Hailing from Indianapolis, Indiana, USA, comes Melodic Black Metal band CATHARIA. Formed in 2018, this is their sophomore release, and the album has eleven songs. “Der Tod eines Gottes – Part 1” is the first song. It’s a short introductory song, with a lot of evil ambiance and backing atmosphere. “Terminus Hierophant” roars in with guttural vocals and enough aggression to fuel a football team. It switches to screams at times and then settles back into the gutturals, representing to me two different shades of anger. The bass work is excellent, as is the landscape of fear that they paint through their music.

“Devouring Firmament” has gentler entrance, but still that spooky, creepy sound. The vocals explode with hatred and torture, and the music turns grey and dissonant. There are definitely some Progressive elements mixed in to the music as well. “Tomb Throne” has a more hardened and stiff backbone that sways with the strong winds but is never uprooted. The vocals are absolutely harrowing, and the picture they paint is riddled with blood. “Eflen Tanzen” is a shorter interlude with clean guitars and a deep, expansive sound. I feel like I am about to take trip off of the planet and into space. “Slipping into Eternity” roars out of the gate with a tortured and dissonant sound. It is evil, contentious, and bites with deep fangs, and the guitar work is excellent in this song. It lives on the very edge of madness, about to roll over into it.

“Screaming Cemetery” has a tentative and mysterious sound at first that quickly morphs into the very mouth of the devil. Again, it’s a winning combination between deep guttural and flesh-ripping screams. The title track is the lengthy song on the album, coming in at just over seven minutes. For me, it’s like a carnival ride through a fun house that is suddenly taken over by evil clowns, that grows steadily more dangerous with each turn. The second movement of “Der Tod eines Gottes” closes the album, and it has a steady, harrowing sound, akin to the aftermath of being tortured. One thing that will stick with your forever are the memories, and the fear that it will come again.

Overall, this was an excellent album. It wasn’t just an overly aggressive ride through a conventional Black Metal path, it was a creative and modern approach to the genre. The album kept the listener on their toes throughout, alternating between passages of pure fear and others that were just laced with tension. The aggression was there for sure, in spades at times, but the band knew when to pour gasoline onto the fire and when to snuff it out.