Kathaarsys — Intuition
"Intuition" is the fourth studio album by Spanish progressive black trio Kathaarsys, who are quite well-known to many prog music lovers. They aren't quite big like other bands from this category, but they have a steadily growing fan base and never stop developing their music into new forms. So what "Intuition" has to offer?
If you've heard Kathaarsys before, you may know them for melancholic and dark blends of acoustic doom parts mixed with occasional bursts of black metal fury. And the first thing you will notice on "Intuition" is that the music has shifted towards somewhat brighter and more positive melodies. The melancholy is still there, but it's much lighter than on the band's previous albums. Moreover, there's a lot more thrown into the pot than just black and doom metal. The fact that "Intuition" starts off with a free jazz improvisation and naturally blends into the next track with straightforward metal energy will give you the first impression of what to expect from the album. There are a lot of different textures and styles in the present album, changing from simple doom melodies to jazz improvisations to black metal blastbeats to death metal breakdowns and everything in-between. Notably, the songs became quite shorter so there are no 10+ minute epics that blend all the elements mentioned before into one big salad. As strange it may sound, the abundance of different elements and styles in the music doesn't actually make the album hard to comprehend. It all sounds very natural and you don't even feel the transition from one style or song to another. And that's a very great thing to achieve for a band consisting only of three members.
However, there's one serious downside to the record that makes it impossible to give a high score to "Intuition". It's the production, which is amazingly awful. Honestly, by listening to the record you get the impression that it's a rehearsal recording taken with a single microphone in a single take. Maybe it was the band's intent to make a really raw sounding record that would reflect the natural aspect of the album. But it doesn't do the record any justice. All the way you simply want the parts to be much clearer in order to enjoy the music. Things like awful distortion, out of place vocals and even guitars that get out of tune really make the impression that it's a live album and not a typical studio session.
So we have an album that could be really good because the music it delivers is amazingly organic, diverse and it really tells a story. But with a production like this Kathaarsys have done bad to "Intuition" that probably won't go further than into the players of hardcore Kathaarsys fans.
If you've heard Kathaarsys before, you may know them for melancholic and dark blends of acoustic doom parts mixed with occasional bursts of black metal fury. And the first thing you will notice on "Intuition" is that the music has shifted towards somewhat brighter and more positive melodies. The melancholy is still there, but it's much lighter than on the band's previous albums. Moreover, there's a lot more thrown into the pot than just black and doom metal. The fact that "Intuition" starts off with a free jazz improvisation and naturally blends into the next track with straightforward metal energy will give you the first impression of what to expect from the album. There are a lot of different textures and styles in the present album, changing from simple doom melodies to jazz improvisations to black metal blastbeats to death metal breakdowns and everything in-between. Notably, the songs became quite shorter so there are no 10+ minute epics that blend all the elements mentioned before into one big salad. As strange it may sound, the abundance of different elements and styles in the music doesn't actually make the album hard to comprehend. It all sounds very natural and you don't even feel the transition from one style or song to another. And that's a very great thing to achieve for a band consisting only of three members.
However, there's one serious downside to the record that makes it impossible to give a high score to "Intuition". It's the production, which is amazingly awful. Honestly, by listening to the record you get the impression that it's a rehearsal recording taken with a single microphone in a single take. Maybe it was the band's intent to make a really raw sounding record that would reflect the natural aspect of the album. But it doesn't do the record any justice. All the way you simply want the parts to be much clearer in order to enjoy the music. Things like awful distortion, out of place vocals and even guitars that get out of tune really make the impression that it's a live album and not a typical studio session.
So we have an album that could be really good because the music it delivers is amazingly organic, diverse and it really tells a story. But with a production like this Kathaarsys have done bad to "Intuition" that probably won't go further than into the players of hardcore Kathaarsys fans.
1. Preconsciencia, Ciclo Iniciatico Vital
2. Consciencia, Duda-Apatia-Duda-Depresion
3. Pesadelo, Transicion, Evolucion, Constatacion Reiterada
4. Paralise, Fases Esquizoides, Locura Psicotropica Autoinducida
5. Estraño E Contradictorio Intervalo De Lucidez
6. Ledicia E Inadaptacion, Pensamento Fantasioso E Incompatibilidade
7. Caos, Colision Coa Realidade
8. Fugaz Esperanza
9. Recapitulacion Da Dubida, Incomodidade, Incomunicacion E Confusion
10. Tristeza, Fracaso, Doce Tolemia E Final
11. Atávico
