Catamenia - Eskhata
Massacre Records
Melodic Black Metal
11 songs (46:51)
Release year: 2002
Catamenia, Massacre Records
Reviewed by Khelek

I discovered Catamenia just a short time ago when reading about a similar band that I have also come to love, Eluveitie. So I got this album and gave it a listen. It was definitely a good decision. These guys play a sort of melodic black metal, similar to bands like Ensiferum, Wintersun, older Suidakra, or the above-mentioned Eluveitie minus the folk influences.

The first track, Storm, starts out with a majestic sounding guitar riff, sounding like an army marching to an epic battle, and it just gets better from there. The next song, Flames, starts out with a great melodic guitar lead that continues throughout the song, the mixed clean and growled vocals of Ari Nissila and Mika Tonning complementing the music perfectly, creating a somber yet still somewhat aggressive atmosphere. The band continues using these types of catchy guitar leads throughout the album, most notably in the songs Vortex, Beyond The Starlight, and Eskhata. They also throw in some acoustic intros such as in the song Landscape, a great song that starts slow and then explodes with a ton of energy. Time In My Hands also begins with some acoustic and electronic sounds, the verses continuing in this manner and the chorus becoming heavier, almost sounding like more of a ballad track. This band clearly has no problem creating songs that are heavy and black, while still being catchy and melodic at the same time. This is something that is difficult to do and even more difficult to do well, but this band does it with apparent ease. Their sound is unique and epic, and will definitely get your blood pumping! I have not heard anything by Catamenia other than this album, but apparently they have released a total of 8 studio albums so far. After listening to this I definitely plan on getting more of their catalogue in the near future.

Killing Songs :
Storm, Flames, Vortex, Landscape, Time In My Hands
Khelek quoted 85 / 100
Other albums by Catamenia that we have reviewed:
Catamenia - Eternal Winter's Prophecy reviewed by Danny and quoted 88 / 100
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There are 6 replies to this review. Last one on Thu Dec 18, 2008 11:45 pm
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