In Two Minds

The history of this multicultural band started in the year 2006 when its first two members, Dаniel and Awik began composing material for the forthcoming album. In the next three years Katatura had finally been completed and the guys fully concentrated on the recording process. After that was the mixing phase which was quite a long and exhaustive process. Due to some problems with the label, the musicians decided to leave "Build A Nation" for "STF Records", which would take over the mastering, the promotion and the distribution of the album.

You can see that releasing "In Two Minds" was a very long and tough work. However, it was worth trying and now we're able to hear the result. By the way, this was "e-recording" which means that the guys met on Myspace and communicated per e-mail or per telephone, and the first time they "physically" met, Djon had already recorded almost 100% of the album. So the album was recorded before the band members had seen each other live!

Following the musical style which they call "grooveshuggah", the fellows perform polyrhytmic metal in the groove vein, not having the pretention to play technically but playing rhythmically while letting some technical elements in. Consequently,monotonous, groovy riffs are often replaced by complex mathematically built guitar structures in the Meshuggah spirit. The tracks' tempo is often being changed, but in general slow, abrasive riffs prevail on the album and usually set the tone in each song. All this is supplemented with Andreas' distinctive growl that sometimes turns into a scream, adding some gloominess and an ominous atmosphere to the music.

At times one can hear short acoustic parts that effectively contrast with heavy guitar arpeggios. This is especially evident on the first instrumental track «The Thin End of the Wedge». In general, to mark out any of the compositions is a difficult task, because they all are equal enough.

In my opinion, one of the main shortcomings of "In Two Minds" is the pretty impacted guitar sound that slightly hinders from the full evaluation of the whole "mathematical" part of the album.

Quite an unconventional approach to composing may at first confuse the listener but when you hear this work more, you may find it very appealing.

In conclusion, if you're a fan of slow groove metal which is backed by polyrhythmic stuff and powerful vocals, then Katatura's new album is definitely for you!