CoC : Catastrophic - The Cleansing : Review

Catastrophic - _The Cleansing_
(Metal Blade, 2001)
by: Matthias Noll (3 out of 10)

From an imaginary letter to Trevor Perez: Dear Trevor! I want to thank you for creating two of the best death metal records of all time: _Slowly We Rot_ and _Cause of Death_. Looking back over more than ten years it must be extremely painful to realize that your creativity was entirely spent on these two masterpieces and witness that Obituary has been slowly becoming the boring old fart of death metal Now you're back with Catastrophic and I wonder about a couple of things. Where the hell did you find a lead guitarist who is capable of reproducing the two guitar solos Allen West has alternatingly used on each of his appearances? Even more interesting: how deep did you have to dive into the toilet which was used to flush away the riffs considered too crappy for mediocre Obituary tunes? I hear that you successfully found and used them on _The Cleansing_. I assume the smell was horrible. Metal Blade states that "Catastrophic infuses the brutal sounds of Death Metal with intensity of New York Style Hardcore". Does that relate to the average drumming or the occasional appearance of faster-than-Obituary parts in the songs? Finally, you managed to get a vocalist who, style-wise, is an exact copy of John Tardy. Unfortunately, he doesn't have John's incredible voice. In that case you could have named your band Cause of Death, or maybe Executioner. Pretty good idea, huh? Trevor, I'm really sad to have to say this, but this is as bad as Deicide's latest. And, quite contrary to the Metal Blade info which claims "one will be left wondering what hit them", I pretty well know what hit me: a boring, below average CD. On the other hand, I'm sure there are some old school lunatics out there who, confused and bewildered by bands like Nile or Cryptopsy, look for something less complicated, more familiar, something which brings back warm and fuzzy memories of days long gone. I'll put on _Slowly We Rot_ now and think about those days too, but frankly, I don't think you should make another record. Best regards, Matthias.

(article published 13/3/2001)