Catamenia - Eskhata review
| Band: | Catamenia |
| Album: | Eskhata |
| Style: | Melodic black metal |
| Release date: | April 2002 |
01. Storm
02. Rain Of Blood
03. Flames
04. Vortex
05. Coexistence Circle
06. Landscape
07. Karma
08. Astral Tears
09. Time In My Hands
10. Beyond The Starlight
11. Eskhata
Catamenia is one of those extremely underrated bands who constantly release great albums but still do not get that kind of attention from the public they would deserve. Even though they are considered a Melodic Black Metal band, they have lot of non-black metal elements. Their whole image is more similar to Finnish Extreme Power Metal bands, than Black Metal. But this actually is not really important, the only thing that matters is music and I can guarantee you that Catamenia knows how to make great music.
Eskhata; band's fourth full-length album, contains all the elements that Catamenia are known for. Melodic, catchy riffs, moody parts, high pitched black vocals and appropriate use of keyboards. As soon as you press play button you suddenly find yourself on a trip to a cold winter land, surrounded by woods and wolves (which are also present on a really nice front cover). The first song that really stands out is called Flames and it starts with a nice slow intro and then gradually becomes faster and explodes into amazing song with double guitar lines and great vocals. All the other songs are also great and follow the same pattern. I would mention especially Landscape, Astral Tears, Beyond The Starlight and the title song Eskhata which is also the last song on the album.
Performance and production from band is very good, although nothing outstanding. Song compositions are not really complexly written but this is more a positive than a negative thing, because the music is more oriented on how it sounds then how is composed. Plus the songs are much more catchier and are made for nice, "easy" listening.
These things mentioned in the last paragraph are also the main reason why this album does not get the "perfect" ten. But is still damn close and if you like melodic, catchy, yet extreme music, Eskhata is a must. Enough said.
Rating breakdown
| Performance: | 9 |
| Songwriting: | 9 |
| Originality: | 9 |
| Production: | 9 |
Written by Silent Creeper | 20.11.2008
Guest review disclaimer:
This is a guest review, which means it does not necessarily represent the point of view of the MS Staff.
This is a guest review, which means it does not necessarily represent the point of view of the MS Staff.
Comments
Comments: 6
Visited by: 67 users
| Katatronik Angel of Lust Posts: 1018 From: Italy  |
Nice album, though not my favourite one... but I enjoyed it a lot anyway... good review!
---- "The oldest and strongest emotion of mankind is fear, and the oldest and strongest kind of fear is fear of the unknown." Howard Phillips Lovecraft
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| Sunioj Posts: 3894 From: Finland  |
'Extremely underrated...' I'd say that they are the exact opposite. Overrated, and gain too much attention for their ability to be formulaic and predictable. Meh. I don't think any of Catamenias albums are worth more than an 8. But you have convinced me to give this album a shot...
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| Uirapuru Liver Failure Posts: 2955 From: Brazil  |
Written by Sunioj on 21.11.2008 at 14:49 Agree with every word there. This album is clearly different from the previous, and it's an amazing improovment. The varieted sound that was always missing in the other albuns can be found here, thanks to the catchy melodies, the keyboard is exellent, the vocals and drums are also better... they are less repetitive afterall. But it doesn't mean that this is a good album, less repetitive doesn't mean NOT repetitive, the best songs end up being the most commercial appelatives ones : ''Beyond the starlight'' and ''Landscape'', where we can find the pretty keyboard work and the nice solos that are the major feature of this work... the rest is the rest...
----  ---- member of the true crusade against old school heavy metal, early 80s thrash, NWOBHM, traditional doom, first and second wave black metal, old school death metal, US power metal, 70s prog rock and atmospheric doomsludgestoner. o/
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| Sunioj Posts: 3894 From: Finland |
Written by Uirapuru on 20.04.2009 at 17:13 Yeah, I hear what you're saying. I gave this album a spin after this review and wasn't impressed. I feel bad because I used to be crazy about Catamenia, now I don't remember the last time I listened to them. From what I've heard, I'd say that 'Winternight Tragedies' is their most mature work (keep in mind I haven't heard all the albums, they have quite a bit).
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| Uirapuru Liver Failure Posts: 2955 From: Brazil |
Written by Sunioj on 20.04.2009 at 17:18 Winternight..'' is their best work by far (althought I still have to listen the last one  ). I also used to like Catamenia a lot, but it was when I was starting to listen to metal. After some years is hard to see what was so impressive about this band. That's one of the few groups where the earlier works are the worse.Maybe the easy-going genre, full of melodic parts, and the awesome theme songs makes me automatically interested in the past, but listening now I can't help being disappointed. 
---- ---- member of the true crusade against old school heavy metal, early 80s thrash, NWOBHM, traditional doom, first and second wave black metal, old school death metal, US power metal, 70s prog rock and atmospheric doomsludgestoner. o/
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| In Bone Factory Posts: 381 From: Iran  |
The type just fit to and fill in my taste.
---- The End Is Nigh ...
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