It’s been a few years since I caught up with Kataklysm, since 2004’s ‘Serenity In Fire’ in fact, although that’s not been a conscious decision to avoid them, just one of those cases where there are so many bands to listen to and so little time. The level of vitriol I’ve heard directed their way in the last few years has been almost up there with that aimed at fellow Quebecois band Cryptopsy when they experimented with their style a few years ago. Whilst there’s generally no problem with bands experimenting with their style; after all no band can stay the same for 20+ years and remain fresh, fans do tend to take exception if they consider that their favourite bands are either operating well below their potential, or worse, pandering to a particular, seemingly lesser demographic. When I first encountered Kataklysm it was with 1995’s ‘Sorcery’, which remains for me one of my favourite death albums of all time. The style changed quite severely over the next few albums, although never so much that I found myself at odds with what they were doing. ‘Waiting For The End To Come’ is their first album in three years. After talking a critical kicking over their last album, does this see them back on the right track?
My immediate thought is that Kataklysm now sound like a band with an identity crisis. Elements of the old band remain, with periods of extremely impressive technicality and a violent bludgeoning urgency that must take precedence above all else. This for me was the beauty of the Kataklysm of old, where conventional song structure was simply not required or desired, and there was an intensity that was more intoxicating than any catchy hook or chorus could have achieved. Flashes of that band still remain like echoes, but they are largely overshadowed by the glossy production values and scene friendliness that the band have embraced in more recent times. The flavour is still death metal, but brutality has been sacrificed for melody, and whilst that would normally be no bad thing, they now find themselves playing in an already overcrowded arena instead of at the top of the pecking order in a more niche market. Despite the clear watering down of their sound in the past decade, their talent still speaks volumes and the skill in the musicianship clearly elevates them above many of the melodic death crowd with the guitars of Jean-François Dagenais in particular providing a stand out element of this album. The drumming lacks outright brutality and seems to be just standard fare for the style, their self-styled title of Kings of Northern Hyperblast being long since out of date. Tracks such as the fiery opener ‘Fire’ and ‘Kill The Elite’ retain some of that old energy, but the majority just seems to be largely uninspired and formulaic melodeath.
Having taken a very quick retrospective listen to the last few albums that I had missed, I can say that ‘Waiting For The End To Come’ is certainly a step back in the right direction, but there is little to separate this from the myriad of other Melodeath contenders out there. It’s not the disaster that many people warned me about, not by a sizeable margin; but it’s equally far from being a triumphant return to form. I’d love to hear these guys return to their older style, but I think we can be quite sure that Kataklysm are not going to be making any U-turns now, especially with this style being so popular with a wider audience. I’m sure that this will be viewed by many as a success, but to the discerning death metal fan this is a largely bland and soulless, if workmanlike effort.
(6/10 Lee Kimber)
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