Katalepsy - Autopsychosis (2013)^{Release ID: 22877}

The slam death metal subgenre can be a jarring prospect for even the most hardened of death metallers at times. There are a number of challenges that you must first overcome if you're to connect with this super-extreme form of metal & I have to admit that, even though I’m no doubt Metal Academy’s resident slam death metal aficionado, I still find myself struggling with some of the acts that flaunt the subgenre’s less appealing characteristics in the most overt fashion. The tight, pinging snare drum sound, the ultra-deep, completely indecipherable vocals & the fairly generic slam breakdowns can all be pretty repulsive to the casual listener & I can certainly understand why, even if I’m able to look past these failings for the most part. This is what’s so great about the 2013 sophomore album from Russian five-piece Katalepsy as they’ve chosen to dilute or omit those elements to create a much more agreeable & palatable brand of death metal.

“Autopsychosis” sees Katalepsy drawing almost as much influence from my beloved brutal death metal sound as it does the slam one to be honest which is probably a major contributor to why I like it so much. Current 7.H Target front man Igor Filimontsev’s death growls may be unimaginably deep but they also maintain a monstrous quality that transcends the limitations of slam most of the time & are subsequently a more appealing prospect. The production job is very good indeed & there’s no sign of ping in the snare drum sound at all which is a significant relief to this particular extreme metal nut. The band also reach outside the confines of their chosen genre for inspiration at times, indulging in regular dalliances with the technical death metal subgenre along the way. The flashy burst of technicality may not be the most artistically creative undertakings you’ll find but they do add an additional layer of sophistication to a subgenre that can often sound more than a little dumb. There’s even a fairly melodic progressive interlude included which creates nice change of pace towards the back end of the tracklisting.

There’s a lot to like about “Autopsychosis” actually & it represents one of the better slam releases I’ve encountered. The slam elements don’t sit all that far away from my favourite artists from the genre like Pathology & fellow Russians Abominable Putridity while the more straight-up brutal stuff is in line with Cerebral Bore. You’ll do well to identify any sort of blemish in the tracklisting as the eleven tracks are all of roughly the same quality, making this an extremely consistent release that should tempt more than the odd extreme metal fan across into uncharted slam waters.