The problem with black metal is that it tried to evolve, not realizing that it was the ultimate evolution and had to go within, making more complex melodies and keeping its droning ambient mood-shifting textural structure. Katavasia attempts to return to black metal with heavy metal roots like Varathron, from which it borrowed personnel.
Verses fit within the speed metal pattern of lots of trudging rhythms and muted strumming multiple times of the same note — did these guys listen to a lot of Anthrax growing up? — but choruses break into melodic lead riffs that have a tendency to run several phrases into a harmonious conclusion with slight dissonance beforehand, giving these songs a wistful sound.
If you look too deeply into this release, you find classic heavy metal somewhere between Budgie and Mercyful Fate, but with the riff-knitting style of underground metal, it makes a storytelling ambience out of these old riff forms. These two tracks portend more in the future.
Tags: Black Metal, katavasia
The first sentence of this article is an interesting assertion, and I’m beginning to agree. I see this sort of “looking within” recently with bands like Sammath and Kaeck, Infamous, etc.
Kind of sounds like Painkiller as if were wrote by Darkthrone, I like it.
New Darkthrone album isn’t bad, judging from the first 5 minutes.
New Darkthrone is pretty great. They’re kinda weird in their post Moonfog era. I didn’t like the second newest album at all, but the one before that was a pretty big return to form. The ones before that will be like a whole bunch of stinkers with one or two legitimately good heavy metal songs kinda snuck in there, like “Running for Borders” or “Norway in September.”