Catch 22
SOULREAPER EVILUTION/DEVILUTION

January 2009
Released: 2008, Metal On Metal
Rating: 2.0/5
Reviewer: Dick Ward

Catch 22 is a band with a fair deal of history. Originally forming 17 years ago by vocalist T.J. Berry, the band has played with countless big name acts and released 4 full length albums, the most recent of which is a double CD entitled SOULREAPER EVILUTION/DEVILUTION. Boasting a dedication to true metal, the band has always been very heavily steeped in its American power metal style.



SOULREAPER EVILUTION/DEVILUTION is government cheese to the ears. It’s not great, not even very good, but it’ll do in a pinch. The instrumentation is decent, if generic. The guitar riffing is incredibly dull, and has a really recycled feel. Hank Ramage seems to add absolutely nothing on bass, even in a song like “Doomsday Scenario” where he’s given the intro to himself; he manages to be incredibly uninteresting. Vocally, T.J. Berry too often sounds like someone making fun of power metal than actually trying to sing it. Joe Bailey’s drumming may be the one redeemable factor for the album. While not particularly flashy, he does a good job at making the material interesting.

Perhaps most noticeably, the lyrics are a complete mess. As a parody, lyrics like these would be fantastic. Unfortunately, Catch 22 isn’t joking, they really mean it.



“Caught in a web

of a million megabytes

worship at the altarnet

of the Cyberchrist”



The album all gets very wahjah (ref: urbandictionary.com for wahjah) when the track “Greed (I Can’t Believe)” comes on. A protest song against the Iraq war and George Bush about 7 years too late, it becomes very clear that Catch-22 is not a band that should be writing protest songs. Wrapped in vagary and attempted wit, this song was embarrassing to listen to.



Like the government cheese it is, this is an album that should never be bought, just given away to the poor unfortunates who don’t have any.