The word catharsis comes from Greek, and it means something as 'purification' or 'cleansing' or 'clarification', and it's used in many areas. But the idea expressed by Aristotle (the known Greek philosopher) that catharsis is any extreme emotional state that results in renewal and restoration. It can be said that the purification of useless emotions and even ideas can result in an inner renewing of one person. And it's not a mere case that "Katharsis" is the name of the seventh album of the Norwegian trio KEEP OF KALESSIN.

The band plays what can be called Extreme Epic Metal, or in other words, a personal form of melodic and technical Black Metal, but refined and charming in the deeper senses of the words. The album can be said as a continuity of what's heard on "Epistemology", just a bit more dry and violent, bringing back some violent elements of "Reptilian" and "Armada", but keeping the melodic contrasts and even excellent choruses. The band's music is based on excellent and technical guitar riffs and arrangements and lovely guitar solos (Obsidian Claw is to extreme Metal what Randy Rhoads is to Heavy Metal), thunderous and refined playing of the bass guitar and drums, charming keyboards orchestrations in the right moments, and contrasts between shrieked vocals with clean tunes. And it's not a sin to say that this release would be an extreme form of albums as "Blizzard of Ozz" and "Diary of a Madman", if the readers needs a referential frame for their music.

The production of "Katharsis" is excellent, for the album sounds solid as a rock, brutal and heavy as the needed (once more, this album is a bit more brutal and aggressive that its predecessor), but defined and clean in a point that allows the deeper understanding of what the band is expressing on its songs. And the tunes used for the musical instruments are really amazing (the guitar tunes are a trademark of the band, indeed). All the songs are really fine precious jewels of extreme Metal genres. "Katharsis" is a fast song that presents the usual fine combination of aggressiveness and melodies with an excellent chorus (pay attention in the changes between harsh and clean voices), all tempered by the contrasts created by guitar riffs and keyboards, with some shreds during the guitar solos (a point where the trio's music is different from the usual ones of their genre). A bit more into a Black Metal trend is "Hellride", where some influences of Hard Rock and Rock 'n' Roll can be felt in the melodies and tempos (and what brutal storm of weight is unleashed by bass guitar and drums), and with excellent keyboards' parts.

On the natural approach of the band on extreme Metal, "The Omni" impacts with fury and fast rhythms into the listeners' ears, reminding in some arrangements the alchemy of the band on "Reptilian" era (especially on the guitars' unusual arrangements and the time length, more than 7 minutes). On "War of the Wyrm", the speed of the tempos decreases, improving the epic aspect of the band's music (but the playing of bass guitar and drums is amazing on the technical shifts). Again researching the past treasures of the band, "From the Stars and Beyond" is a fine mix of elements heard on "Epistemology" and "Kolossus", for the song is filled with remarkable melodies and grandiose epic orchestrations. And a deeper and warm is "Journey's End", a true Epic Metal song where some elements are inherited of traditional Heavy Metal (in a way similar to IRON MAIDEN on "Seventh Son of a Seventh Son", filled with Progressive Rock and Hard Rock influences), where aggressiveness gives its place to charming epic melodies.

A ten minute song full of rhythmic shifts and different parts is what is heard on "The Obsidian Expanse", plenty of elements of Progressive Black Metal and Melodic Black Metal (where the bass guitar of the veteran Wizziac and the drums of the new drummer of the band, Nechtan, are showing a solid and excellent work on the rhythms), and pay attention to the atmospheric parts with charming keyboards moments. And closing the album, "Throne of Execration" is another moment where extreme and epic elements are combined in a brutal, with excellent combinations between guitars riffs and keyboards parts (Obsidian Claw is really a six strings hero in extreme Metal genres), with astonish vocals duets between clean voices and shrieked tunes. And maybe establishing a link to the next release of the band is the outro "The Eternal Swarm", based on epic keyboards.

It took 8 years between "Epistemology" and "Katharsis", but time wasn't strong enough to break KEEP OF KALESSIN's will. Again, the trio unleashed one of the best releases of the year.