Thy Catafalque - Naiv (2020)^{Release ID: 16330}

I must admit that this is my first exposure to Hungarian Tamás Kátai and his Thy Catafalque project, as I get very nervous around music tagged as avant-garde because, like Oscar-winning movies a lot of it is "worthy" material, but not especially enjoyable - to me, at least. This however, is quite the opposite as I found it ridiculously enjoyable and quite a lot of fun in places, not at all the pretentious, dissonant racket I was expecting. Personally, I would tag this as progressive rather than avant-garde, for me avant-garde has a certain po-faced, academic connotation that is, mercifully, lacking here.
Naiv is an energetic and lively fusion of metal, electronica, Hungarian folk music and classical instrumentation that, despite being nine separate tracks, feels like a continuous piece with many interesting twists and turns. A refreshingly enjoyable take on the more experimental side of metal, that seems to just revel in the joy of music - and that's not an expression I use often when reviewing modern metal albums!

Another year, another Thy Catafalque album, and another great one at that. This Hungarian band has been the pillar of consistency over the last ten years and have always done a wonderful job of blending. This album blends together progressive rock/metal alongside Hungarian classical/folk music, as well as electronic elements. The hooks are as wonderful as ever, the instrumentals themselves are some of the best in recent Thy Catafalque's discography, and the counterpoint between the vocal timbres makes for a truly wonderful storytelling experience. This album never feels self indulgent even through the multitude of different places this album visits. This band is one of the most unique bands in metal right now and this was a pleasure to listen to. What a great way to start off the new year and with luck, hopefully the rest of this year can follow this up.