they kicked ass on this tour
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