Chuck Schuldiner Project

Saturday, September 23, 2017

Katla - Modurastin


There is a strange appeal to Icelandic pagan metal. Katla is one of the freshest bands on the scene, but features old heads, including a former member of Solstafir and members of Fortid and Potentiam. This debut album Modurastin is a deep dive into ethereal musical voyages and twisted sonic landscapes. Katla is a band who understand the power of both Icelandic folk music and black metal. Their multi-layered approach to the twisted beauty of this music can't help but to charm and to fascinate.

The brilliantly orchestrated and tightly composed magic of Modurastin can't help but to capture your imagination. Katla is the sort of record that takes you on a journey, and the lush soundscapes, compounded by the rich cultural heritage unveiled throughout this record makes for a mesmerizing experience. Everything about the execution of Modurastin is stunning - my favorite moments coming in the tail end of the last song, Dulsmal where a beautifully put together send off helps to cement the record in your memory. With this release Katla have driven towards something transcendent and beautiful we can never properly escape.

This is obviously the end result of an immense travail and represents the forward motion of a scene that has never been willing to fall into complacency. Instead Modurastin shows us a band who have distilled the art of pagan metal into something greater. Sure they tend to err more on the side of pagan than metal, but that's the entire point. The metal side of the music only serves to ground it - everything else drives us towards mesmerizing bliss and an answer to the burning questions our search for culture instill in us.

Find them on Facebook! 
https://www.facebook.com/katla.band/

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