THY CATAFALQUE — Vadak (review)

Album · 2021 · Avant-garde Metal

4/5 · 2021-06-26
siLLy puPPy

One of Hungary’s greatest gifts to the world of avant-garde metal returns surprisingly soon after releasing its last album “Naiv” in 2020. Yeah, i’m talking about THY CATAFALQUE fronted by the ridiculously creative Tamás Kátai who has consistently found a way to throw the disparate musical genres of black metal, progressive rock, electronica and Hungarian folk music into a simmering cauldron of creativity for over 20 years now and somehow figures out a way to make each album released sound distinct and best of all interesting.

VADAK is the Hungarian word for “wildlings” and also the tenth full-length studio album from THY CATAFALQUE which has been released on the Seasons of the Mist label. Once again Kátai crafts a batch of wild experimental tracks that remain unclassifiable with elements of various metal styles, jazz, pop, prog, folk, techno, electronica and anything else that fits neatly into the scheme of things. While serving as head honcho in chief and musical director as well as playing guitars, bass, synths AND vocals, Kátai includes an amazingly large and diverse group of 16 session musicians that add large numbers of vocal styles, guitars, saxophones, trombones, trumpet, repipes and tons of ethnic instruments such as the Armenian durum, tablas, dumbeks, the riq, violin and cello.

While some of the last albums have been a little parsimonious as far as the metal creds go, VADAK seems to have gotten the memo that the metal fans are getting a little tired of the “other” influences dominating and therefore it seems a greater effort has been made to crank up the heavy guitar riffs, the quickened tempos and all the other more energetic attributes that make metal so freakin’ awesomely cool! But don’t worry non-metal leaning folk, ALL those other elements are still here in great abundance. While THY CATALFALQUE projects are quite diverse, the main emphasis seems to be on focusing on the same ingredients with different proportions. It just so happens that THIS time around the metal got a bit more teaspoons in the overall recipe. OK, maybe we can upgrade to tablespoons!

What’s really amazing is that Kátai has done something seemingly impossible and that is writing his lyrics and singing in his native Hungarian language which by the way NOBODY understands outside of Hungary unless you are in the state department or something! But the beauty of THY CATAFALQUE is that it really doesn’t matter. In fact the compositions are structured in such a way that it actually adds an exotic even alien disconnect while being lured in with familiar rhythms, tones, timbres and musical motifs but just never put together in such a way. In fact i would easily classify Kátai as a musical genius for his prolific output of product that manages to keep each album sounding utterly unique yet connected to the rest of the canon. VADAK is absolutely no exception to this rule and i would even say that i personally prefer this album to the last several ones that have been a little light on the metal aspects.

For anyone interested in the theme (i’m not really), it is about dealing with the fragility that is shared between man and beast with Freudian overtones. OK, whatever, right? I know, i love a good themed concept album and all but when it comes down to it, metal music is about the compositional fortitude and i don’t speak enough Hungarian to understand anything anyway. In fact i don’t understand most of metal lyrics in English due to the vocal styles employed! HA! Another amazing thing is that THY CATAFALQUE albums are almost always over 60 minutes in length which for most artists would leave me cold but somehow Kátai masterfully keeps me enthralled for over an hour’s length of listening time. Now THAT is an accomplishment considering this project has been around for over 20 years. All i can say is that THY CATAFALQUE seems like it is in no danger of sputtering out any time soon. This album may not be the pinnace of its existence but is of equal value to almost every album of its existence.

Kiváló munka és éljen a TE KATAFALVA! Great job and long live THY CATAFALQUE!