THY CATAFALQUE
Whisk into the Night on “Piros kocsi, fekete éj”
2X Hungarian Grammy Winner hosting Reddit AMA on eve of twelfth album
Tamás Kátai never dreamed that Thy Catafalque would ever go beyond the recording studio. But over the past two decades, Kátai and his frequent band of collaborators have expanded far beyond not only Hungary’s borders but also the prickly boundaries of extreme metal. With each album, they’ve brought the world’s most vile art form into further conversation with the avant garde.
Thy Catafalque’s upcoming twelfth album is the most sprawling release yet. The latest single off A gyönyörű álmok ezután jönnek does signal a surreal change in direction, as far as the actual production goes. And yet -“Piros kocsi, fekete éj” hauls Kátai back into the distant past, where he’s greeted by many familiar sights and sounds.
Thy Catafalque’s new album XII: A gyönyörű álmok ezután jönnek comes out November 15, 2024 on Season of Mist.
Pre-order & Pre-save https://orcd.co/thycatafalquexiiagyonyorualmokezutanjonnek
Having won two consecutive Fonogram awards, Thy Catafalque is now recognized as Hungary’s leading thinker in the field of progressive metal. In true prolific fashion, Tamás Kátai didn’t dwell over his upcoming twelfth album for too long. XII arrives just one year after the heavy and haunting Alföld. It isn’t a concept album, but A gyönyörű álmok ezután jönnek does take you on a serious head trip.
“I like to think of XII as a dark night of the soul”, Kátai says.
This introspective journey begins with “Piros kocsi, fekete éj”. In English, A gyönyörű álmok ezután jönnek‘s opening track and final advanced single means “Red Carriage, Black Night”, though you don’t need a translator to enjoy the ride. The song shows off this album’s slick new paint job, gliding off through a fresh mist of piping hot keys.
“I felt like the production had had largely been the same since Geometria“, Kátai admits.
He does play every instrument on “Piros kocsi, fekete éj”, including the twin engine guitars that rev with enough reverb to carve through the Hungarian mountainside. But for the first time in the project’s long and varied history, A gyönyörű álmok ezután jönnek had Kátai seeking some help from an outside producer. Granted, Gábor Vári is no stranger to Thy Catafalque. Banging heads on stage during the live album Mezolit gavehim first-hand knowledge as to how its mastermind turns the gears.
“Gábor was the perfect co-producer”, Kátai says. “He helped me give this album a somewhat different, more modern sound while still making it feel familiar”.
A gyönyörű álmok ezután jönnek can be a rocky road. Just as those keys are about to lift off into deep space, “Piros kocsi, fekete éj” breaks down into skull-crushing death metal that recalls Kátai’s more devilish early recordings. In the song’s picturesque animated video, symbols from Thy Catafalque’s discography flash behind the towering cover art that graced Sublinary Tragedies.
But of course, Kátai is not alone on this journey. No Thy Catafalque album would be complete if he weren’t accompanied by many familiar faces from in and outside of the Hungarian metal scene. Martina Veronika Horváth – whose band The Answers Lies in the Black Void joined Thy Catafalque’s first-ever European tour earlier this year – positively glows on “Piros kocsi, fekete éj”. Her wordless chorus is as enchanting as all the soothing comforts of home.
“Time clatters on the rails“, a familiar voice answers her beck and call. Attila Bakos beams over the airwaves with the same clean force as 15 years ago, when he helped lift Thy Catafalque out of the Hungarian underground on Róka hasa rádió.
“Attila also sang on Rengeteg”, Kátai remembers. “‘Piros kocsi, fekete éj’ has the same sense for melody. It opens the album with a feeling of nostalgia that I’ve always associated with Thy Catafalque”.
Tamás Kátai has a vision that extends far beyond his native Hungary, but Thy Catafalque’s twelfth album is tied to both its mastermind’s past and the history of his home country.
Uncover the many hidden meanings behind A gyönyörű álmok ezután jönnek during Thy Catafalque’s upcoming Reddit AMA. You can ask Kátai about anything – his favorite black metal album, climbing through the Scottish Highlands, his dream collaborator, childhood memories of Hungary or even his plans for the next album (which is already well in the works!)
Thy Catafalque Reddit AMA on r/Metal
Thursday, 14 November
10 a.m. – 11 p.m. Eastern Time (15 – 16 Central European Time)
Metalheads all over the world associate Thy Catafalque with Hungary, but Kátai just set the scene for Red Bull TV’s new feature-length film.
ANYTIME follows a daring new generation of mountain bikers as they set out to conquer the world’s most extreme terrains. Bikers Brage Vestavik and Kade Edwards took on the daunting challenge of Chile’s “The Megadolon”, a 5,542 foot descent down a steep and snowy mountainside. This tense scene is set by “Köszöntsd a hajnalt”, the heavy yet serene third single off Thy Catafalque’s tenth album Vadak.
Watch the clip from the film ANYTIME on Red Bull TV (45:47 – 51:18)
https://www.redbull.com/us-en/films/anytime
For two decades, Tamás Kátai was content on sticking to the studio. That changed in 2021, when he and a cast of heavy hitters performed at the Fekete Zaj Festival. This milestone was later committed to memory on Mezolit, but Thy Catafalque has continued to grow into a steady and spectacular live act.
Over the weekend, Thy Catafalque performed in Greece on the principal stage during Mammoth Fest. Now, to celebrate the project’s upcoming twelfth album, Kátai and his ever-growing list of collaborators will perform three more concerts across Europe. This includes a newly added date at Spain’s BIME Live Festival, plus two very special sold-out shows at one of Hungary’s most influential underground venues, where they’ll perform songs off XII: A gyönyörű álmok ezután jönnek, along with all ten tracks on the recently reissued fifth album Rengeteg.
During these two special shows at Dürer Kert, Thy Catafalque will be joined by the noisy experimentalists in Shum, labelmate Saor and Kátai’s old band, Gire.
Thy Catafalque 2024 Concerts
October 30 – Bilbao, Spain @ BIME Live Festival [INFO]
November 22 – Budapest, Hungary @ Dürer Kert w/ Saor [SOLD OUT]
November 23 – Budapest, Hungary @ Dürer Kert w/ Gire, Shum [SOLD OUT]
New fans and long-time appreciators can now rediscover just how much Thy Catafalque has grown since their humble beginnings as a duo. This year, Season of Mist re-issued Thy Catafalque’s first seven albums.
These reissues include first-edition pressings, limited color vinyls, UV-prints, 3D etchings and new artwork, plus bonus tracks.
Order:https://redirect.season-of-mist.com/ThyCatafalqueReissues
Tracklist
1. Piros Kocsi, Fekete Éj (4:12) [WATCH]
2. Mindenevö (6:35) [WATCH]
3. Vasgyár (6:18)
4. Világnak Világa (6:28)
5. Nyárfa, Nyírfa (2:53)
6. Lydiához (3:05)
7. Vakond (4:29)
8. Ködkiraly (7:58)
9. Aláhullás (3:48)
10. A Gyönyörü Álmok Ezután Jönnek (3:14) [WATCH]
11. Babylon (Bonus Track – Omega Cover) (3:42)*
Total runtime: 49:02
*Digital only
Country: Hungary
Genre: Avant-garde metal
FFO: Sigh, Arcturus, Ihsahn, Dødheimsgard
Tamás Kátai has a vision that extends beyond borders and boundaries. Even during its infancy, Thy Catafalque had already outgrown the rather rigid guidelines of black metal. Though only intended for the studio, over the past 20 years, his recording project has evolved into a lively collaboration. With each album, Thy Catafalque has pushed the envelope of extreme metal a step further, bringing the world’s most vile art form into conversation with the avant-garde.
Thy Catafalque’s twelfth album is even more expansive, but XII: A gyönyörű álmok ezután jönnek ties both to its mastermind’s past and the history of his native Hungary. “For this album, I felt it was time to move in a different direction, whatever that direction might be”, Kátai says, “but XII still possesses the dreaminess that I’ve always associated with Thy Catafalque”.
Of course, Kátai hasn’t been mulling over this album for too long. Keeping in line with his prolific pace, XII arrives just one year after his previous album. Named after the stretch of land where the producer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist was born in southeast Hungary, Alföld returned to the heaviness from which Thy Catafalque took root during the late ’90s. Once again, Kátai set out to make a straightforward metal record, but while there’s plenty of cause for chest-pounding, A gyönyörű álmok ezután jönnek ended up taking him on another surreal headtrip.
“I think of this album as an introspective journey through the night”, Kátai says. Opener “Piros kocsi, fekete éj” (which in English means “Red Carriage, Black Night”) glides off through a warm mist of piping keys, led by twin engine guitars that crest with reverb. “Time clatters on the rails”. Attila Bakos sings in Hungarian. His voice beams over the airwaves with the same clean force as 15 years ago, when he helped lift Thy Catafalque out of the Hungarian underground on the recently reissued Róka hasa rádió.
“Attila also sang on Rengeteg“, Kátai remembers about the first Thy Catafalque album that he wrote and recorded by himself. “‘Piros kocsi, fekete éj’ has the same sense for melody. It opens the album with a feeling of nostalgia”.
Of course, many other familiar faces join Kátai on his journey. After all, Thy Catafalque started as a duo with János Juhász. A gyönyörű álmok ezután jönnek features the biggest guest list in the project’s long discography. More than 20 guest musicians appear on this album, including old friends from inside and outside the Hungarian metal scene. Martina Veronika Horváth — whose band The Answer Lies in the Black Void toured Europe with Thy Catafalque earlier in 2024 — duets with the tender brooding Gábor Dudás for a faithful rendition of “Lydiához”, a 1980 Sebő ensemble classic that sowed the seeds for Hungary’s roots revival.
“That is a song that’s been with me and the rest of my generation ever since we were children”, Kátai says. Violins, cello, clarinet and other classical instruments add to the comforts of home. Before it drifts off high beyond the clouds, “Vakond” strings along like a whistling stroll across The Great Plains. “Alföld was very bleak”, he continues. “Adding classical and acoustic instruments helped add a spring of color and an air of adventure to these new songs”.
Still, A gyönyörű álmok ezután jönnek can be a hard road — especially during its crushing middle section. Despite the gentle opening plucks, “Mindenevő” crashes down like a boulder, hurtling ahead at terrifying speed behind doomy operatic backing vocals, mechanized blast beats and the eerie fires of tremolo picking that forged Thy Catafalque’s debut Sublunary Tragedies. “This album still has plenty of metal”, Kátai assures.
The heaviest moments are often grounded in Hungary’s history. While colored by nostalgia, XII is also shadowed by the ticking hands of time, a theme that ripples back to 2021’s Vadak. Blackened chugger “Vasgyár” shares a namesake with the rusted-out ironworks that once fueled the country’s economy. It’s not a political statement, but the song does reflect how the landscape has changed to the eye of the now 48-year-old Kátai.
“Even the album’s visuals are from a bygone era”, he says. In the video for its title track, closing song and lead single, Kátai doesn’t just run through the streets of his hometown. Surreal scenes from the past and present linger along his winding path through the placid countryside. Watching his doppelgänger dig his own grave feels like a living nightmare. “‘This song comes from a place of desperation”, he says. “Within the afterglow of nostalgia, there’s also the chill of disappointment”.
Ultimately, the progressive flair that has come to define Thy Catafalque shines through the darkness on album twelve. Only this time around, in order to reach the light at the end of the tunnel, Kátai needed some guidance. “I felt like the production had largely been the same since Geometria“, he admits. XII marks the first time in the project’s history that he worked with an outside producer. Granted, Gábor Vári is no stranger to how his mind works. When he’s not holed away in the studio with other prominent Hungarian metal bands, Gábor could be seen hammering away at his guitar on stage with Thy Catafalque on the live album Mezolit. “He was the perfect person to help give this album a somewhat different sound that is still familiar”.
As a result, “A gyönyörű álmok ezután jönnek” stands out as one of Thy Catafalque’s biggest crowd pleasers, uplifted by hand claps and catchy, fist-pumping riffs. Even the dark waves of synth glow with the reassurance of the dawn. “At the end, there’s still hope for a future that might offer warmer days after the darkness has ceded”.
Thy Catafalque’s twelfth album looks back longingly at the past, Tamás Kátai isn’t stopping to smell the roses. With A gyönyörű álmok ezután jönnek, he shows that the beautiful dreams are yet to come.
Recording Lineup
Tamás Kátai – guitar, bass, vocals, keyboards, programming
Guest musicians
Martina Veronika Horváth – vocals on Track 1, 6
Ivett Dudás – vocals on Track 8
Helga Kreiter – vocals on Track 4, 10
Gábor Dudás – vocals on Track 2, 5, 6, 10
Bálint Bokodi – vocals on Track 2, 4, 9
Gábor Veres – vocals on Track 3, 8
Attila Bakos – vocals on Track 1
Zoltán Kónya – vocals on Track 3
András Vörös – vocals on Track 4
Breno Machado – lead guitar on Track 2
Zoltán Vigh – lead guitar on Track 3
Krisztián Varga – lead guitar on Track 4
Daniele Belli – acoustic guitar on Track 2
Miguel Velasquez Matija – fretless bass on Track 2, 6
Edu Giró – oud, bouzouki, baglama on Track 2,7
Grigoris Mitropoulos – bouzouki, mpaglamas on Track 7
Sanja Smileska – violin on Track 3
Jo Quail – electric cello on Track 8
Issar Shulman – contrabass on Track 2
Cal Rustad – French horn on Track 2, 8
Manuel Domenech – cor anglais on Track 8
Khachatrian Lernik – clarinet on Track 2
Gergő Bille – flugelhorn, trumpet on Track 7
Joakim Toftgaard – trombone, trumpet on Track 7
Fabian Hernandez – saxophone on Track 5
Viktória Varga – narration on Track 3
Annamari Sánta – narration on Track 7, 8
Recording
Recorded in various countries: Hungary, United Kingdom, Romania, Ukraine, Italy, Spain, Greece, North Macedonia, Israel, U.S.A., Colombia, Brazil.
Producer & Sound Engineer
Tamás Kátai, Gábor Vári
Mixing & Mastering
Miracle Sound Szeged, Hungary. Mixed and mastered by Gábor Vári.
Artwork
Front cover by Dániel Szécsényi and Tamás Kátai
Illustrations by Orsolya Pintér.
Follow Thy Catafalque
https://thy-catafalque.hu
https://www.facebook.com/thycatafalque
https://www.instagram.com/thy_catafalque
https://www.youtube.com/user/kataitamas
https://thycatafalque.bandcamp.com/
https://open.spotify.com/artist/4sgTqbA7htxYkRRJBPZIom
https://music.apple.com/us/artist/thy-catafalque/372164196
Booking contact: info@thy-catafalque.hu
Available Formats
Digital download
CD Mediabook (First Pressing Only)
12″ Vinyl Gatefold (Black)
12″ Coloured Vinyl Gatefold (Transparent Yellow & Black Marbled)
12″ Coloured Vinyl Gatefold (Turquoise & Black Marbled)
12″ Coloured Vinyl Gatefold (White with Gold Splatters)
