Katharsis (Keep of Kalessin album)

Work on Katharsis began several years prior to its release, facing delays due to personal circumstances, global pandemic constraints, and initial uncertainty regarding the future of the band. Following an extended hiatus, Arnt "Obsidian C." Grønbech rebuilt the group's lineup to focus on a home-studio recording workflow.^[3]

The album featured drummer Wanja "Nechtan" Gröger. Bassist Robin "Wizziac" Isaksen contributed bass and backing vocals. The album also featured collaborative orchestral keyboard arrangements written by Jonny Maudling of the British symphonic metal band Bal-Sagoth.^[4]

The album was announced on 15 February 2023 via Zero Tolerance Magazine.^[5] Ahead of the release date, the band issued an official lyric video for the title track "Katharsis" on 28 February 2023.^[6] A second lyric video for "Hellride" followed on 7 April 2023, after the album's release.^[7] The album was made available on CD, double LP, cassette, and digital formats.

Reviewers described Katharsis as blending melodic black metal, symphonic black metal, and melodic death metal elements.^[8][9] Critics noted that the song architecture balances aggressive black metal blast beats with traditional heavy metal melodies and multi-layered synthesizer backdrops.^[10][11]

The album represents the second full-length release featuring Grønbech handling lead vocals, utilizing both harsh growls and clean vocal segments.^[4] While tracks like "The Omni" and "The Obsidian Expanse" are characterized by an extended, epic scope, the track "Journey's End" is arranged as an acoustic ballad.^[9][12] Chris Dahlberg of Metal Trenches noted that the album "expands upon all facets of the band's sound, amping up the aggression and black/death sides while also letting the melodies and symphonic elements explode into truly immense sounding arrangements".^[13]

More information Review scores, Source ...

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
Angry Metal Guy
MetalBite	8.4/10
Cryptic Rock
GRIMM Gent	9.2/10

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Upon release, Katharsis received mixed to positive reviews from metal music publications. Writing for Angry Metal Guy, the reviewer praised passages that sounded "unmistakably and unabashedly like Keep of Kalessin" but criticised the album's pacing, noting that "excessive repetition makes Katharsis feel too long, despite its seemingly manageable 48-minute length", awarding the album 2.5 out of 5.^[8] MetalBite was more enthusiastic, awarding 8.4 out of 10 and writing that "Keep of Kalessin have finally found their promised land", calling it the reviewer's favourite entry in the band's discography.^[9] Cryptic Rock awarded 3.5 out of 5 stars, praising "the highly emotive, preeminently skillful orchestral Power Metal heart burning brightly in these songs".^[12] GRIMM Gent awarded 9.2 out of 10, describing the album as delivering "a packed full of aggression that makes it the band's best outing since the 2006 album Armada" and noting that "there are no weak tracks on the album".^[14]

Metal Trenches noted that the album "avoids some of the pitfalls of their discography, injecting enough variety to keep the faster blasting from all running together", while metal.de called it "ein wahnwitziges Referenzwerk" (a phenomenal reference work) within extreme metal and noted its "potential to be album of the year".^[13][15]

All music written by Keep of Kalessin. Orchestral arrangements by Jonny Maudling.

Personnel credits.^[16]