Thy Catafalque started humbly in 1998 as a duo
featuring Tamás Kátai and János Juhász, both having previously played together in a
band called Gort.
On earlier efforts such as 2001's Microcosmos the focus was
on raw, tinny symphonic black metal, with some inventiveness that
hinted to the future, and by 2009 the pair were beginning to branch
out a bit, incorporating some folk and ethnic flair, even as the
core was still black metal.
But following that year's Róka Hasa Rádió album Juhász departed,
leaving Kátai to forge ahead as a solo act,
and in doing so Thy Catafalque has blossomed and flourished into
one of the most unique and inventive entities in metal.
Though technically a one-man band, there are always several guests
that have partaken on their later albums, and no doubt their
participation adds to the breadth and diversity of
the songs.
Black metal is no longer the base and only occasionally appears,
but among the many genres touched on later albums include folk,
electronica, symphonic/classical, and intriguing progressive metal
-- truly the kind of band for which the term "avant-garde" metal is
suited.
Remarkably, Thy Catafalque has a quality that very few bands possess,
in that individual songs are both quite distinct from each other and
yet somehow still contain a certain something that identfies them
as Thy Catafalque.
All of the albums starting from, say, 2016's Meta are highly
recommended, though if pressed for favorites, Geometria
and Vadak
might win.
For years Kátai maintained that the project would be studio only and would
not play live, but he was persuaded to do so, resulting in the
Mezolit
album featuring many of the folks who have guested over the years.
