Swiss Straight edge hardcore act Cataract return with their fifth album of burly, chugging metallic hardcore that won’t really make much of an impact on the genre, but is a sturdy release none the less.

However, as when the band changed things up from Martyr’s Melodies to With Triumph Comes Loss from melodic metalcore to burly hardcore, Cataract sees a very subtle shift from the simple, pure Hatebreed-isms of Kingdom by way of a very Heaven Shall Burn influenced form of almost Bolt Thrower rumble rather than straight up hardcore.

Don’t get me wrong, this is still very much a hardcore album, but with longer songs and the far more tangible Heaven Shall Burn strains (“Breeze of the Kings”), it has a little more metallic depth and dark melodies. Then when you throw in the slight Bolt Thrower vibe-just listen to the start of “Blackest Hour” and “Deathwish”, which all have that runaway train gait, and the album has a little more impact than Kingdom.

Still, there’s plenty of more expected hardcore gallop and grunt like the more urgent “Snake Skin” and “Burn at the Stake”, beefy “Choke Down”, fierce “Tonight We Dine In Hell”, and Tue Madsen’s expected chunky, production/mastering effort, but the album is still rather forgetful when taken as a whole, and when thrown in with the mass of metallic hardcore currently available.

[Visit the band's website]

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