Kataplexia – The Rise of the Unknown

January 2019 – Rotten Music

Kataplexia is Finland's best Indonesian brutal death metal band. You read that right, Indonesian is now a valid qualifier for brutal death metal. For those unaware, I explored and wrote about the Southeast Asian brutal death metal scene two years ago, discovering a gigantic scene with an uncharacteristic public acceptance. One of the members of Jasad began a side-project, Kaluman, which is the definition of high-quality Southeast Asian brutal death metal. A couple seconds into Kataplexia's latest, I expected to see Rottervore or Extreme Souls as their label, as every element pointed towards Indonesian origins – the tone, production, vocals, riffs and even album art all felt like Ferli Suferli (Jasad, Kaluman) was behind the project, yet Helsinki is listed as their base of operations.

Admittedly, there's only so much one can actually say about the music without endless comparisons. A modern brutal death metal album, with production and slams from 2005, and riffs with such a short rotation they're memorised within seconds. A couple cheeky sweeps or pinch harmonics here and there spice things up without turning The Rise of the Unknown into a technical mess. Staccato guttural vocals and drum fills that somehow manage to feel Indonesian, as if Visceral Disgorge had a discount Walmart version – Kataplexia have written by-the-numbers brutal death metal that's as close to easy listening as the genre will get, but in the catchiest way possible. Not every album needs to reinvent the genre, some are just there to play by the rules and execute it as well as they can. There's a certain apathy towards out-of-the-box thinking reminiscent of Skinless, in that the riffs were written with only fun and weight in mind, giving the record a teenage bedroom project vibe. The album is teen-aged only in vibe, as the actual performance is beyond reproach.

When so much legacy has been left, so many reviews written and so many new records, it's difficult to find more to say about The Rise of the Unknown. Let it stick out as a literal out-of-place project, worth keeping in mind when sharing a pint, or annoying a friend with yet another hour of brutal death metal.

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