PROTOTYPE — Catalyst (review)

Album · 2012 · Progressive Metal

4.5/5 · 2012-09-12
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Catalyst is the long awaited third full-length album release from US progressive thrash metal act Prototype. Their last album was Continuum in 2006. Unlike many other bands who fall off the radar for a few years Prototype amazingly return with pretty much the same line-up intact with the re-addition of drummer Pat Magrath who had a one song guest slot on Continuum and had been a member of the band between 1997 – 2002, meaning Catalyst is a full return to the line-up that recorded the 2004 debut Trinity.

Since they’ve been absent from the scene for all those years it didn’t surprise me that I personally hadn’t encountered the music of Prototype before Catalyst. While normally included under the umbrella of progressive metal Prototype have produced an album in Catalyst that is clearly progressively driven but also has much in common with thrash metal and melodic heavy metal as it does traditional progressive metal. In some ways I think they are comparable to their label mates Teramaze. Both bands produce progressive thrash albums, but in some ways they are mirror images of each other. Teramaze being more thrash and Prototype being more progressive. While I imagine fans of either one will enjoy the other just as much at the very least any prog fans who found Teramaze not progressive enough will love Prototype (and likewise if thrash fans don’t find Prototype thrash enough they will love Teramaze).

But enough with comparisons and on to the album at hand. Prototype’s music is a riff driven form of progressive metal. The vocals are mostly performed cleanly and melodically albeit with a bit of a rough edge to them and with a few growled lines are thrown in here and there across the album. Unlike some other bands who include growling in a style that doesn’t use it by default the music doesn’t gain any sort of death or black metal elements because of it. Vince Levalois has the right sort of vocal style for the music but it’s the instrumentation I’m most impressed with. Mostly heavy and intricate the band also throws in light sections which add atmosphere to the compositions. True to their thrash aspect they manage to do atmospheric without resorting to keyboards, something they pull off well, along with seamless variation between melodic and aggressive sections.

Also being a concept album Catalyst has a good flow to it from track to track and sometimes it’s difficult to realise that one song is done and another has started. It’s a story and while following concept album stories has never been my personal forte I think it’s safe to say that Catalyst in particular is one of those concept albums where you’ll only get its full effect when taken as a whole. There is probably in all fairness nothing to stop one from enjoying Prototype’s songs individually, the longer ones at least as the album features many shorter tracks, but you don’t skip a chapter when you’re reading a book, so why do it with an album?

I’ve really enjoyed my experience with Catalyst. It’s consistent and well-played throughout and because of that even with a duration of over an hour I’m drawn into it by the time of the second track (the first being a shorter piece), Catalyst, and that’s me stuck until the album’s climax with Communion. I haven’t heard their prior work but if Catalyst is anything to go by Prototype have made an album to make the wait very much worth it.

8.5/10

(Originally written for Heavy Metal Haven (http://metaltube.freeforums.org) on 29/08/12)