Album Review: Cathartic – Through the Abysmal Gates of Subconscious (Raise the Dead Records)

Carl Fisher 2 min read

Released on vinyl through London, UK label Raise the Dead Records, ‘Through the Abysmal Gates of Subconscious’ is the debut album from death metal band, Cathartic. Available now, the vinyl is limited to 300 copies, and comes in Green Galaxy, Transparent Blue with Opaque Grey, and Black variants.

Keeping with the values of old-school death metal, but infusing elements of doom and melody into the album, Cathartic go hard and heavy here. Covering their sound with a fuzzy, dirty layer and adding in a sense of melancholy across the nine tracks.

There’s a lot to enjoy with this gloomy death metal release, featuring plenty of aggression, but with exciting elements that make for an overall stronger package. Take the bass tone as an example, it’s one of the strongest instruments on the record overall, It will make your belly rumble through its sheer power.

Where Cathartic stand out though is with their accessibility. Be under no false illusions though, this record is extremely nasty, but their melodious touches make it far more palatable for a modern audience. It’s a record that has the power and strength to please both the old and new schools of death metal, and that’s a rare thing indeed.

 

 

Cathartic have flair, and that comes through strongly on many tracks. Clearly drawing some level of inspiration from the melo-death world without falling into the trap of sounding like just another melo-death band.

The combination of crunching drum patterns, demonic vocals, searing riffs, and bassy thrums, will make a lot of people happy. Just don’t be surprised if you’ve got some serious neckache come the end of the album. You’ll have been instinctively head-banging, regardless of if you wanted to or not.

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Cathartic – Through the Abysmal Gates of Subconscious Track Listing:

1. Beyond Grief
2. In the Pits of Anguish
3. Vanish into Oblivion
4. Gloomy Ways to Decay
5. Carried by the Wings of Death
6. Hateful Faith
7. Path to Perdition
8. From the Unknown
9. Obliteration




Links

Bandcamp | Facebook | Instagram | Raise the Dead Records

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Cathartic – Through the Abysmal Gates of Subconscious (Raise the Dead Records)
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