KATASTROF is Melodic Death band from Haifa, Israel. They`ve been around for a while, since 2005/6. Polishing their sounds on various gigs, they finally got things in place for "Screams Of Silence" to happen. Main inspiration for those guys were Swedish Gothenburg and American Floridian Death Metal scene, and when you live in place like Middle East you really don`t need to search far for inspiration for this kind of music.

The album opens with "Screams Of Silence", mid-tempo instrumental, that turns into fast track "Channels" that sets the tone for rest of the tracks to fallow. The beginning of the track doesn`t sound much promising, just typical Melodic Death track you`d think, but it changes midway with great solos ripping through. "Imprisoned" keeps up with the tempo of previous track, spiced up with great riffs, perfect drumming, and amazing solo, that lightens up the song. Fast, but not too heavy music pushes the guttural vocals into spotlight. "Truth Of Creation" puts the accent on guitars from the very beginning, it`s quite a rollercoaster of guitar solos and riffs, coming at you one after the other. In the manner of the previous track, "Dead Eyes Don`t Lie" starts with amazing guitar work, changing later into more thrashy track. It`s one of the heavier, darker tracks on the album, more on the Death than Melodic Metal side, but then, out of nowhere, more than a minute before the track is over, it shifts completely. Slow bass, drums to fallow, and guitars accompanies with perfect solo. After a slow ending, Heavy Metal reminiscent guitars introduce "Delusional Existence" that in some parts reminds of "Imprisoned". Somewhere through the mid track, there comes that shift again, where everything suddenly becomes slower and softer, but this time doesn`t last long, soon the rhythm of guitars strikes back making this track one of the most diverse on the album. Amazing riffs take the scene over introducing "No Price", taking the track to Power / Speed Metal waters mixed with growling vocals making this track quite a treat. If you put Tony Kakko instead Andrey Kogan, "Vengeance Be My Guide" this could totally pass as early work of SONATA ARCTICA. The closing track "Age Of Terrorism" is one of the jewels of this album. It keeps the fast rhythm with heavy lyrics.

Though the "Screams Of Silence" on first listen sound like way too generic album, it slowly crawls under your skin making you only to listen more. And just then you see the variety of influences and full beauty of the album. KATASTROF manage to make one highly addictive album (thanks for that, just what I needed, and another album to get addicted to...).

You may expect an album filled with anger and rage, but you`ll find an extreme opposite. "Screams Of Silence" are filled with energy that`s bursting from every note on this album. It`s not calling to rage or fight, but a wakeup call for changing the world we live in. Lyrics may be heavy and depressing at the times, but let`s face it - truth is always heaviest.

"Screams Of Silence" is one of the best debuts I heard this year. It may be independently released, but if you have a chance, you should most definitely get a copy of it. This album has it all. It`s well produced, nothing too perfect, but nicely polished and cleaned sound, amazing solos and riffs that keep up, and most importantly amazing amount of energy that won`t let you sit in one place while listening to it. This is only the beginning for KATASTROF, I`m quite sure that they`ll only get even better at time.