I first got hooked on this band after listening to “Shadows and dust” back in 2002, I got hooked because this guys can be brutal as well as melodic, and that particular album was so raw and melodic that I just couldn’t stop listening to it.
“In The Arms of Devastation” begins with a familiar Kataklysm riff and intro (they seem to love placing cool movie phrases at the beginning of their records), as well as the dual vocals which I find very distinctive, a very understandable yet brutal death metal growl escorted by what may be confused with a black metal squeal, very nicely done.
Is in “Let Them Burn” were you can tell that this guys have grown a lot since their not so good release “Serenity on Fire” an album that just managed to delay their incursion into a more “melodic” environment; please don’t think for a minute that this guys got too soft on you, no way, is just that “In The Arms of Devastation” has a great blend of ferocity and catchy tunes, they may not be what you could categorize as straight death metal, they may be considered (at least by me) as a brutal melodic death metal band.
“Crippled And Broken” is one of those songs that escalates as it progresses, the chorus is great, and the song is full of hooks that will have you signing all day long; one of the best characteristics of this album is the fact that all the instruments sound great, clean yet they still contain all that rage that makes this Canadians so lethal on stage, really a masterful production here.
The key word for this album is “hooks” they are all over the place, at every corner in every tune, making the album a collection of “greatest hits”; some purist may hate hooks but hey man, is all about getting and feeling the music, if not what’s the point?
“In The Arms of Devastation” has achieve the very difficult goal of surpassing “Shadows and dust”, the rage is in every song, even on the ones that sound more melodic like the amazing “To Reign Again” the chorus is one more time huge, you just one to scream it “…TO REING AGAIN”.
This album is Kataklysm’s platform to greatness, I’m not exaggerating, their brutal melodic death metal is unique, they own their sound and they have showed to the world that Kataklysm is wiling to grow as musicians while keeping in mind that brutality is what makes they great. GET IT NOW!!!
