15 Best Hard Rock & Metal Albums Of 2020 (So Far)
2. Naiv - Thy Catafalque
It was a match made in heaven when we got Saor's album Forgotten Paths last year. With its mix of Celtic soundscapes and heavy metal, no one was prepared for something so epic and sweeping. Though it seemed like a fluke experiment, who would have thought they we'd be graced with an equally as spellbinding release just next year?
Operating out of Hungary, Thy Catafalque is primarily a project by composer Tamas Katai, who throws nearly every genre into this record to see how epic a sonic paintbrush he can utilize. Rather than coming off as a splotchy mess, this album is the best kind of avant garde record, combining everything from folk to metal to even some classical composing techniques to make these songs come alive. Across every single track on this record, the music is gargantuan, as if the very fate of the world hangs in the balance during their runtimes.
Though the lyrics are almost entirely in Hungarian, it almost doesn't matter when you have tunes that can speak to your heart. While everyone may have their favorites to choose from in the world of hard rock, Naiv is the sound of taking a little bit of everything to create something bigger than any one genre could hope to be.