Overall Rating: 9.1
· Sound: 9.6
· Lyrics: 8.5

· Impression: 9.1

8.) Let’s Pretend Like It’s 1910: The song begins with a hard drum beat. The drums and guitars really mix well. They overuse the screams a little bit here though. It sounds awesome when the screamer drops out in the intro and the guitars are jamming with drums. Out of nowhere the song goes into a massive breakdown. The best breakdowns are the ones that aren’t expected, and this one definitely is not expected. The drum fill leading into the breakdown is one of the best fills I’ve heard before. Having the band drop out and a fill with the toms is perfect. I’m still trying to get my drummer to play some drum beats like that that.

9.) To Be Specific: This song really deviates from the normal sound of Catherine. The first part of the song using an electronic drum beat and sounds like it may have been constructed on garage band or some other type of drum machine. The drums switch over to a true drum set but with some sort of effect that makes it sound like the drummer is playing in a bathroom. They make good use of effects on the vocals as well to make this song unique.

10.) Praise The Night Time: This last song on the album was a really good song to end on. Thank you for adding in a pick slide- I was looking for one of those! The bass sticks out much more in this song than in other songs. The contrast at the end was really effective. They don’t use a clean guitar in many of their songs and it was a good choice to throw a bridge with a clean sound at the end. I didn’t notice until now that they actually use the electronic drum sounds some more at the end of the song. The only thing I would have liked to hear was a buildup from the clean part to a huge breakdown at the end of the song. Oh well- props for being unique.

5.) Dear Elizabeth: One of the more mellow songs on the c.d. Starts off with an acoustic part, and goes into a mini guitar solo. This strong is very expressive, seeing that it is an instrumental. There’s not anything that exciting about this so. This song is more about Catherine showing another side to the band, and that they don’t keep to one sound. The best part of this song is that it transitions right into the next song and you can barely tell that they are two different songs (minus the fact that the vocals start right when it switches to track 6).

6.) Fallacy: Many hardcore bands have energy-packed songs, but don’t really evoke much emotion other than the raging hormones of a teenager. This band is different in that I see their music as more so poetry than just a bunch of a noise. This song is a piece of artwork. The screams sound awesome, yet you can still make out what he is saying. It’s hard for me to tell if in the recording there is a different screamer behind the main vocalist, or if it’s the same guy with some mixing done in the studio. The screams sound different enough that they could be two different band members, but at the same time it sounds like the main vocalist screaming in a higher pitch. Like in other songs, the screamer and singer sound great together (especially in the chorus).

7.) Thou Art A Villain: The transition into the verse really gets the song moving a lot. The drums keep the intro alive and you can get really feel the double bass. This song is effective at using dynamics. In some parts of the song one of the instruments will drop out making the overall sound of the bound lower, but still remaining heavy. The line, “There’s no heroes, there’s no heroes” is repeated over and over again until the song is over. I really like how they can use only one lyrical line and make it so powerful through repetition. The line eventually fades out into the nothing and leads into the next song.

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

Overall Rating: 9.3
· Sound: 9.5
· Lyrics: 9.2
· Impression: 9

1.) Blossom, The Witch: The song is one of my favorite songs on album and is by far the most energetic. The song starts off with a suspenseful noise that builds up into the intro of the song. The drums in the beginning of the song are loud and in your face. You can feel the bass drum inside of you. The drums couldn’t sound any better. The drums kick up speed, creating the illusion that the tempo of the song gets faster, but only the drums are faster. When the lyrics come in, the keyboard is the main instrument that sticks out over everything. Not many bands do this, and they are very good at making the keys blend in when they want them to, and stick out at other times. The lyrics are very dark and they make it clear what the song is about.

She is the enchantment
She is the filth that you love to crawl in
You’re forced to feed on the dirt that you can only perceive as passion
But looks are deceiving
Beauty is only skin deep
She’s put and end to existence
She’s put and end to us all
There’s something in her eyes that says, “I am here to tell you lies”
Meet here stare to entrap yourself In the place where love has died
Beware the blossom
Beware of here eyes
Run
You’ll never make it out of here alive
Run
You’ll never make it out
But looks are deceiving
Beauty is only skin deep
She’s put an end to existence
She’s put an end to us all
Beware

2.) To Live And Die By Fire: The first verse of the song transitions into a powerful chorus, with a wavering keyboard sound. The fills between verses, choruses, and bridges are well done. They really show off the drummer’s talent. The keyboard part follows the guitar part in certain parts of the song in a lot higher octave that gives it a unique sound and reinforces the riffs. The song ends with a breakdown that makes you want to dance your pants off.

3.) The Worst Is Yet To Come: They start the song with a shredding guitar riff that really gets you pumped, although it is a bit generic. This song doesn’t use quite as much keyboard as the other songs, and when they do it is more hidden under the other instruments. The song isn’t anything special until the chorus comes. The chorus is extremely catchy. This is definitely one of their “sing-along” songs. A cool effect is created when the singer sings the chorus followed by the screamer repeating part of the line.

4.) In The Place Of Hope: The intro to this song is slightly boring, and as before doesn’t get good until the pre-chorus. A delayed guitar with a lot of added effects accompanies a trippy keyboard part leading into another catchy chorus. The chorus here is almost all singing unlike a lot of their other songs, which is a nice change of pace. The breakdown of this song is intense just like all of their breakdowns.

5.) White Walls: One of their hits, White Walls, is what really made these guys popular. This is the first song I heard by these guys, and it’s still one of my favorites. The lead riff in this song begins right off the bat and eventually the keyboard joins with the same melody. The screamer displays how he can do high screams and low growls throughout the song. By far the best part of this song is the breakdown. Right before the breakdown everything goes quiet, and only a bright keyboard melody remains. The contrast of quiet to loud really gives the breakdown even more strength.