Cataract indeed is quite impressive, I have to say, on this CD. Even though that first sounds a bit common: you have the feeling you know everything by heart when you first play the CD. But after a while you realize that Cataract is much more in your face in a very efficient way than most of the things you were comparing them to. This album is globally so catchy. Sometimes you get some pretty fast thrash metal like parts and then some heavy mid tempos. The whole album shows a great variety. The guitar playing is always more or less thrashy though with this typical picking that we can find on most songs of this album.

Actually I’m not even surprised that the band attracted such a label as Metal Blade since it really fits with this one. You can recognize some German influences like Dew Scented I would say (mainly the latest albums) but after all you figure out it's mainly because of the singing style more than the music itself. In my opinion Cataract's music is more consistent than what we get now with Dew Scented releases.

I also especially like the taste of melody you get from time to time with this fifth release from these Swiss people. That makes their style more personal, even though the hardcore singing may disturb some true metal fans. I could get over it myself and I can say that's worth it. "Choke Down" is probably my favourite track of the album with this fucking palm muted riff for true head bangers! Everything comes naturally and fluently with this song but also basically with the rest of the album. On the whole, a very nice album that you have to listen to several times in a row to really feel the power of it. You're gonna play it louder and louder: that’s for sure. Enjoy!

written by Hubert Chapuis

Playing time: 46:29