We Are The Catalyst - Monuments - review
We Are The Catalyst - Monuments - review
Tracklist
01. Fight For Air02. The Void
03. Under The Surface
04. Every Minute Every Day
05. Never Fall
06. Not Alone
07. On Your Knees
08. A Life A Lie
09. Our Way To The Sun
10. Time Will Show
11. What You Are
12. Change
13. The Edge
A review by
tea[m]ster November 30, 2014
We Are The Catalyst was formed in Varberg, Sweden by Cat Fey and Kenny B in 2012. The band released their first EP, Panem Et Circenses in 2013 to decent notoriety. Monuments is the next maneuver for the band and their first baby steps towards commercial success. The album utilizes contrasting male and female meshed vocals, complicated and intricate electronics and programming, and an overall fan-friendly appeal for a mass-targeted audience. There is a boatload of content on Monuments, the song lengths being between the 3 and 4 minute mark and the majority are gothic/heavy metal hybrids that are both melodic and catchy. About every fourth song or so is a melancholic ballad or memoir, and since Cat's voice is the best facet of this album, those songs really outline the vast mournful mood throughout the album.
Unfortunately, their really isn't a lot of diversity on Monuments. The songs follow the same format but are presented differently by indistinguishable chord progressions, time changes and drumbeats. All the hooks and melodies seem to be more of same with just a touch of variance convoluted around each verse-chorus hue. When I was approaching the back half of the album I was hoping for a "shocker" or a fly in the ointment kind of moment, because the album gets very repetitive. It may have done the band well to shorten the amount of songs on Monuments because in the music industry positive results are often based on the less is always more philosophy. I found myself not being able to single out or hitch on to any one track; very rarely is it the case that all the songs can be lumped together into one mass of equivalent expressions.
Despite the flaws, We Are The Catalyst and their debut LP Monuments is a positive expedition into the realm of artful and captivating gothic music. The Evanescence appeal and radio-friendly elements found in the music, plus gorgeous production accessible to a broad fan base, mobilizes the atmosphere in unexpected ways. Sadness and gloom are ingredients tethered in the aura with focused energy and contrasts itself well enough to be compared to other cohesive modern metal albums. Often times when a gothic band plays it safe they get lost and forgotten over time, but since this is We Are The Catalyst's introduction to the underworld I have reason to believe that this talented duo will make the appropriate adjustments and grow in the future.
Rating breakdown
| Performance: | 8 |
| Songwriting: | 7 |
| Originality: | 6 |
| Production: | 10 |
Written on 30.11.2014 by
Written on 30.11.2014 by
Be gentle, I never said I was any good at this! Comments
Comments:
5
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 Posts: 6941 |
Posts: 6941
We Are The Catalyst follow that same superficial and assembly-line manufactured pattern made trendy by other bands of this kind today, but that's perfectly OK with me because for some unexplainable reason I really enjoy this stuff. Yes, yes, and yes. It reminds me of Linkin Park, Lacuna Coil, Evanescense, etc. But... IT'S AWESOME!! Not sure how they managed to do that  I agree with every word here. There are too many songs on the album and it can be hard to finish sometimes, plus the similarity of the songs is a bit much, yet I keep coming back to this for an enjoyable listen. Cat's vocals are AMAZING. BRILLIANT. That's probably a huge reason why this kicks so much ass. She isn't just a pretty girl whining over some OK music. She's a talented musician and storyteller over some very good music. I did notice some variety in the second half where they seem to pump up the electronic elements much to my relief, but other than that I couldn't really tell the songs apart either. Thanks for reviewing! 
---- "A life all mine Is what I choose At the end of my days" --The Gathering "A Life All Mine" from Souvenirs
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Posts: 108  |
Posts: 108
Evanescense was also the first name that came to mind with me. And yes, I too found it in some unexplainable way very enjoyable.
---- ---------------------------------------------------------- Cthulhu for President! Why settle for the lesser evil?
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| Posts: 6941 |
Posts: 6941
I'm close to regretting what I said about this being too long/songs too samey. I listened on shuffle just now and it was a completely different listening experience. It went from "guilty pleasure fun" to "pretty damn amazing." The songs flowed so much better, showed unique characteristics, and seemed better than ever. I'd recommend listening this way!
---- "A life all mine Is what I choose At the end of my days" --The Gathering "A Life All Mine" from Souvenirs
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 Posts: 9125 |
Posts: 9125
Agree with all the comments above. Alt with female vocals are clearly not my usual fare, yet I found this one to be impressively good!
---- My Author's Blog (in French)  "You must stay drunk on writing so reality cannot destroy you" "I've lost too many years now I'm stealing back my soul I am awake"
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 Posts: 8004 |
Posts: 8004
This album confirms my growing dislike of alternative metal with female vocals. That girl's got a pretty voice, but the album is so overpolished that absolutely nothing sticks out. It's quite bland and boring. Quote: Yes, and that's exactly the problem as far as I'm concerned. It's not much more interesting than these other bands.
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