Kataklysm
In the Arms Of Devastation ()
Wydane przez Nuclear Blast RecordsRok wydania Kraj CanadaNapisał Wouter5
How the mighty have fallen. There used to be a time when Canadian death metal formation Kataklysm were doing something groundbreaking and innovative. Since frontman/vocalist Sylvain Houde left in '99 the band has progressively adapted a watered down, simplified version of their once recognizable sound. They've somehow become as prolific in releasing albums as Vader, dishing something out about every year or two. "In the Arms Of Devastation" is not much of a departure from 2004's "Serenity In Fire", 2002's "Shadows & Dust" or 2001's "Epic : the Poetry Of War" for that matter. Similarly this record oozes with easily accessible almost metalcore-ish interpretations of melodic death metal with enough Gothenburg sensitivities to appeal to both the aforementioned metalcore - as the Swedish melodic death metal audience that's currently riding high waves in the US. Kataklysm retains enough melody, technicality and brutality to not get too musically challenging for their younger audience. The emphasis is definitely on the mid-tempo parts but the songwriting is still nothing to write home about. In that department the band has taken an incredible nose-dive over the last half decade. ‘Like Angels Weeping (the Dark)' proves these guys are masters of groove and ‘It Turns to Rust' - a duet with Morgan Lander (of nu-metal sensation Kittie) - is laughable at best. The production work by guitarist Jean-François Dagenais is just too pristine and clean for an extreme metal album. The mixing work by Tue Madsen (Mnemic, In-Quest, Aborted) once again proves why he's the most sought after guy in metal these days. Overall, I can't say that I can recommend this album to anyone in good consciousness. If you liked the band's last 3 records, you will no doubt find a lot to like on this album. If you happen to be from the early days, you'll find nothing of interest here.
www.kataklysm.net
