Album Review: Kataklysm – Goliath
Reviewed by Gareth Pugh
Astonishingly, this is album number fifteen for the more than prolific Canadian Death Metal practitioners Kataklysm; the self-proclaimed ‘Northen Hyperblast’. That’s quite some return in the 30-year existence of the band.
New album, the ten track ‘Goliath’ marks the first outing of new drummer James Payne, who eases himself into the position with a highly impressive performance and, like so often is the case when a new member joins, has injected an extra boost of energy and fresh impetus into the band. Not that they were lacking previously, but when you change a quarter of your line-up, the dynamic is going to shift somewhat and in this instance seemingly for the best. Upping the aggression, without losing that hold on melody, the band; completed by Maurizio Iacono (Lead vocals), Jean-François Dagenais (Guitars) and Stéphane Barbe (Bass), have really raised the bar this time, 2020’s ‘Unconquered’ was a strong album, but it this time round things seem a bit more intense.
After a brief spoken intro of warning, ‘Dark Wings of Deception’ opens with a melodic chug, before blasting into a grinding maelstrom of riffs, Maurizio spitting out the lyrics with vitriolic bile, before a cool juxtaposition of clean and distorted guitars, while Payne proves his worth with stunning double bass work and blasts beats galore. The title track eases us in at first, then pulverises with a deadly groove, and a remorseless snare that beats you to the ground. You might be familiar with first single ‘Die as a King’, with its thick gnarly riffs, it switches neatly between a crushing mid-tempo groove and a melodic motif and is probably one of the albums more ‘instant’ tracks, and together with ‘Bringer of Vengeance’, with its unashamedly heavy breakdown, is probably as close to out and out appealing as Kataklysm gets.
‘Combustion’ smashes hardcore into death metal to form a relentless, neck snapping groove. The eerie, atmospheric intro scrape of ‘The Redeemer’ makes your hairs stand on end before a crushing, percussive onslaught that Fear Factory (obviously a major influence) themselves would be proud of, and a deadly melodic, middle eight. ‘Gravestones & Coffins’ starts in the most experimental manner with its unorthodox rhythm before sliding into more familiar territory, while longest track ‘The Sacrifice for Truth’ finishes the album on a real high, a mini epic, starting with undulating, chugging riffs, predominant bass and cool melodic leads, it evolves into a dense, gruellingly heavy, yet pensive and thoughtful track with long drawn out artistic fade.
Self-produced by François Dagenais, with help from the legendary Colin Richardson (Carcass, Machine Head, Overkill, Trivium, to name but a few), the sound is modern, and suitably heavy whilst not sounding too processed and compressed, which is always a danger with music this complex. The band has wisely used more stunning artwork from probably the busiest artist in metal at the moment, and whose work is instantly recognisable, the always brilliant, Eliran Kantor (Kreator, Helloween, Testament, eitc.). ‘Goliath’ is an excellent new album, which should more than please existing fans, the band haven’t tried to fix what isn’t broken, but they have tweaked the songwriting just enough to remain almost the same but still interesting and relative. A splendid addition to an already impressive back catalogue.
