And there it is again... the problem with the increasing amount of drawers and categories for all sorts of styles and sub-genres in Rock and Metal.
Swiss band CATARACT is said to be the spearhead of the international Metalcore scene, but in my opinion with Kingdom they deliver a straight Thrash album…
But let’s start from the beginning: after the last record With Triumph Comes Loss quite impressed me I was curious what they would come up now. What can I say? They even topped this one! Seems like CATARACT have bundled all their strength and unleashed a maximum of energy and power. Stylistically they range between late At The Gates (isn’t it the interface of all Metalcore bands?), we-are-getting-on-a-bit Slayer and brand new and enjoyable: Exhorders The Law, that specially suits CATARACT well.
It already sums up on the opening double-pack Kingdom’s Rise/War Of Cultures, where the band rocks down the earth, demanding all cervical vertebrae. By the way... also the singing goes explicitly this direction: singer Fedi has left behind all rough and undifferentiated Death grunts/Hardcore throats and presents himself with a raw topnotch Thrash-pipe, other bands could be jealous of. The closeness to Metal (instead of Metalcore) gets also documented by the fact that there is no clean voice, but a continuous broadside musically. CATARACT focus on crunchy and precise riff- and speed attacks such as in Denial Of Life, Legions At The Gates and For Their Sins, but also manage the profession of catchy mid-tempo crushers as songs such March With Your Battleforce and Unforgotten (sounds like Bolt Thrower) impressively prove. Hardcore references one will find soonest in the refrains and the (good) content of the lyrics. So, don’t get scared by the titles that seemingly serve all clichés (which they actually do not).
The limited edition of Kingdom contains a bonus CD with 10 tracks, whereas four of them are re-recorded old songs (from the times signed to Lifeforce) and the rest are live tracks from the last year’s Metal Blade anniversary festival. Among them a cover version of Nasty Savage’s classic XXX can be found that suits extremely well to the CATARACT style.
Altogether, not that much to nag about Kingdom I’d say. Maybe a bit about the running time of the regular CD… or the fact that booklet and packaging look great but it is really heavy to read anything on it. After all just small potatoes that don’t reduce anything. Kingdom is definitely worthwhile 9 fat points, whereas I consciously let some space to the top…