Just three months after the release of their debut EP in April this year, Shillong based post-hardcore group Catatonic delivered yet another significant addition to the landscape of Indian punk. A band that started out as a death-grind band, who slowly eased into idiosyncratic yet intensely melodic songwriting, have very purposefully attempted to capture one’s personal growth through repentance. Unlike the direction that a fair number of modern metalcore bands tend to lean to, Catatonic have shed a layer of their metal roots to put together this raucous ride of jangly guitars, angular chops, and wailing confessions; one that soulfully evokes turbulent flutters in your soul. “We love the eerie atmosphere of The Cure, but also the intensity of Bad Brains and the riffs of Greg Ginn (Black Flag)”, says the group as it is indeed apparent on a first listen that the sonic palette of every song draws upon highly diverse tones and impulses. Anything from Hüsker Dü to Napalm Death, Touché Amoré to Interpol, are all vividly thrown into the mix with a sound that is heavy and punishing, but rightly emotive as well.
Consistently up-tempo from the get-go, the dynamic rhythmic shifts of songs like the opener and the title track could throw one off to give the illusion of looseness but quickly pulls you back into the frenetic grooves with every crescendo. Laid over these are melodically arpeggiated, driving riffs à la Johnny Marr and John Squire – or really, any “Madchester” guitarist’s – sensibilities, gently powering through the chaos with atmospheric textures. Caressing the rapid interplays between the instruments are gut-wrenching bellows, lashing out with a kind of honesty that is both rare to encounter, and often difficult to express. These lads aren’t merely in this to flaunt their technical capabilities, they’re here to stir up a piercingly cathartic outpour of grief. The emo influences (think Basement, Indian Summer) are unabashedly worn on their sleeves, without any reluctance to venture into the depths of one’s own ruptures beneath the surface.
If at all there is anything missing from this EP, it would be a lack of the more spaced out, tonally “trippy” sections that are present in songs such as the title track. However, the consistency of the band’s dedication to their craft is so rich that being left wanting more is possibly the biggest compliment I could personally give them. Catatonic is a band that has much more to offer to the ever-widening soundscapes of Indian rock and metal, especially within styles that have long awaited their rightful torchbearer. After all, for a group who believes that “people can see through any type of facade”, the adherence to embracing one’s own voice isn’t something that could ever hinder them. The only “challenge” would be to be heard on a larger scale, as even the best talent can be found astray, somehow left out of the saturated funnels of micro-individualistic media algorithms.
For a band that grew used to playing half-empty venues back home and can today proudly say that they’ve shared the stage with some of Indian metal’s biggest names, Catatonic have come into their own with the release of this EP. It is evidently clear that they’re not interested in following the crowd; all that’s left to see is how far and for how long can they push out tunes that’ll affect us as much as this collection did. I believe the short answer is a long time, however that’s something that only the group can attest to with their music.
Best song(s): Metanoia, The Phantom Waltz
