Review Summary: Another stale release from a band that struggles to step out of mediocrity.
Canadian outfit
Kataklysm is part of history in extreme metal with more than 30 years of activity, yet their best days are behind them. The band has been consistently indifferent since 2008’s
Prevail, as they can’t seem to escape the hole of average / predictable modern death metal they have put themselves in, and their latest work
Goliath is no exception. The album’s artwork (done by Eliran Kantor) was a happy surprise compared to the grisly covers of the previous three - four records, but the excitement ends at the door with
Goliath.
Everything is squashed and unnecessarily loud, almost as an attempt to trick the listener into thinking like there’s something musically interesting here. Once attention is put on the instruments themselves, it becomes evident that the tracks in
Goliath are full of re-played, unimaginative melodies, with only a handful of solid moments. A good riff might arise here and there, for example in “Living the Land of the Living to the Land of the Dead” or “Gravestones & Coffins”, but through most of the rest of the album you’ll hear a watered down version of
At the Gates mixed with some current
Amon Amarth, low level clean hardcore and an ounce of
Lamb of God groove (e.g. in a couple of guitar lines at “Die As a King”).
Moreover, vocals are as bland as the guitars, desperately trying to sound heavy but never really taking off with such unimpressive material. A few tracks are especially bad, such as the opener “Dark Wings of Deception”, the last track “The Sacrifice of Truth”, “The Redeemer” and “Bringer of Vengeance”, which will have the fan of actually hard hitting death metal, scratching their head in distress about what has become of this scene. On the other hand, one fine piece of melodic death metal is “Heroes to Villains”, where more thought has been put on how to make a more engaging composition and generally stands out among fragile songs all around it.
Goliath is not a complete disaster and if you leave it playing while doing the dishes, you might even nod your head along a bit. Upon closer inspection, the album doesn’t have much to offer, and it is yet another confirmation of how
Kataklysm are the definition of an average band by now. There’s numerous more worthy older and newer groups going around for you, if you want to feed your soul with some compelling death metal. From this one, you’ll end up maybe picking a song or two and then moving on, as it has been the case with
Kataklysm for more than a decade now.
