Review by Ben for Kataklysm - Sorcery (1995)

Totally insane, not to mention unstructured, death metal album with some of the most demonic vocals you'll ever hear.

Kataklysm have been releasing death metal albums for nearly 15 years now. Sorcery is the first of nine full length studio releases and really kickstarted the "northern hyperblast" that they would forever be known for. I purchased this album back in 1995 and got quite a shock on my first listen. It really is a bizarre album structurally with a fair amount of melody mixed into utter madness. There are plenty out there that praise this album for being incredibly chaotic and brutal. While I certainly won't argue that it isn't either of those things, I just don't think the result is cohesive enough for my tastes. It's one of those albums where I'm enjoying it immensely one minute and then wishing it would stop the next.

There are two aspects of note when I think of Sorcery. Firstly, the drumming is spectacular. Max Duhamel mixes extreme blastbeats with a whole range of variations thrown in all over the place. Secondly, Sylvain Houde's vocal performance is completely insane. He spews out whole paragraphs in seconds with no care for the musical backdrop whatsoever, then screams his guts out at random intervals. He sounds like he has effects added at times as it's all so incredibly demonic, but I don't think that's the case. There are plenty of good riffs underneath these two out of control individuals, but it's only when they get a little breathing space that we notice.

I guess that's the problem I have with Sorcery though. It's so over the top that it's like being smashed in the head repeatedly. I try desperately to come to grips with these tracks and when I manage, there's a fair bit of enjoyment to be had. But the rest of the time it's all just a bit messy and unstructured. It's an album worth checking out just to hear some of the insane musicianship and vocals, but I think perhaps fans of deathgrind may be more inclined to like this than the average death metal fan. Highlights are Sorcery, Mould in a Breed, Garden of Dreams and the closing instrumental World of Treason where the band finally get to play without the accompaniment of Satan himself.