Thy Catafalque - XII: A gyönyörü álmok ezután jönnek (2024)

Always pushing the envelope and creating some truly unique releases, Tamás Kátai’s Thy Catafalque returns with their latest opus “XII: A gyönyörü álmok ezután jönnek”. Featuring eleven tracks and over 50 minutes of very diverse and dynamic music, this release is truly an Avant-garde music lover paradise. With each track, the album explores a wide palette of sounds ranging from crafty folky elements to traditional Death/Black Metal, to more atmospheric and explorative pieces.

The release opens with the playful and dreamy “Piros kocsi, fekete éj”, which features live vocalist Martina Horváth alongside Attila Bakos, creating a dynamic and yet somewhat folky vibe. Shifting gears into heavier territories, “Mindenevö” delivers powerful guitars and harsh vocals, providing a nice contrast to the first track while keeping the band’s dynamic sound thanks to lush choir arrangements. This playfulness and exploratory nature continues as “Vasgyár” delivers more heaviness with some weirdness, “Világnak világa” keeps things atmospheric, and “Nyárfa, nyírfa” unravels that Folky catchiness that the band always exploits.

The shorter tracks like “Lydiához”,”Vakond”, and “A gyönyörü álmok ezután jönnek”, explore more traditional elements with plenty of unique instruments being used alongside haunting vocal melodies with all lyrics in Hungarian. This last track in particular is superbly catchy with an intoxicating bass guitar line, epic tempo changes, and amazing keyboards, definitely one of our favorite tracks from the band. The overall balance between heavy songs like, “Aláhullás” and the more folky and playful others is quite well crafted, creating a release full of ups and downs that always keeps the listener wondering what is next.

Filled with unique songs and very crafty instrumentation, for this release, Tamás Kátai, has over 25 guest musicians, lending their talents in terms of additional vocals, and traditional instruments. While in many cases so many elements don’t really fit, Thy Catafalque always manages to create very cohesive and dynamic songs that perfectly align all elements. Overall, If you have never heard one of the band’s releases, be prepared to be completely confused and yet blown away by how everything fits together in creating a truly immersive experience. Definitely check this release out if you are looking for cool and weird music.

Label: Season of Mist

Release: November 15th, 2024

Genre: Avant-garde

Country: Hungary