It’s hard to put into words the sounds that are coming out of my speakers when Kataan is playing. It’s this unholy union of Black Metal and Thrash and Post-something that’s just devilishly divine. Featuring Nick Thornbury of Vattnet Viskar and Brett Boland of Astronoid, Kataan does the New England heavy music scene proud with a debut release that’s short and anything but sweet.
Known primarily for expansive Space Rawk and Progressive Post-Metal in their former outfits, Boland and Thornbury have crafted something truly transcending in Kataan by combining those sounds and going even further in the experiment to deliver four tracks that offer a diverse and determined view of what’s to come in future releases.
“Erase” just screams “EVIL!” with Boland’s staggered percussive hits and Thornbury’s guitars conjuring a wicked wall of sound before Thornbury’s monstrous growl enters to up the ante and tip the scales to make this one aurally epic trip. “Abyss” is slightly more straightforward but only slightly with an incessant rumbling and inherent hum from Boland’s bass and drum work adding to the unease and continuing the Kataan world-building while “Processor” is straight fire and extreme heaviness at its’ absolute best with Thornbury offering a different set of clean vocals that’s somewhere in between what’s come so far (I liken it to the “Prometheus” episode of The Incredible Hulk where Banner is stuck between human and Hulk forms) and sounds cavernous in the chaos.
And then we get to “Vessel” which is where it’s all at and where this particular sonic journey has been leading to. More dense, more diverse, and filled with misdirect after misdirect, “Vessel” is a rager, a unifier, and one solid slab of epic Metal from a new artist that’s definitely one to watch in 2021 and beyond.
Kataan arrives on May 7th through Prosthetic Records. Pre-orders are up now and can be checked out when you click here or here. For more on Kataan, follow them on their socials when you head here, here, or here.