Band's List Experimental Metal Thy Catafalque Rengeteg

Carrying on my tradition of fellating Thy Catafalque until it almost becomes an obsession of mine, the fifth album from this purveyor of quirky blackened avant-garde Metal garners another perfect rating. There is something so unique and wondrous about Thy Catafalque that I cannot stop myself from salivating over anything this guy puts out.

Rengeteg on first listen didn’t hit it off with me as much as T?n? id? tárlat or Róka hasa radio, maybe I wasn’t paying as much attention to it as Rengeteg still has all the elements I’ve come to love about this band but for some reason the execution wasn’t there for me. Then I realized I had approached this the wrong way, overall Rengeteg feels much darker than the two aforementioned albums which is probably what caused my original animosity. However when I decided to pay more attention to Rengeteg I found myself immersed in the deep and brooding soundscapes and the quirky avant-garde elements.
Thy Catafalque is a highly original band, lacing eastern folk influences and elements of electronica into a Post Black Metal template; there really isn’t a band that sounds quite like this.

Rengeteg is a bizarre Black Metal mutant constantly surprising the listener with wavering soundscapes, a myriad of outside influences and a generally quirky and out there sound. Usually bands that fall under the avant-garde genre don’t generally create fun and catchy music, after all this is a genre concerned with being experimental and it almost seems taboo to have any semblance of fun in the music. Therefore I think it’s fair to say that Thy Catafalque take a rather unique approach to being avant-garde. Rengeteg is full of catchy hooks and amazing melodies that will constantly surprise the listener and keep them engaged. It really is hard to stretch how unpredictable this album is, ranging from the rock appeal of Kel keleti szél that carries with it a poppy vibe to the almost straight up black Metal track that is Minden test f?. Rengeteg is a strange and transforming beast, never dwelling on a musical idea long enough Rengeteg feels like a kid with ADHD, never being able to settle on something long enough, it has to keep changing and transforming throughout or ultimately it will fall victim to stagnation. Each track is highly unique and original with no track seemingly matching he last but all working perfectly in symbiosis to create one of the most quirky and amazing musical voyages I have ever embarked upon.

One of the most striking elements of Rengeteg is the use of keyboards, they’re not overbearing yet they’re relied upon heavily. They’re used for atmospheric effect yet they’re not minimalistic and ambient. For the whole of the album they play a vital role, sometimes they create serene and tranquil atmospherics but at other times they’re content to lay down a fun and catchy beat. The keyboards are what makes Thy Catafalque what they are, they’re unique, constantly shifting and have a futuristic electronic vibe to them. The keyboards seem designed to constantly alter the listener’s emotions and to continuously change the tone of the album. They’re not content to settle on the same thing for an extended period of time and they’re constantly wavering, creating a bizarre sonic undercurrent to the music.

Another vital aspect of Rengeteg is the clean voice of Tamás Kátai, the clean voice is the primary vocal style of Rengeteg and it is pulled off tastefully. His voice is very powerful and demanding, he’s certainly got one of the best singing voices in Metal, being fairly unique and is most certainly a powerful presence within the music. It’s interesting how he mixed his clean vocals with the brutal and skull crushing Metal overlay of the album. When the music shifts tones his vocals adjust accordingly. At times the vocals sound close to Black Metal rasps but nowhere near as shrill and vile.

The guitars are used brilliantly, showing that they can play in a multitude of styles with the last track shifting to a more purist Black Metal approach and the first track ending with an almost Death Metal like feeling, there are also riffs that wouldn’t be out of place in Doom Metal and Melodic Death Metal. The guitar tone in general feels particularly doomy, being very crushing and powerful.

Overall Rengeteg is another perfect addition to the discography of Thy Catafalque and it has convinced me that whatever this man gets his hands on will be pure gold. Thy Catafalque is a band that is able to take cues from lots of different genres and to meld them together to create an ever changing and shifting beast. The resulting mixture is an amazing homogenous mixture of very different styles that all work together in symbiosis to create a highly ambitious and unique melding of musical ideas.