Katechon

Katechon

Is Norwegian black metal on the cusp of a new golden age? Dare I say a glorious “third wave”? At the risk of sounding excitable, all signs point to “yes”. With such bands as Vemod finally releasing their oneiric Venter på stormene in the embers of last year and Dødsengel decimating all with the satanic opera that is Imperator much earlier, it seems that a younger, sexier generation of northern darkness has at last usurped the reign from those who arguably defined the sound, and reclaimed the tattered banner from the hordes of the European mainland. At the centre of this revolution are the sons of Nidaros, led by the unbridled chaos of One Tail, One Head, Min Kniv, Mare and more. Lurking on the periphery, however, another Trondheim cult claws for a piece of the meat – Katechon.

Rehearsal 2011

As a Greek word we should all be familiar with by now (thanks Deathspell!) meaning “that which witholds”, the name rings true as the only material available currently is a smattering of demos and rehearsals. But with a Nuclear War Now! deal inked and each track showing quality and promise, it’s hard to ignore Katechon even at this larval stage. Aside from that, the band bears a tantalising aesthetic for the occult initiate. Ominous cloaked figures, magick squares and inverted crosses grace the covers of these early offerings, leading one to believe that when a fully realised record comes to light at some point this year, it will be something worth celebrating.

Each snippet of potentiality reveals different sides to Katechon, no doubt necessary steps taken as they converge upon where to take the band. Rehearsal 2011 sounds… well, like a rehearsal, but a superb one at that. First track ‘The Ides of March’ kicks out some deliciously old-school, molten heavy metal jams with its dual lead guitar melodies and Sabbathian swagger. ‘Veaduck’, on the other hand, takes a decidedly darker turn, sticking with the doomed plod and menacing scales – but then in the song’s death throes the blast beats are broken out with just moments until the end. It’ll leave you gasping for more like a sorely unsastified bedfellow.

Tape 2012But fear not! Tape 2012 swoops in to fulfill that promise as ‘Man, God, Giant’ rides you violently to climax with a flurry of dexterous riffs, high-octane tempos and disgusting guttural vocals absent from that first recording. ‘Unbeing’ and ‘Spring of Man’ pick up the torch, charging ahead on waves of thick, chunky d-beats. Yeah, d-beats! LURKER fucking despises the contrived “blackened crust”, “DERP! LOOK ERRYBODY WE GONE DID A D-BEAT” approach that has sadly infested the minds of the rocknroll youth recently, yet for the first time it actually sounds right here. Believe.

Beautiful DesolationThe latest output is a sloppy Whirling Dervish of razorblades called ‘Beautiful Desolation’, a rough runthrough of a track hinted to appear on an upcoming release. If one squints their ears through the hiss of the practice room and piercing cymbal strikes, there’s a hideous cacophony of punk-infused black metal just begging to be committed to a proper recording. Vocals have been drowned out almost entirely, although it matters not. Not quite black metal, death metal or hardcore but rather a stunningly honed and natural melding of all at once, whatever monstrosities Katechon give birth to in 2013, rest assured that it’s likely to be pretty damn special. Seek updates here, and listen to all their unholy rumblings thus far here.

Hates music and writing. Unfortunately, he's a journalist.

10 Comments

  • Reply January 4, 2013

    Anonymous

    Check also:

    http://skullgrind.bandcamp.com/album/sk-ll-demo

    Katechon related.

  • Reply January 6, 2013

    The Technogoat

    I’ve been listening to both of those bands nonstop, great find!

  • Reply February 11, 2013

    Corruptor

    “Veadtuck” is a cover from Von’s song, right?

    • Reply February 21, 2013

      Richard

      I don’t know, do people seriously listen to Von? They are not very good, but I imagine you could be right.

  • Reply February 21, 2013

    katechon

    Two tracks from the upcoming album available at http://katechon.bandcamp.com/album/man-god-giant

  • Reply February 22, 2013

    dt

    Norwegian economy is the only true reason why scenes such as Trondheim and Others exist. If they were economic broken, no matter how many forests and mountains they have, there would not exist not even a half of the bands. There wouldnt be a Nidrosian fest or whatsoever in the same way it is today. It would be just one more scene. Same goes for Finland and that.
    People who love norwegian black metal, such as i do, should say “thanks!” to norwegian economy and social welfare for the support of this young people in Trondheim (as it was before in bergen and Oslo). Without that strong material support, their “black metal achievements” would not be not even near what it is.

    • Reply February 22, 2013

      Richard

      Well, yeah. Otherwise no middle-class white boys pretending their lives are so terrible and grim.

  • Reply February 25, 2013

    Dt

    Dont get me wrong, i really love norwegian black metal. But the fact is important to recognize the vital role of Norway’s strong economy that allows young people to have enough money and time to fulfill their achievements in black metal. The will and inspiration are overrated, because even there was a lot of will from these guys, inspiration, and everything else, if Norway had a broken economy, they had barely money to pay bills or have to get 2 jobs to pay the rent, wich means exhaustion, worries, and less time, money for rehearsals and that. Well,of course there would exist some scene, cause less wealthy countries have bands too – but never with the quality, outcome and range it has. Norway gathers the right conditions for it to flourish, its a quiet country (the cities have some issues, but thats common to every big city), but its mostly a peaceful country with a lot of natural area avaiable to go, and high salaries. Even the low salaries are so much better than most of Europe, for example. Its very easy for youngsters to get their independence and job. Otherwise half of the bands and releases wouldnt exist, at least not in these means. Is not only because they want. Is because they can.

  • Reply June 10, 2013

    Katechon

    The entire album is now available for pre-listening at NWN.

    http://nuclearwarnowproductions.bandcamp.com/album/man-god-giant

  • Reply January 14, 2014

    DT

    “Dont forget: What’s Norway got that the rest of the world doesn’t? For one thing, a stunning per capita GDP of $57,000 a year. Norwegians have the second-highest level of satisfaction with their standards of living: 95% say they are satisfied with the freedom to choose the direction of their lives;”
    Oh yes. Now combine with what norwegian Vemod from Trondheim said “The winds within unchained, the wild waters unleashed, the fiery innermost set alight, to work the fertile soil of the primeval soul once more.” it might be in a metaphysical, abstract significance, but it converges.
    Try to do that in a broken country, in a decayed economy, jobless for long time without any benefits, or being exploited, overwhelmed by imense and severe pressure to pay bills over and over, over and over again, losing jobs over and over, in ugly and terrible suburbs. Then if you survive and if you got the money, go a couple of days to Norway. The problems are minimal compared to what i said before.Pay attention to the architecture, to what students and young people can get. And take a trip on nature. Its all there. And more and more, norwegian black metal is going through this direction which needs stability to flourish. They create, decide, reflect, introspect.
    Specially if you are a southern european. If you want to know how destroyed your life was, if you can one later if you got the coins, go there one day. Go to Norway, or if you cannot, try to seek stuff like “norwegian culture” or “nordic life style”
    Its another world.

Leave a Reply Click here to cancel reply.

Leave a Reply to Anonymous Cancel reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.