Music in Low Frequencies – Catharsis
Release Date: 8th December 2023
Label: Raging Planet Records
Bandcamp
Genre: Black Metal, Post Metal, Doom Metal.
FFO: The Moth Gatherer, Vattnet Viskar, Gaerea.
Review By: Mark Waight
Catharsis is the return album of Portuguese blackened post-metal act Music in Low Frequencies after five-years of silence. Catharsis follows on from their 2014 debut album Sowing the Seed which launched their career and lead Music in Low Frequencies to appear at several festivals and small events in Portugal in the following years.
The band was originally formed in 2012 by three old friends, who continue to thrive throughout the music they create together. Catharsis continues the Music in Low Frequencies legacy with engaging and gloomy melodies, heavy riffs with doomy undercurrents that tell the story of our times.
Music in Low Frequencies is Mariana Faisca (vocals, keyboards), Sergio Ferreira (guitars) and Diogo Machado do Vale (drums).
We start on a Web of Questions, a heavy bass, heavily percussive track with superb deep growling vocals that all serve to generate an unpassable wall of sound for your listening pleasure. A few special sound effects give it that futuristic twist that will leave you wanting more!
The cranked-up speed of Unborn Pride is something with a more traditional metal flavour, whilst keeping that blackened edge very much at the fore. With a screamer of a vocal performance and a stomping groove, this song will have you on the edge of your seat.
The gloom is upped slightly with Steel; this black as a starless night tune has a heavy thumping and pulsating riff that passes right through your body in pleasurably punishing waves of mayhem and hysteria. Bitter and sweet!
There is the wrong way and then there is The Right Way, a classic doom fest with some cleaner vocals blended in with the hard-hitting brutal ones to give us an insight into the very pits of Dante’s Inferno. Tunes don’t come much darker than this, as the pace slowly heats up to a smouldering climax in probably my favourite track from the album.
Next up, Unconsciousness takes things down a notch or two with a gut-wrenching sonic boom of a riff that will resonate to your very core as you embark on this wonderfully woeful journey. Enjoy the ride!
Starving The Weak is a another beautifully gloomy, doom-laden song with deep growling vocals and atmospheric synths that will drag you right down into the depths of despair. Slow and very intoxicating!
At nearly fifteen minutes long, curtain closer This Corpse is a thoroughly epic tale of huge proportions. It is clear Music in Low Frequencies have given absolutely everything by pouring their very hearts and souls into this composition, which in my opinion is a fantastic piece of modern music in a classical style. Very impressive!
Catharsis is an album that you will need to listen to several times before you fully appreciate its depth, but believe me, it’s more than worth the effort. Music in Low Frequencies have created an incredible listening experience with Catharsis that given time you will slowly grow to love. The first listen plants the seed that will germinate and flourish with each further occasion you take the trip! Don’t take my word, though, try it for yourself!
If you are looking for something light, cheery and seasonal then you need to look elsewhere, but if you want something darker, doom-laden and thought-provoking this Christmas then Catharsis is worth a spin. Recommended!
(4 / 5)
