CCMusic.com

• Track Listing

Tamás Kátai has a vision that extends far beyond his native Hungary, but Thy Catafalque's twelfth album is tied to the past in more ways than one. Whereas his previous album returned to the heavier days of Thy Catafalque, XII takes Kátai on a more figurative journey. The album unfolds like a dark night of the soul, whisked away by the dreamy-yet-haunting opener "Piros kocsi, fekete éj". "Run with me, life / Whisper the tales", Attila Bakos sings in Hungarian. His cleans soar over the airwaves, reappearing with ease 15 years after he first joined Thy Catafalque for the project's underground breakout Róka Hasa Rádió. More old friends join Kátai on this journey. A gyönyörű álmok ezután jönnek features 20+ guest musicians, including familiar faces from inside and outside of the Hungarian metal scene. Violins, cello and clarinet bring the comforts of home. Still, the road can be quite harsh. "Mindenevő" is consumed with humanity's self-destructive appetite, fueled by mechanized blast beats and distorted downpicking that recalls the fiery black metal from which Thy Catafalque was originally forged in 1998. Hungarian history looms behind the album's most crushing moments. The coal blackened chugger "Vasgyár" is named after the rusted-out ironworks that once fueled the country's economy. In the video for the album's title track and lead single, Kátai runs through not only his hometown but surreal scenes from past and present issues that lie beneath the surface of the countryside. But his flair for the avant-garde still shines like the dawn. The synth's minor key melody glows with the faint but familiar reassurance that the beautiful dreams are yet to come.