Album Review & Interview: Cataclysmic – Mors Incipit
Band: Cataclysmic
Album: Mors Incipit
Label: Blackflame Records
Release date: May 30th 2025
Country: Türkiye
Format reviewed: High quality digital recording
Album Review: Cataclysmic – Mors Incipit via Blackflame Records by Ioana
First wave assault with Marduk influence? Yes. One of the most promising debut albums of the year is without a doubt Mors Incipit by Cataclysmic, a band whose sound and presence seem to be cut for a promising future. My first contact with the band was when band vocalist Dracul actually sent it over to me, and needless to say, I was without a doubt impressed by what I was hearing. Following a discussion relating to the record and the band as a whole, the base of this article slowly started forming, and that being said, here we are now. And since I managed to go through a little bit of the background without completely rambling again as I tend to do in most articles, let’s dive into the wild beast that is Mors Incipit.
The album spans at a little under 40 minutes, a perfect duration for a debut record, since it allows for the band’s style and capabilities to be properly showcased, without leaving much time for visible mistakes to show up. The musicians of Cataclysmic also seem to be in great control of their playing, the pacing being tight and consistent throughout the whole album. Another great aspect that is easily noticeable is the intensity of the music, which becomes apparent as soon as the intro track ends. In the initial moments of Mors Incipit there seems to be a very noticeable war metal element, with the track Death Begins reminding me quite a bit of Finland’s Archgoat. However, as time goes on, more and more influences from a variety of different bands, making it quite clear that we are not necessarily dealing with a war metal release. The band also confirms this, mentioning the diverse approaches to black metal and influences of each individual members as a cause for the album’s surpisingly diverse sound.
I described Mors Incipit as “surprisingly diverse”, mainly due to the fact that it rightfully presents itself as a very primitive, stripped down album. Yes, there’s no crazy instrumentation going on, and the vocals, although lower in pitch, follow the already established black metal trademarks. What gives it its complexity, however, in the multitude of song patterns and overall types of composition, that, as I say, draw from a variety of legacy bands, while simultaneously creating a unique sound. I’d say this is proof that one doesn’t need to reinvent the wheel in order to sound unique, but I feel like there are plenty of bands from the last five or so years who have showcased this point. Still, I might as well say it as a way to include Cataclysmic in that category of artists.
On a somewhat different note, the sound of a band is generally influenced by their background, not only lyrically but also sound-wise. This is where things get really interesting, because Cataclysmic seems to be completely detached from their background in that regard, an act described by them as a form of rebellion against the state of the society they’re coming form. Even for bands such as Trivax whose music itself is an act of rebellion against the society they grew up in, it still borrows various elements from their native culture. Well, Cataclysmic more or less took that idea and threw it out of the window, and, as a result, the misanthropy they sought out to portray in their music ended up feeling a lot more real and impactful. That can also be said about their approach to Satanism. Mors Incipit can be interpreted in this scenario as a nihilistic testament, of sorts. Nevertheless, it makes for a fascinating approach, and an infectious attitude.
If all that I’ve mentioned so far sounds appealing, then you’d be right. One crucial aspect that takes Mors Incipit from good to great is the fact that all these elements and ideas are presented in an effective, concise manner. Being more on the short side, as I’ve said, allows for the intensity of the album to grow exponentially, as most weak moments, if not all, are brief and not dwelled upon in the musical sense. Yes, there are a couple of sloppy segments, but they don’t take away from the quality simply because they are left being so brief. They also make the album feel very natural and organic, and they’re in no way something that more experience won’t fix.
This rounds up my thoughts on Mors Incipit, and it’s clear that its undeniable qualities guarantee it a 9/10 rating.
That being said, the rest of the article is comprised out of my interview with the band which I have previously referenced in the review. It offers valuable insight into the band’s past, present and future, and plenty of other interesting topics. Nevertheless, go delve into it!
Interview Cataclysmic by Ioana
Hello, and thank you very much for partaking in this interview! So, for those unaware, Cataclysmic just released Mors Incipit, and, in your words, the album has been spreading like the Plague through underground circles. What have things been like for the band since the release?
Cataclysmic: Hello, Thank you for doing an interview with us. After the album was released, Cataclysmic made a big impact on both the global underground black metal and local metal markets. This spreading happened faster thanks to the promos we had made. In short, all the feedbacks have been positive after this album was released and continue to do so, which we did not expect at all. Speaking of the album, it undoubtedly is a wild beast to say the least, with a rather unique old school sound. What did the recording process for Mors Incipit look like, and what were the main sources of inspiration for it? Were there any particular records whose footprint ended up on your work? In a similar manner, what were the key moments in the writing process, and how long did it take you to put the whole album together?
Cataclysmic: The album’s foundations began in 2023 and up until now, Cataclysmic has gone through many ups and downs. Due to some personal reasons in our band, we didn’t do rehearsals for months and didn’t record for months. In fact, the band had even come close to breaking up a few times at these points. When we started work our album our guitarist Beleth and bassist Narhg made demo recordings every week. Months later our old drummer Kuzey, he joined the band and the album demo was completed during this process. We started to do rehearsals in March, the band was ready to record The Mors Incipit. The recordings took 3 hours to complete, We did not take any break but just kept playing until the last track. We played the tracks many times to make it perfect. After recordings of Mors Incipit were done, mixing process started and it took two months and half to finish the mixing process. Mors Incipit was ready to realese at 5.30.2025.
When it comes to sources of inspiration, our guitarist Beleth actively wrote the riffs for this album, and he was inspired by bands like Marduk, Dark Funeral, Immortal and Dissection. The tracks where their influences are strongly felt are Pure Fucking Death and The Black Vampire. At the same time, our other guitarist Nokken, his own composition Death Begins and his additions and some arrangements to other tracks on the album were inspired by Behemoth, Burzum, Mgla as well as various post black metal and blackgaze sounds. Nokken’s different sources of inspiration took Mors Incipit to another level. Dracul writes the lyrics of our songs. He believes in black metal, there must be Satanism, Death, Chaos, Hatred, Misanthropy. These themes are fuel for black metal according to him. He lives in those songs when he sang the lyrics that is what makes Mors Incipit much more evil and dark.
Another aspect that piqued my interest for the album was the lyrical content, which deals primarily with themes such as Satanism and misanthropy, both of which are staples for the black metal genre. How would you say that these particular themes can be explored in a song without falling into old patterns, while also not crossing into esoteric/pretentious territory?
Cataclysmic: Those themes have been chewed up and spat out a thousand times — pentagrams, goats, yelling “hail Satan” just for the shock factor. That’s easy. What’s not easy is channeling real disgust, real alienation, and putting it out there without pretending. For us, Satanism isn’t a costume — it’s a form of revolt. And the misanthropy we express isn’t for show, it’s something that rots and festers through experience. That’s why we don’t dress it up with cryptic nonsense or pseudo-occult poetry. We say it straight, we spit it raw. Real darkness isn’t in rituals — it’s in the quiet moments of losing your grip. That’s what we dig into.
On a different note, you have already had a couple of live performances this year, which, from the footage I’ve seen, appear to be fairly intense and full of energy. How important is the live aspect for Cataclysmic, and what were the best concerts you’ve had thus far? Continuing with the topic of live performances, what is the main type of energy and message that you wish to send to your audience?
Cataclysmic: Live performances are very important for us. While we transfer the feelings we reflect in our music to our instruments, the intense emotions and togetherness are transferred to the audience, and the audience feels this music together with us, this feeling that comes from the musician-audience relationship is extremely satisfying. We want audience to feel our hate, We want to give audience the shiver feeling when we began our songs. That’s very important for us.
Going back in time a little, Cataclysmic, as a project, started back in 2022, with your first single, “Death Begins” being released on March 22nd of said year. How did the band start, and how much has your artistic vision shifted since then?
Cataclysmic: The band was formed with Dracul and Betrayer (Berk) at 2022 July. Betrayer came up to Dracul with idea of starting a black metal band. Betrayer saw Dracul’s demo recordings also playing some other band Narcosist as well. He was interested in Dracul’s vocals and wanted to form a band with him. They talk together for couple hours and Dracul was looking forward to form a band with him. Thats how Cataclysmic started, Dracul came with the name Cataclysmic Which means distaster and destruction. Both founders started to look and contact people to complete the band. After some searching Dracul wanted to play with Narhg and Nokken. Narhg was already playing at the same band called Narcosist with Dracul. Nokken had a DSBM project with some friends but they disbanded because their vocalist went to Turkish army. So Dracul wanted Nokken to play in Cataclysmic, which he was looking forward to play as well. The group was ready but missing one more last piece and it was a drummer.
Betrayer and Kuzey had a talk since they were friends and he invited him to the band and finally band was completed. The very early years of Cataclysmic was just a cover band and after their first gig Kuzey left the band. He was not interested in black metal. After a very short time the band welcomed another drummer called Corpse (Aren) and the band went into second gig. After the second gig there was some arguements started in the band, Dracul wanted Cataclysmic’s sound as old school raw black metal since he is vocals was perfect for the genre. However Betrayer wanted more modern and technique sound like Blackened Death Metal Genre like Behemoth itself. After some time Betrayer had a problem in his arm and he couldn’t play anymore. He decided to leave the band and wanted to focus school and other things. Dracul took leadership and had a meeting with Beleth and explained his views about Black Metal and what he wanted to do on Cataclysmic. Beleth also had some views about Black Metal so Beleth was the key of the Cataclysmic’s sound and still he is. After he arrived to the band, Cataclysmic took steps further and realesed Death Begins 22.03.2023. This first single made a big sound in Turkey’s underground black metal scene. The reviews was some positive some was negative due to bad mix/mastering. We couldn’t afford a good mix/mastering engineer and we took the recordings at some studio. So Corpse was doing the mix/mastering but he was not good at it at that time. Next month we realesed another single called Misanthropic Blackvisions. These two songs made huge impact and sound in Turkey’s underground black metal scene we went more gigs. On this time while we were playing and doing gigs we realesed another single called Cross Is The Place on September 2023. At the end of 2023 Corpse wanted to take a break from the band because he wanted to continue his school. The band took break from gigs and started to work on Mors Incipit.
Similarly, as the years passed your sound evolved as well, from more standard raw black metal to the abrasive old school, almost first wave inspired assault of Mors Incipit. What prompted you to go in that certain direction, and to what extent did this shift make Cataclysm stand out as a band?
Cataclysmic: Our transition to this style did not come about through any effort. Our aim in making our music was to maintain the silence of the extreme black metal of the late 90s, while at the same time trying to create something unique and original, and this is the result of our effort.
Türkiye, your country of origin, is not necessarily known for its extreme metal output internationally, although there have certainly been great bands that have come out of it. What were the main challenges of starting a black metal band in such a country, and how was your music received from other local bands?
Cataclysmic: Turkey is a muslim country as you know, so we always encountered a lot of fucking bullshit but we never cared about what they said, what they think about us. We kept playing. No matter what happens, we will never stop making black metal. At the same time, since the industry is low, the number of people who perform in this style can not exceed the fingers of one hand. Therefore, it becomes much more difficult to perform in this style as a group in these countries. We still search and can’t find a drummer for our band that can suit our sound… As for the comments in the local area, what they say mostly is Mors Incipit is the one of best black metal albums that came out from Turkey.
Speaking of, every country tends to do extreme metal in its own way, with various reasons coming at play in that regard. How would you describe the Turkish sound of black metal, and would you say Cataclysmic is a continuation, or a shift from the standard?
Cataclysmic: Cataclysmic is a project originating in Turkey, it is completely independent of the traditions of its local scene and focuses on the traditions of global culture. We can’t say much about the Turkish sound of black metal because there is many different bands with different sounds.
Thank you very much for taking the time to answer these questions! The last words are yours.
Cataclysmic: We will continue to make new black metal music in the future, that’s for sure. We are looking for a new drummer…We are making plans for the Mors Incipit Tour in Türkiye. We are also working on Merch Stuff, we want to do a global tour for that in the future in europe but it’s looks very hard but we will try our best. We will continue to do what we did in Mors Incipit in future. As long as we and groups like us exist in the black metal scene, the old, dark, and powerful voice of black metal will continue to live on.
Thank you for this interview. Hails from Turkey.
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