It was almost exactly 2 years ago, when the Hungarian metal eccentrics, THY CATAFALQUE, presented us their haunting magnum opus “Vadak,” which still resonates with an aura of unrivaled eclecticism of the most awe-inspiring kind. Now, it has come the time for the modern-day Bartok of extreme metal and the mastermind of the band, Tamás Kátai, to once again delight us with his other-worldly sonic visions; On June 16th, 2023, THY CATAFALQUE released a new album entitled “Alföld” via Season of Mist and, after a few spins, it is already unfolding as yet another exciting chapter in Kátais‘ musical corpus that seems to get more eclectic and more impressive with each new installment. Perhaps taking a cue from the band’s earlier days, the new outing comes off leaning a tad more prominently to the heavier side of things. Yet, in spite of all the throaty growls and abrasive guitar riffs, there is still a good deal of that peculiar avant-garde flourish to give the songs a nice and eccentric prog edge. I’m not sure whether “blackened prog” is a thing but as this quaint new collection of songs proves beyond any doubt, it bloody well should be.
The album kicks off with nothing short of an intense death-metal footing; the opening track, “A Csend Hegyei,” echoes the bellowing, guttural style of BLOODBATH, which is something that I wouldn’t first associate with this bunch. Then again, these Hungarian metal sages are especially famous for their back catalog, in which no two albums sound the same. The song title means “the mountains of silence,” which is rather intriguing, since silence is not exactly the word I would go for here. Mountainous it does sound. The album title translates into English as “Earth,” so I guess you couldn’t possibly set things in motion with a more earthy vibe than by resorting to the tried-and-true death metal antics – and, of course, the song is characterized by a distinctly atmospheric, almost post-black-metal -tinted aura, which separates the song from the standard-issue death-metal riffathons.
The plot thickens in “Testen Túl,” a song gearing up on the vintage black-metal aesthetics. With the song throwing a curve ball of tremolo guitars and blast-beats at the unsuspecting listener, Kátais seems to be steering more toward the band’s trademark waters. At this point, I couldn’t but notice that the production on the album is really sublime – the riffs sound punchy like Mike Tyson on steroids and, yet, the mix has a certain atmospheric edge to it. Maybe it derives, to a degree, from the choice of guitar tones themselves – they are pretty damn delicious all the way through.
Then, it seems that Kátais couldn’t rein in his progressive inclinations much longer. After flirting briefly with the barbed sounds of the previous two tracks, “A Földdel Egyenlo” dives headlong into the band’s signature realm of eclectic prog. You know, it does not happen very often that a discordant black-metal number throws in a tranquil, ambient passage with a fretless bass solo! Later on, the guitars duel in a somewhat IRON MAIDEN -flavored terrain and the layered vocals take on an ethnic folk vibe. Yes, this is exactly the kind of stuff that blew our minds on “Vadak.”
Then, rather befittingly, the title track rolls out 9 minutes more of this sort of eclectic, extreme prog. Perhaps due to the somewhat doomsday-vibed horns, the song resonates thick with the aura of BEHEMOTH‘s pristine “Blow Your Trumpets, Gabriel” and, in contrast, with the hippie-folk of yonder, largely due to the folksy Mediterranean coda featuring the elfin vocals of the guest vocalist who remains a mystery. I’m not easily impressed by the crazy fusion of contrasting elements but when it’s conducted with style, like this, I cannot be but impressed – and this is not even the best that this new THY CATAFALQUE effort has to offer.
“Folyondár” alternates between jazzy flute doodlings and the somewhat old-schoolish heavy-metal riffing so that, when the flute is soloing, you get an almost SHPONGLE-like vibe, whereas the guitar riffs will shortly remind you that, nope, you’re not listening to Simon Postford & co. Then, halfway into the song, the tempo suddenly gears up a few notches and the song plunges into ethnic folk spheres with the guitar and synth playing a mind-boggling unisono motif – before the song is wrapped up with a violin solo. The best part in all of this, obviously, is that despite all these disparate elements the song rocks really hard. “Vadak” made it to my “albums of the year”-list in 2021 and I don’t see any reason why “Alföld” would not pull the very same stunt this year.
The folksy chanting in “Csillagot Görgetð,” juxtaposed against the beautiful black-metal tremolo-guitars, trigger some nice ENSLAVED flashbacks. Folk and extreme metal is a match made in heaven, I reckon. Black metal seems to go extremely (sic!) well with a side-dish of folk pretty much regardless of whether it is sprinkled with the fairy dust of Valhalla, as in the case of those rugged Viking proggers, or with a goblet of the finest Magyar wine, as in the case of this particular song.
In a way, the album unfolds in a somewhat elliptical manner; it opens with a couple of rather straightforward tracks – at least in terms of the band’s trademark eclecticism – and closes with a couple more, separated only by a brief instrumental interlude entitled “Szíriusz.” First up, “A Felkelo Hold Országa” shoots barbed-wire riffs like a melodic panzerfaust and, to be completely honest, after the progressive extravaganza of the previous few tracks, it feels almost like a subtle let-down. On closer inspection, the riffs and the song do check out rather nicely but in the album’s flow, this sort of turnaround kind of drops the mood a notch. The peculiar synthwave arpeggios in the otherwise rather abrasive closer, “Néma Vermek,” pick up the pace. Still, the order of songs on this outing is perhaps rather odd. Then again, it is the only thing to complain about, so I wouldn’t read too much into it.
Yes, once again, THY CATAFALQUE delivers an album that is going to take some time to digest in full but, after the first few spins, it already resonates thick with an exciting aura, rolling out the band’s signature blend of eclectic ingredients from jazz to black metal to folk and whatnot. It’s hard to pinpoint exactly what genre I should consider this band to represent but, I guess, it’s the very essence of the band’s ever-growing appeal. Black metal and progressive rock are two seemingly disparate genres that many would perhaps rather not see mixed. That said, THY CATAFALQUE, along with a few choice outfits from Norway and Finland, could easily fit such a mongrel of genres – and, as their latest travelogue from the sonic netherworlds aptly demonstrates, the fusion of these two genres can produce some of the most uniquely enchanting music you could ever imagine beyond the realm of metal as-you-know-it.
Written by Jani Lehtinen
Tracklist
- A Csend Hegyei
- Testen Túl
- A Földdel Egyenlð
- Alföld
- Folyondár
- Csillagot Görgetð
- A felkelð hold országa
- Szíriusz
- Néma Vermek
Lineup
Tamas Kátai – guitars, bass, synths, vocals, programming
Label
Season of Mist
