Catacombe - Kinetic (CD) Cardboard Sleeve

Review
My Revelations
9/15

Mit Instrumental Musik tue ich mich sehr schwer. Der Gesang, oder besser gesagt die Stimme einer Band, war für mich schon immer ein herausragendes Merkmal. Nichts habe ich mehr gehasst, als wenn bei einer meiner Lieblingsbands einen Wechsel am Mikrofon stattfand. Dies einfach mal zum besseren Verständnis vorweg, bevor wir auf die Portugiesen von CATACOMBE kommen, um die es eigentlich hier geht.Die Südeuropäer liefern mit “Kinetic” ein Album ab, dass so gar nicht in mein Schema von Instrumental Musik passt, denn es regiert hier nicht Betroffenheit und Schwermut, sondern die einzelnen Songs sind mit guten Melodien ausgestattet. Ein Vergleich mit einer anderen Band liegt mir fern, denn diese Mischung aus Metal und Progressive mit vielen Rock Elementen und kleinen Ausflügen in Jazz Gefilde ist mir neu.
Die Produktion ist der Musik entsprechend sehr sauber geraten, die eingestreuten Synthesizer Einlagen absolut stimmig und die angewendeten Effekte passen sehr gut in das Gesamtbild.
Bei mir stellte sich trotz der guten Arrangements irgendwann aber ein gewisse Eintönigkeit ein, mag aber auch an der im ersten Satz genannten Tatsache liegen. Freunde dieser Musikrichtung werden definitiv an dem neuen Futter ihren Spaß haben. Für mich persönlich wird das ein einmaliges Vergnügen bleiben.

Author: Marc Schallmaier

Review
Via Nocturna
12.01.2011

Vale de Cambra, assistia, em 2007, ao nascimento dos Catacombe, um projecto germinado na mente de Pedro Sobast que pretendia criar música instrumental. Em forma individual, os Catacombe assinam em 2008 o EP Memoirs, editado pela Poison Tree Records. Após a edição deste trabalho, Pedro Sobast alargou a base de músicos do colectivo transformando esta entidade numa verdadeira banda. E assim surge Kinetic o primeiro longa duração. Na sequência do que já vinha a ser feito, Kinetic é um disco instrumental que cruza o metal com pós-rock, criando momentos de uma magia indescritível. É um trabalho de classe mundial, onde cada paisagem é pintada de uma forma muito intimista e onde se potencia um desfilar de sentimentos e emoções. Eventualmente, coisas que não podiam ser escritas e por isso se transformam em longos instrumentais coesos e capazes de criar as mais diversas sensações e ambientes. Por exemplo, os momentos lentos de Supernova são de uma melodia e sentimento a todos os níveis brilhante que, de uma forma, natural se desenvolve para momentos mais densos, mas, ainda assim, muito agradáveis. Mas, em cada um dos sete longos temas que compõem este disco poderemos encontrar diferentes estados de espírito que rapidamente se alteram guiando os ouvintes numa intensa espiral de vivências diferenciadas. O que faz com que cada tema tenha uma identidade própria e se assuma, individualmente, como uma peça importante do puzzle total que é o álbum no seu todo.

Author: Quarta-feira

Review
Hardsounds
7/10
26.02.2011

Ancora Slow Burn Records, ancora post rock impreziosito da psichedelia, post hardcore e post dark a dimostrazione che la lezione dei generi cardine è stata assorbita e rimodellata con molte più varianti che la rendono più elaborata, variegata e sfaccettata. Stavolta l’etichetta è andata a pescare in Portogallo, terra dei grandi Moonspell che come i Catacombe condividono la passione per la melodia, la malinconia e lo struggersi, qualità dispensate a piene mani in questa release la cui unica pecca è quella di eccedere in arpeggi alla Cure, vedasi “Mockba”, rendendo la composizione talvolta un pò stucchevole, ma non togliendo il merito di quanto sopra esposto. Le tracce meglio riuscite sono “Supernova” dove riff post hardcore fanno da contraltare ad arpeggi melodici, mentre aperture a mulinello tendono a stemperare l’aggressività; “Anna-Liisa”, in cui si evidenziano matrici post dark alla stregua dei maesti God Machine. Se il sound fosse stato più pulito (opera di James Plotkin, già produttore di Isis, Pelican, Earth, Khanate) si sarebbero potuti apprezzare meglio gli arpeggi e gli intarsi di chitarre, ma per un’opera prima ci accontentiamo del risultato raggiunto.

Slow Burn Records, garanzia di proposte di alto livello.

Author: Igor Fanelli

Review
Diztorted
01.03.2011

Этакий chillout sounds в духе пост-рока с его бесконечными зацикленными рисунками, плавными нарастаниями и затуханиями мелодических линий. В отличие от типичного пост-рока у группы есть и достаточно тяжёлый металлический саунд, который, на мой взгляд, даже является основой. Гитарные рифы, скорее, мелодичны, но не запоминающиеся.

Качество записи на уровне и релиз в целом звучит чисто и, может быть, даже несколько прилизанно. Хотя, от пост-рокеров и мелодичного металла ожидать андеграундности не приходится.

Таким образом, богатством музыкальных идей альбом не блещет, но за счёт своей меланхоличности и ровности, а также качества исполнения и записи вполне пригоден в качестве «около-интеллектуального» музыкального фона.

Author: Valentii

Review
Doommantia
8.5/10
12.04.2011

This Catacombe review marks the third review in a row from the Slow Burn stable of bands and this is the pick of the three not because its anything unique but because it’s so atmospherically beautiful. This is the kind of album bands like Pelican and Isis go for all the time and usually miss the mark but Catacombe have nailed it in more ways than one. Kinetic is almost kind of pretty but in a depressing way with mesmerizing melodies that ooze finesse and class without being pompous or complex. I will get the friendly warning out-of-the-way right now, this is an instrumental post-rock/metal album but it is unlike anything that has been released in the last couple of years. What is so entrancing is the way the songs build and entice you in through a hypnotic guitar sound and psychedelic yet haunting ambience. The band do crank up the heaviness at times and do have a good deal of fuzz but this is about atmosphere and this is an album that engages the listener totally.

The album begins with the excellent ‘Grundsatz’ that is a 2 minute introduction to the haunting and eerie vibe you are about to be treated to for the next 39 minutes. Its repetitive but it moves quickly into the stunning ‘Supernova’ and the even more incredible ‘Anna-Liisa.’ All up – these two songs account for over 14 minutes of psychedelic, progressive music that is nothing short of a total mind-warp. The pure emotion that is unleashed during these two pieces verge on being pure heart-breaking material but it is done in a way that very few bands throughout rock history have been able to produce. Yes had it at their peak and so did Mahavishnu Orchestra – it is almost a spiritual high or an emotional pull that sweeps you away on a cosmic musical journey. There is different counterpoints to the music like the instruments are engaged in conversation so vocals would only get in the way if they had them. Apparently they used to use a drum machine but have a human drummer now and that is a relief but still feel the desire to use samples, however these samples provide an eerie background to the songs so can’t complain there either.

The albums peak might just be an epic called ‘Memoirs’ which is constantly climbing in hypnotic ambience and energy. It is very progressive but also full of hooks that build to stunning crescendos only to fall back down again to haunted atmosphere and mesmerizing tension. It is beautifully arranged so you never notice the 10 minute-plus running time. ‘Cavalgada Epic’ however shows perfectly two sides to the band all in the one track. The first half is doom-laden and sludgy, the second half is progressive with an almost jazzy vibe. ‘Mockba’ keeps it heavy before the drums and bass both take lead roles. After their moment in the spotlight, it returns back to the heavy to close out the song. The last track is perhaps the worst, it is titled ‘Sequoia’ and is almost too light and cheerful for its own good. Maybe they just wanted some contrast at this late stage in the album but it sounds a bit out-of-place compared to the rest of the tunes which are fairly dark and chilling.

While atmospheric post metal is everywhere these days, there is not many bands that manage to release something as gorgeous as this and still sound heavy. Catacombe seem to have found a nice niche by making music that fits the post-rock tag but doesn’t follow any pre-concieved formula. It is also curious that the album seems epic in scale and yet only goes for 39 minutes, you could swear when listening to this that it is some monster piece of work. Out of the 7 songs, 6 are over 7 minutes in length but they seem to fly by in seconds due to the hypnotic nature of the songs. It is also unique that the album has no words but the songs seem to create a narrative anyway. I don’t normally go for this kind of album but I find this to be exceptionally good and a real surprise release for 2011 even though the album was recorded in January/March 2010 at Soundvision Studios. Mastering was done by James Plotkin (Isis, Khanate, Pelican, Earth) who seems to have his hand in everything these days. I highly recommend you check this one out…

Author: Ed