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KATAKLYSM
Waiting For The End To Come

Nuclear Blast (2013)
Rating: 6/10

Québec’s deathsters Kataklysm are most certainly veterans of the genre; having formed in the early 90s they’ve been prolific ever since, bringing their aggressive sound to the masses, with Waiting For The End To Come being their 11th full-length opus.

Despite belching out so many albums over the years, I’ve always found Kataklysm to be an inconsistent act, with their previous opus Heaven’s Venom (2010) being a rather bland affair that seemed to upset critics all round. It seems that Kataklysm hit somewhat of a purple patch in the late 90s and early 00s, although there are times throughout Waiting For The End To Come that I remain unsure of this combo.

Album opener ‘Fire’ is an epic-sounding skull-rattler featuring hyper drums from Oli Beaudoin (standing in for Max Duhamel, who’s taken a break from the band to deal with personal issues) and those deep, rasping vocals of Maurizio Iacono, and its shift in pace really allows the listener into its murky dungeon. As expected, Jean-François Dagenais’ guitar sound dabbles with the modern as it creates a frenzy of crushing and racy riffing, but there appears to be no real variety to distinguish ‘Fire’ from ‘If I Was God… I’d Burn It All’, which is equally frothing – if a tad more melodic – but still rather bland.

Kataklysm, despite their skill, have always remained a bit of an enigma, never quite being brutal enough or heavy enough to stand out from the crowd. These guys never fail in being sturdy, but if you’re seeking thrills then look elsewhere. Just like the previous brace of records, Waiting For The End To Come is rather formulaic and repetitive, especially in that trigger drum sound and those predictable injections of pace.

I’ve yet to be overly convinced by a Kataklysm opus to be honest, but as Maurizio Iacano blasts “We are the victims, we are the prey” on ‘Like Animals’ I’m of the opinion that somewhere in that vast cess-pit of modern death metal noise there is hope for Kataklysm. ‘Like Animals’ is the only track that really offers a punishing groove, combining the likes of old Machine Head with mid-90s death metal.

Of course, while I don’t expect Kataklysm to reignite the magic of albums such as Sorcery (1995), I’m always left unfulfilled by their releases. This isn’t to say that Kataklysm have run out of ideas, but the likes of ‘Under Lawless Skies’ just pass me by like goodness knows how many other bands of this ilk, in spite of those juddering drums.

Fans of Kataklysm will no doubt lap up the groove-based sludge of ‘The Darkest Days Of Slumber’ and the thrashing death of ‘Empire Of Dirt’, but Waiting For The End To Come is not going to move mountains, let alone planets.

Neil Arnold

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