Angry Metal Guy<p><a href="https://www.angrymetalguy.com/patristic-catechesis-review/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Patristic – Catechesis Review</a></p><p><i>By Thus Spoke</i></p><p>The first eight centuries of the common era were a tumultuous one for Christian theology, played out in the writings of scholars now considered Early Church fathers. The study of this back-and-forth, which eventually resulted in an agreed ‘canon,’ gives <strong>Patristic </strong>their name. On debut <em>Catechesis</em>, the trio turn to the turbulent and culturally pivotal period that saw the fall of the Roman Empire, and the rise of the once-marginalized religion. The album’s title refers to the practice of Christian instruction imparted upon potential converts—teachings which stemmed from a still-divided root, even as the religion spread and any pretenses to truth conceded to power. This chaos informs <strong>Patristic</strong>’s music in a way unique to freeform dissonant metal and culminates in a record whose resonance goes beyond the literal echo of its notes.</p><p>The seamlessly flowing sermons that comprise <em>Catechesis </em>are both discomfiting and alluring. Churning riffs and undulating waves of percussion, though sinister and often dissonant, mesmerize through hypnotic recurrence, as <strong>Patristic</strong> sway and lurch between moments of eerie calm, and punishing violence. And the whole evolves gradually through repeated returns to restless drum patterns, and passages of tense atmosphere, cataclysmic blackened-death assaults, and imposing, frightening melody. As with all the best dissonant extreme metal, <em>Catechesis </em>is intense without being totally overwhelming, and beyond this, is haunting in its particular approach to the interplay between spaciousness and crushing density. In this—particularly a disposition towards dark layers of guitar, and a reverberating quality to the vocals (“A Vinculis Soluta II,” “Catechesis I”)—the closest comparison is <strong>Verberis</strong>,<a href="https://www.angrymetalguy.com/patristic-catechesis-review/#fn-218139-1" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">1</a> though <strong>Patristic</strong> craft a drama that is very much their own.</p><p></p><p><em>Catechesis </em>can and should be seen as one piece; you could say, one <em>instruction</em>, one imparting of sacred knowledge or dogma. Without lyrics, much is hidden, but as the album progresses, one gets the sense of approaching order by means of violence. The grand refrain that first emerges towards the end of “Catechesis II” comes to fruition with yet ominous finality in closer “Catechesis IV,” and this ultimate reprise echoes the subversive creep of themes through <em>Catechesis</em>. The music’s stream allows the ebb and flow of elements to layer, rise, and fade away with grace that borders on predatory, melodies teased in fragmentary glimpses (“A Vinculis Soluta I,” “Catechesis IV”), or their aura turned back from menacing to mournful (“A Vinculis Soluta II” “Catechesis III”). Riffs overlap in uneasy syncopation, hum malevolently, or chime emphatically in a reverberant chorus with rasping and cavernous bellows, and cello<a href="https://www.angrymetalguy.com/patristic-catechesis-review/#fn-218139-2" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">2</a>—played in shuddering vibrato<a href="https://www.angrymetalguy.com/patristic-catechesis-review/#fn-218139-3" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">3</a>—weaves through the darkness to amplify tension, and eerie beauty (“Vinculis Soluta II,” “Catechesis I,” “Catechesis II”). Driving the whole through union and separation is a current of mesmerizingly fluid and dynamic drumming, which heightens the already portentous atmospheres and pulls you deep into the writhing mass of it all.</p><p></p><p>The convergence of the many thematic and percussive threads across the album is impressive in its scope and deceptive ease; it is seamless, beautiful, and often frightening. <strong>Patristic </strong>also achieve the practically unachievable by using spoken word to add powerful gravitas, which increases rather than lessens the song’s impact (“A Vinculis Soluta I,” “A Vinculis Soluta II”). And speaking of impact, the drum performance, courtesy of Sathrath, deserves particular praise for being one of the most insane of its kind I have ever heard.<a href="https://www.angrymetalguy.com/patristic-catechesis-review/#fn-218139-4" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">4</a> It’s impossibly delicate in shivering cymbal taps, lethally fast in split-second rollovers and fills, and ruthless in its sharp, brutal cascades of double-bass. Everything, drums included, is produced perfectly to allow the convulsing lows to reflect and resonate in a cavernous, immersive portal of grinding guitar and bellowing howls, and the stalking highs dip chillingly below and above its surface.</p><p>With such immensity, it’s easy to see how <strong>Patristic </strong>got a signing with Willowtip so soon; I struggle to believe that these musicians have been playing together for less than five years. So arresting is <em>Catechesis</em>, so layered and immersive, that it threatens to overshadow all other extreme metal this year—if not all metal, period. This is a teaching that all acolytes of the dark and dissonant, and hell, maybe even the crucified Lord, need to hear.</p> <p><strong>Rating: </strong>Excellent<br><strong>DR:</strong> 6 | <strong>Format Reviewed:</strong> 320 kbps mp3<br><strong>Label: </strong><a href="https://www.willowtip.com/home.aspx" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Willowtip</a><br><strong>Websites: </strong><a href="https://patristic.bandcamp.com/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Bandcamp</a> | <a href="https://www.facebook.com/Patristicblackmetal/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Facebook</a><br><strong>Releases Worldwide:</strong> June 20th, 2025</p><p><a rel="nofollow noopener" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://www.angrymetalguy.com/tag/2025/" target="_blank">#2025</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://www.angrymetalguy.com/tag/45/" target="_blank">#45</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://www.angrymetalguy.com/tag/black-metal/" target="_blank">#BlackMetal</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://www.angrymetalguy.com/tag/blackened-death-metal/" target="_blank">#BlackenedDeathMetal</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://www.angrymetalguy.com/tag/catechesis/" target="_blank">#Catechesis</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://www.angrymetalguy.com/tag/death-metal/" target="_blank">#DeathMetal</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://www.angrymetalguy.com/tag/dissonant-death-metal/" target="_blank">#DissonantDeathMetal</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://www.angrymetalguy.com/tag/italian-metal/" target="_blank">#ItalianMetal</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://www.angrymetalguy.com/tag/jun25/" target="_blank">#Jun25</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://www.angrymetalguy.com/tag/patristic/" target="_blank">#Patristic</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://www.angrymetalguy.com/tag/review/" target="_blank">#Review</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://www.angrymetalguy.com/tag/reviews/" target="_blank">#Reviews</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://www.angrymetalguy.com/tag/ulcerate/" target="_blank">#Ulcerate</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://www.angrymetalguy.com/tag/verberis/" target="_blank">#Verberis</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://www.angrymetalguy.com/tag/willowtip-records/" target="_blank">#WillowtipRecords</a></p>