KATAGORY V hail from Salt Lake City, Utah and somehow I don’t think they are Mormons. They play a brand of metal that crosses a little into the progressive field and a little into the classic/melodic power metal field. Formed in late 1999, KAT 5 have released two full-length discs. Their latest, "A New Breed of Rebellion" sounds like the production quality has decreased from their debut album significantly. Everything seems a little flat and the guitar is just not in-your-face as much as it should be on a great metal album.

The opening track “Sands of Time” begins with a keyboard-ridden intro that evokes images of epic medieval battles, but the rest of the song does not achieve the epic proportions that the introduction promises. The album plods along with some terrible stop/start rhythms in songs like “Turn to Grey”. Lynn Allers vocals come across sounding quite dated and uninteresting. It isn't all bad - the structure of the songs show a good amount of depth and the musicianship is much better than average. But I can't get past the dull production and the derivative, dated vocal style.

If KATAGORY V wants to be a power metal band, they really do need to play with more power; this stuff could put me to sleep. There's a lack of hooks and interesting melodies as well. On the other hand, if KATAGORY V wants to write music more in the progressive vein, the complexity of their music should be turned up a couple of notches. Fans of this style of metal may think differently, but I preferred the bands 2001 debut “Present Day”, which had a lot more punch. It's currently out of print, but seek it out anyway. It blows the doors off this one.

- Saltry

OFFICIAL SITE: www.katagory5.com

MP3 SOUND SCRAP: Chronologic

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