Review by JD on January 7, 2010.

I am not too much for the style that We, The Undersigned are doing. The broad term that has become Nu-Metal is not my cup of tea, even though it is a strong movement and is gaining speed... yet I am one who loves metal in almost every form. I am willing to give every band I end up getting a fair shot. Here it goes.

Hailing from Canada, We, the Undersigned explodes out with a very noticeable difference on the newer metal coming out. It does have that unmistakable Nu-Metal feel, not to mention the Scream-o metal factor to it in some respects... but all of this pigeonholing has to stop because this band is so much more. It seems as if the band has stolen their crazy older uncle’s metal collection and has learned from it all, while still listening to what is new out there.

Technically sound yet insane riffs fire spew from the speakers like a flamethrower, while the rhythm end of things really does give the band a hell of an engine to work with. They remind me of many bands that I do not like, yet the band has something that others do not have... melodies. It seems that they have taken old metal, mixed it with the new Scream-o stuff and has really made a difference here.

I applaud the band, but I feel that the band has not fully developed what they are trying to create in the way of originality. This is a start that is impressive, but whatever... it is just good to listen to.

Categorical Rating Breakdown　

Musicianship: 7.5
Atmosphere: 7.5
Production: 8
Originality: 7.5
Overall: 7.5

Rating: 7.6 out of 10

Review by Krys on March 15, 2001.

Some people just can’t live without making music… and that’s great. One of them is Trevor Peres, member of no longer existent death metal gods Obituary. Because of his burning passion to create extreme sounds, with help of Keith DeVito, Chris Basile, Brian Hobbie and Rob Maresca, all members of the New York based metal powerhouse Pyrexia, he has developed a new band called Catastrophic.

By saying all that about the history of this band, it shouldn’t come to your surprise that "The Cleansing", their debut CD, will remind you of the great Obituary days. Big time! A few notes from the first track, "Hate Trade", will unmistakably bring you all those memories. The characteristic tone and riffs of Peres’ guitar dominate this whole album. Tracks like "Messiah Pacified", "The Veil" or "Jesters of the Millennium" could easily end up on a Obituary’s "Cause OF Death" or "The End Complete" disc.

But don’t make any assumptions yet! Catastrophic is NOT a carbon copy of Obituary. Although the guitar work is clearly modeled after the Obituary sound, very often those guys really like to crank up the tempo on their compositions. Other than the aggressive drum-molesting section, the vocals of Keith DeVito are also quite different from John Tardy’s lines. Overall, the "The Cleansing" is just a delicious piece of rotten death metal meat which I’ll recommend to any hungry metal fan.

Bottom Line: Make some free space on your shelf, you need this CD.

Rating: 9 out of 10