Label: - Release: 2019 Style: Heavy Metal / Thrash Metal Tracklist 1. Wake your world, 2. Iced earth, 3. Pyro Lady, 4. Shadow man, 5. Morristown, 6. Monster in disguise, 7. On the streets (dedicated to the 1979 Warriors), 8. Alone, 9. Ruby red, 10. I’ll say goodbye, 11. Chaos, 12. Faster than light Craticula is a young Swiss metal band from Bretzwil, canton of Basel- Country. They were founded in 2012. The group consists of singer Josh

Malik, guitarist Jonas Gübelin, guitarist Joel Frutschi, bassist Kevin Defuns and drummer Simon Sutter. Four years ago I could experience this band once at the Rockfact Music Club in Münchenstein and they left a good impression on me. Since then some time has passed and I was very happy to hold their first self-titled album in my hands. On this album the quintet celebrated a mixture of Iron Maiden and Metallica. The influences of Iron Maiden were especially evident in the guitar playing of members Jonas Gübelin and Joel Frutschi. Some of the songs also show musical parallels to Metallica, which became apparent for example in "Shadow man" or "Alone". What I noticed while listening was the good production of this work. It's not a matter of course to produce something like that yourself. The group also dedicated the song "On The Streets" to the cult movie "The Warriors" by director Walter Hill from 1979, in which a gang fought for their survival on the streets of New York and was constantly at risk of an agonizing death. In my opinion it was difficult to name highlights, because this work convinced with a lot of variety and complexity. It shows a range from New Wave Of British Heavy Metal in the style of Iron Maiden to American Metal in the style of Metallica. The song material always remained interesting and the guys never lost sight of their way. There was no weak song represented. Like the Iron Maiden motto "Just Killers - No Fillers". Unfortunately it will be difficult for the band Craticula to present their songs live in the near future because the Corona pandemic has caused serious damage to the entertainment sector. As long as no vaccine is available in the near future, this will take even longer than we would like. I am curious to see how things will continue with the natives from Basel- Country and look forward to more. A good album which every Heavy Metal fan should listen to. 7/12 Review by Dominic Latscha