Apoch's Metal Review - Thy Catafalque: Rengeteg CD Review

Discography	Discography covers all information available up to day of review and is updated if future albums are reviewed.
Full-Length(s):	Sublunary Tragedies (1999) • Microcosmos (2001) • Tuno ido tárlat (2004) • Róka hasa rádió (2009) • Rengeteg (2011)
Demo(s):	Cor Cordium (1999)

Review

Thy Catafalque is a group that had been on the lips of many fans of Metal for quite some time, especially as of late. After continuing to build upon their Avant-Garde approach with some hints of Folk Metal thrown in, this group has been one that clearly should not be ignored. The brainchild of founding/sole member Tamás Kátai, Thy Catafalque has set the standard for what one could expect in the lines of a one-man act in the past few years, and each album finds a tighter sound, as well as more praise from critics and fans alike. Since 1998, this act has issued four full-length albums, with the fifth release Rengeteg having dropped in late 2011 overseas, and an early 2012 date for North America.

Despite what region you're looking at, this release either became a pleasant surprise to end out 2011 with, or an album that shows great promise for the new year. The production on Rengeteg clearly shows a less stylish, polished album, having a bit of a rougher exterior that makes it feel more at home with the Folk Metal material that is brought in for many tracks. The guitars themselves feel more suiting to it thanks to the deeper distortion used and decently leveled bass that ends up supporting them well, neither being too loud to drown anything else out. The vocals retain the clean singing approach that often feels more like a viking chant than anything else, almost come off like something one might expect from a Tyr album, though the female vocals that can appear, such as during the song "Vashegyek," don't fall into that same category, yet still come off rather beautiful. The drums have a nice click to the kicks that, like the guitars, isn't too loud, allowing the echo on the snares and cymbals to be captured nicely at a little louder foundation. This instrument really sticks out more during the slower tracks, such as the aforementioned "Vashegyek."

That track really stands out the most on this release compared to the others. While the song "Fekete Mezok" does start the album out well, this one truly feeds off the Avant-Garde approach well for a much longer time. The effects at the end of "Ko Koppan" do kind of bleed into the start of "Vashegyek," though not much to make them really sound connected. The light droning buzzing that comes through more as a heartbeat sets the tone for the slightly fun sounding guitars that go through various distortions as well to set up a cold, grim, yet oriental or Middle Eastern atmosphere. The build up from here is very slow, but fluid enough in transitions, as well as capable of retaining a good amount of material that keeps the song fresh enough to keep the listener attentive until the guitars grow deeper and more prominent around the two and a half-minute mark, going along in a trudging, doom-ridden trance for quite a while, going in and out between it and a cold-liquid-like slower sound. However, in a similar technically unlinked manner, "Vashegyek" bleeds slightly into "Holdkomp," more in atmosphere towards its end thanks to some Ambience that sounds like voices among the dead while they continue to work before noise simply takes over for quite some time, grows louder, and eventually has some additional keyboards in the background that gradually build into some Techno music that would best fit an eighties science fiction film like Predator, or even video game from the early nineties. From here, much of the release does seem to carry that sleeky, science fiction feel to it, but you wouldn't know that's what to expect from the start of this one.

If you're going by what "Fekete Mezok" brings to the table, you would imagine Rengeteg as a strong Progressive Metal album with a slight Groove Metal and Techno element similar to what one might expect of Pain. The additional rougher audio really helps make a heavy song thanks to the deep bass and guitars, and there's plenty of distortion on the vocals to give the rasp a distant sound that is easily the polar opposite of the clean singing. This also makes for the second longest track in the album, coming in at nine minutes and forty-one seconds compared to "Vashegyek" which is fourteen minutes and nine seconds. The song doesn't really feel too drawn out, though by the five-minute mark the music does start to feel a little overused and slowly becomes tiresome, not quite having the same impact it had at the start. The Progressive touch does seem to fade rather quickly, and gives way to the aforementioned Folk Metal sound pretty quick. It all starts with "Kel Keleti Szel," an energetic track that really captures a spirited sound that seems a bit victorious with a more modern twist, and continues on into "Ko Koppan, a much slower track that finds the keyboards really establishing the atmosphere by weaving a beautiful interpretation of nature that eventually goes into a more epic-scale with some drum work backing it up, though this acts more as bridges while the main verses continue to build up. The only complaint is the solo, when it's clear that the keyboards are trying to add a violin sound to the mix, something that was going on prior to it in an aforementioned grand moment, but the synthetic sound simply doesn't compare to having that real instrument come into play, and it feels held back greatly from being a very emotional and downright gorgeous offering.

That lack of a real violin can also be felt on "Kek Ingem Logogo," and it is another instance of just a sad unfortunate event. The track starts off so powerful, mixing a modern synth-driven sound and keyboard presence against strong, Folk influenced metal. All it ends up missing is that beautiful, realistic violin or orchestral element, and it doesn't show. The digital interpretation of such a classical instrument and sound simply does not live up to the benefits that additional push in musicianship could provide this album, and while the song itself is still a strong offering that is catchy and offers a good deal of beauty to the limits that it could, you can't help but feel cheated out of something simply stunning the moment it starts. Of course, this is the way just about every song with this interpretation comes off, and easily becomes the biggest downfall that Rengeteg could possibly suffer. But, this doesn't mean the album is unlistenable in any sense, or that this song in particular ruins the album despite how big of a let down this ends up being. The more modern sound here does eventually show some of that Folk Metal input, and it does still end on a positive note. "Minden test fu" does kind of bring the album more to the ground than to a unique plateau, and that's largely thanks to the more raw and abrasive Black Metal foundation established here. The song's intensity brings the album back to it's start with "Fekete Mezok," though having vocals just very distant in the mix similar to modern-day underground/kvlt recordings, and still has a bit of a Folk input despite it's colder sound. This is another element you can pick up traces of throughout the release, but this is easily where it's centered the most, and while it may not be too different from any fast paced Black Metal release of today, it still ends up being a good song, though one might want to look at more as a bonus track since it really doesn't fit in with the rest of Rengeteg in any way.

Rengeteg is an album that is well worth experiencing. If you're already a fan, you have a good idea of what to expect, but if not, this album will hold plenty of surprises for you. The mixture of modern instruments with an often Folk or Progressive overtone sets up a unique sound for the band that is well worth exploring. With the most ominous let down obviously being too much of a reliance on keyboards than the actual instrument they are clearly trying to depict, there really isn't anything else too negative to say about it. The music is often infectious and varies from soothing to abrasive and simply heavy. While many will argue that Rengeteg is easily one of the best albums at the time of the review for 2011, or even 2012 in North America, it doesn't quite feel the most awe-inspiring release that you'll come back time and time again without feeling the urge to his the skip track button here and there, such as during the drawn out moments of "Holdkomp" and the urge to bypass the slowly growing bland conclusion of "Fekete Mezok." But, overall, the final product is an undeniably well executed one man release, and any fan worth their weight in Metal experience, or even just anyone with their eyes peeled to the internet for Metal suggestions will know enough not to pass this album up.

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	Digital review copy of this release provided by: Season of Mist Records.

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