Hungarian avant-garde metal group Thy Catafalque traffics in multiple heavy metal subgenres, from icy symphonic black and post-metal to regional folk, progressive, and experimental rock. The brainchild of multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, poet, and photographer Tamás Kátai and frequent collaborator János Juhász, the Makó-born project’s earliest sonic emissions, 1999’s Sublunary Tragedies and 2001’s Microcosmos, drew heavily from black and post-metal. After relocating to Edinburgh, Scotland, Kátai adopted a more experimental style that incorporated multiple musical disciplines, culminating in a string of acclaimed efforts, including the 2009 concept LP Róka Hasa Rádió, 2016’s largely symphonic Meta, and 2020’s trad-folk-leaning Naiv. In 2021, Kátai assembled a rotating cast of musicians to deliver Thy Catafalque’s first live performance, resulting in the concert LP Mezolit: Live at Fekete Zaj. 2024 saw the release of the group’s deeply atmospheric 12th studio album, XII: A gyönyörű álmok ezután jönnek, which featured 20 musicians culled from the Hungarian music scene.