Kataleptic - The Black Horse - Friday March 26th 2010

The Black Horse was heaving and the sense of anticipation was palpable... but before the headliners, two bands also contributed strongly to the night's hostilities.....

Haerken played extreme metal with a Medieval twist, with the majority of their songs being based on Arthurian legend (although the last track was based on Sir Walter Scott's "Ivanhoe"). They regrettably got the opening band at the Black Horse sound, very quiet, with the snare and guitars very low in the mix. Apparently the sound at the front was adequate but at the back was shocking to put it mildly. Concentrating on their efforts though, they did nothing wrong and I'd be more than interested in seeing them again.

Stylistically they reminded me of Amon Amarth, although with an English Medieval twist i nstead of Norse mythology. They regaled the audience with songs leaning on death, thrash, and battle metal and it made a refreshing change to see a band putting an effort into their stage costumes - kilts, tabards, and a drummer wearing a full face mask and cloak (he must have been sweating his proverbials off..).

From what I could tell they were tight enough musically - I'll reserve judgement until I've seen them again. I strongly suspect that in the right venue, with a good sound, and a well matched bill, that they'd go down a storm. Setlist; "King Herla", "The Eve Of Beltane", "The Tale Of The Green Knight (Parts One & Two)", "The Kings Crusade", "The Wild Hunt", "Torquil Stone".

During Malacite's stint I made sure I was closer to the stage. Sure enough the sound was better, but still not great. Didn't affect the band one iota though as they ploughed through a precise and vicious set. Think of the heavy end of thrash with progressive workouts and you'd be close to their overall impact.

The songs were introduced in a mock European accent and it's always good to see a band prepared to not take themselves too seriously and enjoy their time on stage. This is a dangerously thin line but one which Malacite respect implicitly. As I've seen them a few times recently my other comments will be a repetition, so I'll leave this review short, other than to say that I respect them immensely for their choice of cover to close - attempting Gojira songs is a brave move but they succeeded in delivering a worthy rendition. Malacite continue to impress me more with each performance, a fine group of musicians who deserve to do well. Setlist; "Disillusioned", "I Am God", "The Father of The Lie", "Voices", "Oroborus".

Kataleptic get heavier (musically not physically!) each time I see them. Tonight's performance saw them enter brutal death metal territory with a blitzkrieg of a set. Fast, precise, vicious, and thoroughly entertaining throughout, it's good to see them gigging more regularly now. There were the more traditional old school death metal slower sections, and some technical/progressive workouts too, but this was a display that, for the most part, was unrelenting in its directness and malicious intent. The choice of songs leant heavily on the back catalogue, although they did play one new track, "Altercation", which fitted in seamlessly.

Their choice of closer was interesting in two respects - firstly it's a song they don't play that often, and secondly it was an interesting counterpoint to the rest of their stint, building progressively from a melodic intro and upping the velocity and aggression levels as the song developed. Thoroughly entertaining as ever, Kataleptic rounded off a quality evening in crushing fashion. Setlist; "Intoxicated Desecration", "Altercation", "Backhouse Whore", "Womb Pounder", "Synapse", "Full Circle", "Souless Endeavour".