Everywhere you look in the world of music at the moment, there are signs of an imminent nineties revival. Canadian speed-death band Kataklysm, however, appear to never have left the nineties in the first place – Prevail might as well be a well-produced postcard from the past.
Kataklysm should at least be applauded for their longevity and low band member turnover, though; by death metal standards they’re practically elder statesmen, with a line-up stability that bank boardrooms would be jealous of. Of course, banking isn’t known as a business where innovation and new ideas are particularly important – but music, even in its most retro moments, places great currency in the new. By analogy, Prevail is a piece of devalued coinage, a relic of a smaller economy from bygone days.
Because if you’ve heard any thrash and death metal from the first half of the nineties, then you’ve heard every trick in Kataklysm’s playbook, and then some. Credit where it’s due, Prevail bristles with immense grinding ferocity, but it’s very straightforward stuff, uncomplicated and – despite the blastbeats, which simply aren’t shocking any more now that everyone uses them – underpaced.
Prevail has an almost martial simplicity to it, the ten tracks so similar they might be uniformed soldiers awaiting a battle for which they are woefully under-prepared, despite the language of war and conflict that runs through the monotonous cookie-monster vocals. Kataklysm’s few attempts to break out of the formula end up sounding more desperate than distinctive; the anaemic solo from “To The Throne Of Sorrow” would sound lame coming from an unsigned support band, and the death’n'destruction lyrics are not just unconvincing but laughably pedestrian.
It’s kind of a shame to see bands who’ve allowed time to slip past them so completely without learning anything. Kataklysm seem caught up in their past glories, like an old-timer telling you about how things were much more simple and authentic back in their day. And there’s an element of truth to that, to be fair; fifteen years ago, when I first started listening to this sort of stuff, Prevail would have sounded impressive, fresh and brutal.
But here in the real world of 2008, Prevail doesn’t even sound particularly heavy, let alone innovative. To be honest, it feels like warmed-over death-lite, an exercise in box-ticking and the recycling of old unwanted riffs. Kataklysm doubtless still have loyal fans, and they will probably enjoy this album immensely – but unless you have a particularly strong preference for shabby nostalgia, you’ll probably be best off giving Prevail a miss.
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