7/10
Oh how hearing a local band makes my heart fly. God damn it, it’s been almost a year since I’ve seen any live music at all, and no, online events don’t count. Basically, every part of my living being is yearning for anything that could bring me closer to Montreal’s absolutely immaculate metal scene. One of Montreal’s longest lasting death metal bands with quite a consistent track record, Kataklysm, have brought me a sense of nostalgia that feels almost invalid since that nostalgia is that of things that were in our lives not all that long ago. The extreme metal, the dedicated and insane fans, the beer, the several-times-a-week tipsiness, the welcoming warmth of a crowd… this is what nostalgic dreams are made of today. With their latest release, Unconquered, the band sticks to what seems to work and delivers a pleasing product that makes me appreciate our local metal scene even more.
Theoretically speaking, this album is thoroughly heavy and intense, and relatively satisfying. Near-constant blast beats just really soothe my soul, how could I not love that most of the album is just a relentless cry for audible brutality? With a length of only thirty-eight minutes, it’s a real quickie when it comes to getting what needs to be done, done fast and done satisfyingly. This tends to cross over into a bit of redundancy, but in my humblest opinion, it gets totally forgotten when that heavenly blast best comes back into play. What can I say? You can take the girl out of the trashy metal shows, but you can’t take the trashy metal shows out of the girl.
Interestingly enough, we hit a bit of a nu-metal kind of feel with “Icarus Falling,” but this is a successful track in terms of the overall groove. We also can’t forget the last track that seriously brings a great close to the album as a whole. This is a very smooth finish to a half-hour of energy being spent in frivolous ways.
This isn’t the first and definitely won’t be the last local metal band that makes me proud to be part of the crazy world of Montreal metal. Kataklysm holds their title quite well, for now.
Written by Talia Plante
*Edited by Dominic Abate
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