Katalepsy – ‘Terra Mortuus Est’ [Album Review]

Having been peddling their vicious wares since 2004, Russian sluggers Katalepsy are back with another dose of punishing rage in the form of their latest offering for Unique Leader, Terra Mortuus Est. An eleven-track affair, Terra Mortuus Est is the kind of album that does what it says on the tin, nothing more, nothing less.

Now, whether that instantly puts you off from pressing play depends on how weary your ears are to another unrelenting battery from the death metal scene. However, should you decide to give this one a spin, you won’t be left disappointed. Enhanced by a now-expected quality Unique Leader production, Terra Nortuus Est’s juggernaut heavy brutality sounds absolutely devastating. Amidst the blood-curdling brutality, there are moments where the album is tinged with a technical twist such as the ferocious “Deep Down Madness” which does flavour things up a bit although it’s business as usual when the Russians power on through “The God of Grave” and “No Rest No Peace.”

As Terra Mortuus Est thunders towards its finale, the Russian outfit takes their time to step outside the box for the atmospheric album closer “Land Of Million Crosses.” A dramatic conclusion to the album and possibly one of its strongest tracks. It’s also nice to see that, after a career spanning almost seventeen years, these Russians have more to their armoury than just brute force heaviness. Given that variety is supposedly the spice of life, when you’ve made a career out of pummelling fans with hella-heaviness of the quality found throughout their back catalogue, would you want to mix things up too much though? Devoted fans of the group and the genre would probably say not.

Clocking in at over fifty-minutes-long, Terra Mortuus Est will take some stamina to sit through. Thankfully, though, despite being utterly unforgiving in their delivery, Katalepsy has sprayed plenty of breakdowns throughout the record to get those heads nodding while bringing their death metal fury into the modern era. By the time this one has finished, you’re left feeling that, while Terra Mortuus Est may not reinvent the wheel or propel Katalepsy into the premier league of death metal bands, they’ve added an impressive weapon to their armoury of brutality.

Katalepsy

Terra Mortuus Est Track Listing:

1. Closer Than Flesh
2. Night of Eden
3. Those Who Rot the Souls
4. The God of Grave
5. Terra Mortuus Est
6. Kings of the Underground
7. Deep Down Madness
8. No Rest No Peace
9. From the Dark Past (They Come)
10. Neonomicon III
11. Land Of Million Crosses

Run Time: 52:21
Release Date: July 31, 2020
Record Label: Unique Leader Records