CATHARSIS

Catharsis is one of the forgotten great bands from progressive metal realm who didn't get the reputation they desearve, releasing one album in 1995 named Pathways to wholness at the danish label Nordic Metal. Well, I have this album since 2002 and since then I've listen to this release no more then 4-5 times. Fiew weeks ago I decided to give a proper chance and re lisen the album couple of times before making a review. So, my impression as a whole was good, raw prog metal without keyboards, not far from techno thrash bands from late '80's like Anacrusis or Forbidden but with a good doze of progressive elements added, this elements were the bridge between bands like Catharsis, The Last Things, In the Name, etc and the rest of techno thrash bands who remain faithfull to their roots. Very powerfull album with many tempo changes, some good vocals but too cold for my taste, but good, some excellent drum chops and very solid and captivating guitar solos and riffs, this is how I can describe this album. Even is places is raw but still progressive, Catharsis never made in this scene, is strange because this is a very good album who turns to be their swansong. What more is a characteristic of this album is that the music is very dense, thay never let you to take a breath between pieces, only some tracks under 1 min change the atmosphere from rough to more acustic and vocal orientated piece. As a whole I find it a good album, very similar to my ears with american prog metal Power of omens. While I enjoy this album I can't give more then 3 stars, is good but something is missing here, I don't know really what, maybe the sound is too crisp in places, too cold. Nevertheless a hard to find album who needs a better view for sure, still pretty good band who for sure make their mark in prog metal realm. 3 stars, weaker in my opinion then other Nordic metal issue gem - The Last Things album - Butterflies and circles.

"Pathways To Wholeness" is the debut and sole full-length studio album by American, San Diego, California based progressive metal act Catharsis. The band recorded the "A Cleansing of the Mind" demo in 1993 and short-lived Danish metal label Nordic Metal signed an album contract with the band which resulted in the release of "Pathways To Wholeness". The Nordic Metal label only released three other albums besides "Pathways To Wholeness" as far as I know ( I can´t find anything about the label on the internet). "Age of Elegance (1994)" by Lord Bane, "Circles & Butterflies (1993)" by The Last Things ( both progressive metal albums) and "Fathom That" (year unknown but it must have been around 93-95) by Slyboyz (I don´t know the music genre on the Slyboyz album). My point is that "Pathways To Wholeness" is a very rare release and you´ll probably have a hard time tracking it down outside Scandinavia (there´s always internet auctions of course). I actually found mine second hand by coincidence and I´m gonna hold on to that one.

The music on "Pathways To Wholeness" is technical progressive metal played by a power-trio which fortunately means that the music is rid of annoying polished keyboards. Something I think mares way too many progressive metal albums. The two most prominant influences I can think of is Fates Warning (at their most technical) and Psychotic Waltz. The music is rather challenging and I remember it took me quite a while before I was convinced of Catharsis songwriting abilities back when I got the album. Technical playing sometimes seem to be more important than compositional strength but giving the album a lot of spins will also reveal compositional depth IMO. The technical level of the musicians is very high. The rythm section is tight and actually rather funky at times while guitarist/ vocalist Scott Fox handles the vocal duties in typical high pitched progressive metal style. But I really enjoy his voice. His guitar skills are also considerable and there are some really excellent shredding solos on the album.

The sound quality is good considering that it is not a fully professional production (at least to my ears) but you don´t always need millions of dollars to produce an excellent album.

I´ve had "Pathways To Wholeness" for a long time and it keeps growing on me. It´s a crying shame that Catharsis only made this album because the signs of great things to come are there in abundance. I really enjoy the wild unpolished energy in the music. Something that many other progressive metal bands could learn from. Perfection sometimes kills power. To me "Pathways To Wholeness" is a 4 star album and I really hope more people get the chance to hear this album because it´s definitely highly recommendable to fans of the genre.