Once again the Canadian veterans in KATAKLYSM bring us one hell of a brutal, but yet melodic, album. When I first encountered the band and their 2002 release "Shadows & Dust" I was totally floored. They flavoured their Death Metal with both the American and the European style of the genre, added some crunchy Thrash riffs and then combined it with ridiculous fast drumming. They managed to keep it all together without losing the important thread through the songs, and when the vocals shifted easily between growl and more high-pitched screams, I didn't really need much more. I then tried to look into their back catalogue and even if I liked it I never really fell for what I heard. But the releases after 2002 have all appealed to me and even if they hardly change their music they always seems to be a little more melodic and catchy for each new album. Three albums have then passed through and they have all followed the same formula that "Shadows & Dust" have and so does the brand new album "Heaven's Venom". But through the last albums the high-pitched screams have slowly disappeared and have been replaced with more harsh (almost hardcore like) vocals. But the growls are still there and Sylvain Houde does a fine effort as usual.

On "Heaven's Venom" these Canadians may have released some of their best songs so far. Most of the vocal melodies are really catchy and some of the riffs are groovy as hell. To this we have some of the greatest melodies they have ever written and for once they have managed to find a nice variation through the whole album. They work with different tempos and dynamics all the time but without all the tedious breakdowns more and more band seems to use today.

There's not really much more to add here. KATAKLYSM doesn't revolutionize Death Metal or tries to renew themselves with "Heaven's Venom" but they deliver one of their best albums to date. "Heaven's Venom" may not separate it self much from both "In the Arms of Devastation" (2006) och "Prevail" (2008) when it comes to the musically approach or how it sounds but this time they take their song writing to the next level. Just listen to awesome tracks like "Faith Made Of Shrapnel" or "Push The Venom" and hopefully you will understand what I am talking about.