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Kataklysm - Of Ghosts And Gods review



Reviewer:
8.0

161 users:
7.93
Band: Kataklysm
Album: Of Ghosts And Gods
Style: Death metal
Release date: July 31, 2015
A review by: Windrider


01. Breaching The Asylum
02. The Black Sheep
03. Thy Serpents Tongue
04. Soul Destroyer
05. Vindication
06. Marching Through Graveyards
07. Shattered
08. Hate Spirit
09. Carrying Crosses
10. The World Is A Dying Insect
11. Fire [live] [bonus]
12. Push The Venom [live] [bonus]
13. Elevate [live] [bonus]
14. Blood In Heaven [live] [bonus]

Kataklysm is surely one of the constants in death metal: releasing an album every few years, maintaining their line-up for almost two decades and only changing on the drums, and being a guarantee for some quality music. With their latest release, Waiting For The End To Come, they let some dynamics return to the otherwise so heavy style, and that was pretty refreshing overall. Now it's time to prove that they can hold onto that path. Of Ghosts And Gods is here to please all fans of their latest stuff.

The 45 minute work consists of ten Kataklysm trademark songs that pick up where Waiting For The End To Come left. A mixture of the well-known heavy-slow riffs and the new dynamic-fast style comes together to form what looks like the new masterplan. The new drummer seems to fit in perfectly and the single guitar concept is working fine as always, thanks to the skills of bassist Stephane Barbe, who plays a full support role that leaves no wishes unfulfilled. Vocals of Maurizio Iacono still claim to be one of the best within the genre, this time using his growl style almost exclusively, save on the glorious hymn "Hate Spirit". While we're at it, a note on production: on first thought there seems to be less power within the vocals than on former albums, but after some tracks it seems to be an issue of the mix that favors the other instruments, probably due to the more melodic style now.

Of Ghosts And Gods starts off with one of the best tracks on it, namely the opener "Breaching The Asylum". Though some might argue that the chorus is somewhat generic, in the second half there lies a part with 38 of the best seconds this band has released for some years. It somehow feels like a vocal solo but go find out for yourself. The next songs carry on with some more or less spectacular moments, while it should be pointed out that "Vindication" shows just how great a faster style fits to all the members. However, on the last track "The World Is A Dying Insect" they go full melodic, resembling Dark Tranquillity in the beginning and some rough Insomnium later on.

Kataklysm leave us another quality release, heading in the right direction without losing their roots. Although there is nothing revolutionary in it, Of Ghosts And Gods is a pretty good output that deserves recognition and will satisfy most headbangers and fans from old and new times. If this style carries on for some more years I predict a golden future for the band.


Rating breakdown
Performance: 10
Songwriting: 8
Originality: 7
Production: 8

Written by Windrider | 16.07.2015




Comments

Comments: 6   Visited by: 259 users
16.07.2015 - 23:02
Rating: 8
Hellcult
Looking forward to it
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And I see the blade fall down upon the head of lord in heaven
And Darkness falls upon the end of history
While I drink the milk of the Black Goddess and cry over the mankind

Black Moses is my name...
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17.07.2015 - 10:06
theFIST
From what i heard of it so far i"d agree with deadone that it"s just another Kataklysm album, good in itself but replacable, so not quite 7 originality

i would strongly object to the 8 score for production though
it has (this part is common nowadays unfortunately) a too loud snare, and (fortunately not as common) an obnoxious amount of bottom end, to the point of being completely out of balance
for that point i"d give it 2
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http://metalstormmusicianscorner.bandcamp.com
Written by Warman on 07.11.2007 at 22:39
Haha, that's like saying "compose your own Metal album and upload it here, instead of writing a review of an album". :lol:

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17.07.2015 - 12:39
s_t_s
When I started reading this rewiew, I instantly understood I wouldn't agree with the author. Kataklysm sure isn't a bad band but they lack a little something that would take them out of the lot. At it is now they just sound bland and unoriginal.
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18.07.2015 - 00:20
Bad English
Tage Westerlund
Ever ending band, all albums same ....
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I stand whit Ukraine and Israel. They have right to defend own citizens.

Stormtroopers of Death - "Speak English or Die"

I better die, because I never will learn speek english, so I choose dieing
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19.07.2015 - 20:25
qlacs
"The Quaker"
Just came back from Rockmaraton and they kicked f*king ass. Out of the 3 new songs they played 2 was pretty much fine.
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19.07.2015 - 20:54
Lord_Regnier
Written by theFIST on 17.07.2015 at 10:06

it has a too loud snare

A too loud or simply annoying sounding snare can be very detrimental to an album.
That's a thing I dislike in Powermetal, for example. Sometimes, the snare is so much louder than anything else that you 'loose everything else' each time the snare hits and you have the feeling that you hear only the drums.

It's also a common problem in extreme Metal, when the snare in blasting sections is as loud as in slower sections. Don't take me wrong, I like blastbeats and nearly every band I'm listening to on a regular basis feature blastbeats but usually the snare is lower in the mix when it blasts. When the snare is always at the same volume, the blasting sections can be very annoying because everything is buried under a barrage of blasting snare, making it almost impossible to follow guitar riffs.
One of the reasons (there are many others) why I prefer by far Black Metal to Death Metal. The blastbeats in Brutal Death and Tech Death are often too loud for my taste. I like blastbeats as a complement to fast music, incorporated in the overall sound and not on top of everything. In fact, I usually prefer when blastbeats are barely audible because, imo, they give the right feel without getting in the way of anything else.
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"Why would we fear death, when life is so much more frightening?"
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