Catalysis – Serpentine EP
Catalysis – Serpentine EP
Self-Released
Release Date: 17/04/26
Review by Jon Deaux
7.8/10
It’s mean, lean, and it leaves a mark
Take the following scenario: a hotel corridor folding in on itself, falling into the abyss, without even bothering to acknowledge gravity, the wallpaper tartan. Somewhere deeper in that hotel corridor, a riff of weight equivalent to a motorway bridge collapsing onto itself is playing at volume levels that disregard the eardrums and strike straight into the sternum. You’re listening to the latest EP by Dundee-based Catalysis, ‘Serpentine’, and the totem is still spinning.
Let’s put things into architectural perspective before the fall. During the summer of 2024, Dundee based Catalysis experienced a loss of three-fifths of their band members in one fell swoop. Singer Colin MacGregor, guitarist Sean Ramson and bassist Paul Edwards called time on their careers and headed home. Within the two month period that followed, band founders Drew Cochrane and Calum Rennie had managed to recreate their group with new additions in the form of vocalist Andrew Downie, guitarist Jamie Paterson and bassist Robi Islam. It seems sleep is an option for no-one in Dundee.
With their revitalized roster, 2025 has been nothing less than a season of non-stop performances for the band as though their passports were burning in the face of each upcoming festival. Performing throughout the course of that year across locations in Belgium, Ireland, England and Scotland, Catalysis announced the release of EP ‘The Only Way Out Is Through’, together with the single ‘Tremors’ in April 2025. Here is the full EP four months after. Five tracks long. No fillers among them. The very idea of such a release schedule is worthy of a paragraph.
‘Tremors’ begins this EP like an earthquake out of the blue – an opening track that would have the surveyor rush in to assess the situation and take down some notes. That’s the type of opening track it should have; setting your jaw slack for the next twenty minutes and refusing to negotiate.
Then there’s ‘Futile’ which initially seems like a track trying to catch its breath, realizing that it belonged to the band and then speeding right back up. Cochrane and Paterson trade guitar riffs telepathically. The compositional musical intelligence that can be found in the track reveals thems to be a band well aware of the art of writing riffs as well as making sure they work in tandem with each other It helps that they are also exceptionally good at it.
And so we reach ‘Serpentine’, the title track, and where Catalysis introduces the main idea of their EP. Serpentine is the chilling tale of a manipulation, cyclical and endless in nature – a tale about a manipulator that keeps shedding its skin only to find its next victim. Completely and utterly disgusting in the best way possible. Vocals by Downie possess that eerie quality about them as he sings a tune not so much as the man performing the song, but as someone delivering a pre-planned verdict. The riff behind the song is the type to bury itself deep within your brain, refusing to be extracted and preventing any sort of evocation. Attempts are made, though unsuccessful.
‘Serpentine’ follows that dynamic style of music by continuing to threaten us with a knife that’s about to fall from the ceiling. The building they’ve constructed is in anticipation of the eventual drop; the higher that it rises, the bigger its impact when it inevitably falls. Finally, it’s ‘Deathblow’ – the closer and a single released earlier. As straightforward as the name implies.
So what does ‘Serpentine’ mean apart from probably giving us the best tunes in Metal music this year? Simply put, it’s an EP that proves to be evidence of a band managing to turn crisis into success. Rather than sounding like a band searching for its identity, this sounds like a band that’s been impatiently waiting for the day they’d finally have an opportunity to sound like this. Again, as already mentioned, Downie is the revelation as he takes that simmering passion and builds it into a fire, carefully thought about and planned – in a manner that inspires rethinking in those other bands’ drummers. The rhythm section by Rennie and Islam is perfect, absolutely solid, and inspiring.
Perfect? Absolutely not – although in a very good way. Short? Undoubtedly – although in a very flattering way. Perhaps it’s a sign of their success at the moment, but in 2026, Catalysis have an EPs that fits perfectly in the shape of an EP. Can they deliver a full album that would keep that level of intensity? Probably. The only question relevant at this point of time is whether they would be willing to do so or not. The Metal community should really listen to what their response is.
The totem is still spinning. However, we prefer to ignore it. Catalysis would too, to their great credit.
TRACKLISTING:
01. Tremors
02. Futile
03. Serpentine
04. Damocles
05. Deathblow
LINKS:
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