Tamás Kátai has a vision that extends far beyond Hungary. While only intended as a studio project, over the past two decades, Thy Catafalque has grown into a lively collaboration that brings together other prominent musicians from inside and outside his country’s metal scene. With each album, he’s pushed the boundaries of extreme metal, bringing the world’s most vile art form into conversation with the avant-garde.
His upcoming twelfth album is Thy Catafalque’s most expansive release yet. XII features many familiar faces from the project’s wide discography. Dreamy synths swirl amidst riffs that are both catchy and crushing. Traditional acoustic and classical instruments accompany production that’s slightly more modern. But A gyönyörű álmok ezután jönnek also ties back to Kátai’s past and the history of his home country.
“I felt it was time to move in a different direction, whatever that direction might be, but A gyönyörű álmok ezután jönnek still possesses the dreaminess that I’ve always associated with Thy Catafalque”, Kátai says. “There is a tinge of nostalgia, a tinge of sadness, a tinge of hope, a tinge of beauty and still a generous amount of metal”.
XII: A gyönyörű álmok ezután jönnek comes out November 15, 2024 on Season of Mist.
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Watch the surreal video for the album’s title track and lead single on the Season of Mist YouTube channel.
https://youtu.be/https://youtu.be/T87BXWOTHbU
Of course, Tamás Kátai hasn’t been dreaming about his new album for too long. In true prolific fashion, Thy Catafalque’s twelfth album arrives just 14 months after the last one. Just like Alföld, Kátai set out to make a straightforward metal album, but while there are still plenty of chest-pounding moments, A gyönyörű álmok ezután jönnek took him on a surreal journey.
“I imagine these songs as guides through a dark night of the soul”, Kátai says. In the video for the title track, he runs through the streets of his hometown in Makó. As the path winds through the placid countryside, he’s greeted by strange scenes from both the past and present: rusted-out rail cars, bare-knuckle brawling, mysterious packages being dumped in the woods, a red-headed woman singing stoically in a field. At one point, he’s stopped in his tracks by the sight of his doppelgänger digging his own grave.
“The video is pretty personal”, Kátai says. “It was shot at places from my past and almost all of the actors are my old friends.” Despite the homecoming, the inspiration behind “A gyönyörű álmok ezután jönnek” isn’t so warm and fuzzy. “The title track comes from a place of disappointment”, he continues. “In the afterglow of nostalgia, there’s also a chill of disappointment”.
Even though it’s the closing song, “A gyönyörű álmok ezután jönnek” doesn’t end on a down beat. In fact, it just might be the catchiest song on the album. The return of tender brooding vocalist Gábor Dudás gives more than enough reason to celebrate, but the galloping hi-hats, bright hand claps and tireless, fist-pumping guitar hooks will make this song an instant staple of Thy Catafalque’s growing live set.
“The production has been very similar since Geometria” says Kátai. “This time around, I was aiming for a change in the overall sound”.
The flair for the avant-garde that has come to define Thy Catafalque shines through the darkness on album number twelve. But in order to see the light at the end of the tunnel, for the first time, Kátai needed some guidance from an outside producer. Granted, Gábor Vári is no stranger to how his mind works. When he’s not holed away in the studio with other prominent Hungarian metal bands, Gábor could be seen hammering away at his guitar on stage with Thy Catafalque on the live album Mezolit. In their time-honed hands, even the dark waves of synth on “A gyönyörű álmok ezután jönnek” glow with the faint but familiar reassurance of the dawn.
“The title means ‘The Beautiful Dreams Are Yet to Come’”, Kátai explains. “So even amidst the despair and disappointment, there’s still hope for a future that might offer warmer days after the darkness has ceded”.
The video for “A gyönyörű álmok ezután jönnek” was created by No Total Films.
More praise for Thy Catafalque
“Few musicians have as long and varied a career as Tamás Kátai of Thy Catafalque” – Angry Metal Guy
“Thy Catafalque are a one of a kind experiment that have never played by traditional rules or boundaries” – New Noise
“A monstrously entertaining, tightly diverse band” – Everying Is Noise
“…will delight metlaheads of all stripes” – Echoes and Dust
