Kat

Kat

Without Looking Back

Pure Steel Records

June 14th, 2019

1.Black Night in My Chair 04:40

2.Poker 06:03

3.Medieval Fire 05:32

4.The Race for Life 04:33

5.Flying Fire 06:05

6.Wild 08:42

7.Walls of Whispers 06:05

8.Let There Be Fire 05:05

9.More 08:15

10.The Promised Land 05:57

total time 01:00:57

In the international Western world of metal music, Kat is not a known name, at least not in the United States, but for some longtime fans of 1980s metal bands in Poland and Eastern Europe, Kat is a familiar name (as is Turbo, another veteran Polish band). The oldest generation of heavy rockers in Poland, they undoubtedly tell stories about what it was like during the time of Stalinism. The band formed in 1979 or so. They had a debut album in 1986 in English, and the Polish-language version that same year. In 1988, which is right around the time that the end of the Stalinist Communist Party rule is in sight, the band had a second album (in Polish). It looks like they had four albums in the 1990s. On and off, changing sounds and members, with periods of inactivity, here they are in 2019 with a new album (their ninth, according to Metal Archives). In the interest of brevity, let’s limit the discussion to this particular album. It is traditional veteran heavy metal, close to the general sounds of the reunited/old New Wave of British Heavy Metal bands and of the reunited/old American bands that Europeans call U.S. metal, close in lineage to the current sounds of the old 1980s Ohio bands. In other words, the calling card of Pure Steel Records.

The music features traditional structures that check all the necessary boxes. The fans will be pleased with the traditional heavy metal sequences in the songs. In addition, the songwriting focuses on solid tracks that people can remember and grasp immediately. Kat 2019 is handling their business. This is a mix of uptempo rockers and midtempo sing-along songs, and the tracks show a very good use of some bluesier moments, giving the audience a nice variety of moods. The parts that show a blues side of their heavy metal sound are particularly attractive, and add an excellent, different side to the album.

The guitar work emphasizes functional riffs and memorable melodies. That is the operating procedure for all the songs, as a general protocol. There are lots of awesome guitar melodies throughout the entire work. Similarly, the singing serves the functions of the songs, although the singing by itself is a main attraction on the album, and will be of interest to fans of singing, especially the gritty, bluesier singing with melodic tones. In short, fans of big, catchy, rocking guitar melodies and good vocal melodies should make this June 2019 veteran album a top priority.

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