The humble beginnings of any act are the sort of thing that I feel we’re all pretty hit or miss with as it’s, of course, when the band in question is still new so their style may not be fully fleshed out or realized. It’s the exact sort of thing that I like exposing myself to as I firmly believe in order to truly enjoy the veteran acts, you gotta get a taste of what it means to start from the bottom. Many splendid acts have started on local stages and I love finding them, and while I don’t think Catalysis is a top tier example they’re definitely an act worth knowing.

Making yourself stick out in a local scene is something that I find to be incredibly important for small bands, but the exact opposite can be said and done with nothing but success as the outcome. I don’t know what bands influenced Catalysis as that’s information I simply don’t have at my disposal, but I have an idea of what they might be just from listening to this self-titled EP. That’s not to say that Catalysis did nothing but try to copy the basic formula of much larger acts like Pantera as this eponymous work can easily stand proud on its own, but the influence in the sound is all but undeniable. Now that being said, Catalysis made an incredibly solid piece of work here where with many other acts would’ve fallen flat. Each track we’re given here gives us a new flavor that takes the essence of previous songs and twists the core sound to become something familiar but distinctly different as Catalysis doesn’t shy away from utilizing different vocals, bringing in some heavy melody that’s got a fantastic crunch to it, or something from left field that really spices up the mix in a way you didn’t see coming.

It all comes together quite nicely to show that Catalysis is an act that we’ve all heard before, but the flame is still has strong and has plenty to enjoy out of as this small band tries their best to become something noteworthy. There’s still a lot of work to be done here, but Catalysis is without a doubt an act that I can see doing something really nice in the future.

LIKE Catalysis on Facebook here.