Catherine is a smaller sized metalcore band out of Sacramento, CA. They are relatively new to the scene and are starting to blossom now that they have a steady line-up. I recently picked up Catherine’s album, The Naturals. The album was released in 2007 on Rise Records. This is the only c.d. they have release so far, minus their EP titled Rumor Has It. Here is my review of The Naturals…

1.) First Take: Intro… just a dude coughing. nothing to see here… move along

2.) The Naturals: Great song to start off the c.d. with. Begins with a drum introduction/fill and moves right into the whole band, with screaming over the instruments. The transition from the verse to the chorus is well done. The verse has a rhythm guitar with a lead playing over the top. For the transition both guitars play a rhythmic, which is a nice switch. The chorus has a mini-break down and foreshadows the breakdown towards the end of the song. They do something for a bridge that you rarely see heavy bands do. The instruments drop out and an acoustic guitar comes in with the singer laying out the melody. Shortly after, the screamer comes in over the singer. Song ends with a short lived but electrified breakdown.

3.) Tailor: This song has to be one of my favorites because of the grindcore influence to it. This song covers a spectrum of different sounds and uses more singing (as opposed to screaming) than other songs on the album. The guitars use a lot of off-beat rhythms and the screams are on the accents of the guitars. All the phrases in this song are short and transition quickly from one section to another. The drummer does an awesome job at changing up the beats so they don’t all sound the same.

4.) Light Brite: The intro this song is extremely basic but still sounds decent. The song is turned up a notch when the verse starts. The drums and bass go perfectly together, creating a real heavy sound. The breakdown in the middle of the song is nice because you don’t see it coming. The screams really sound badass over the open chords of the breakdown. The bridge is absolutely genius. Like in Track 2, all the instruments drop out momentarily and an acoustic guitar fades in. The vocals the same line until the song is over. One of my favorite lines is in the bridge- “Thinking maps were made for us to follow, you showed me light was near, the brightest light is here.” I can’t even explain how explain how good this song is, you just have you hear it for yourself.

Catherine Photo

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