Releases like this really make you scratch your head. The fifth album from Switzerland's Cataract (self-titled) sees the band continuing on with their mix of hardcore & metal, as they sound closer and closer to an American-ized version of....well, just insert any number of 'core styled bands, and you basically have Cataract in 2008. Not that this is necessarily a bad thing. After all, the foursome and their Hatebreed-ish delivery pushes all the right buttons, crushing guitar riffs colliding with jack-hammer drum work and effective vocal shouts & growls, plus the production is top notch. I mean, there's nothing to knock here, songs like "Blackest Hour", "Snake Skin", "Deathwish", and "Tonight We Dine in Hell" (love that title!) all are plenty brutal enough and kick some serious ass. Problem is, there's not enough here to give Cataract any sort of identity, and most of these songs come across as stuff we've heard before, and many times at that. Also, too often these tunes come across as interchangeable and seem to be stuck in a similar formula (nice to hear that Slayer-ish guitar solo on "Breeze of the Kings" though), forcing Cataract to ultimately be viewed as solid, but not essential by any means.
Track Listing
1. The Separation Of Life And Time - 04:40
2. Blackest Hour - 06:41
3. Snake Skin - 04:12
4. Choke Down - 04:31
5. Deathwish - 05:06
6. Burn At The Stake - 04:37
7. Tonight We Dine In Hell - 03:24
8. Breeze Of The Kings - 04:25
9. Doomed Steps - 03:59
10. In Ashes - 04:54
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