Epic: The Poetry of War album by Kataklysm was released on the Animate label. Self-described as "northern hyperblast," Kataklysm plays a mix of technical death metal, grindcore, and more melodic, Scandinavian-tinged black/death metal on this album, their fifth full-length. Epic: The Poetry of War CD music The songs here combine the aforementioned styles in a logical, non-schizophrenic fashion within each song, resulting in a coherent yet also relatively diverse album, at least as far as this type of extreme metal goes. Epic: The Poetry of War music CDs Drummer Max Duhamel's percussion work is especially notable for its variety of rhythms, as he switches fluidly from blastbleats and double-bass onslaughts to slowed-down death metal grooves and the occasional triplet-based shuffle rhythm. And while there are a few overly familiar-feeling riffs here and there, the songwriting is consistent and solid. On the whole, this is a good effort from Kataklysm, and due to its more melodic nature (compared to their earlier work), it makes a good intro to the band for listeners who are skeptical about the more extreme end of death metal.
