Album Overview

Focused. That is the first word that comes to mind when I listen to this album. Katalyst went into this project with a one track mind: mortification of the flesh. This album was not self-denigrating, but it put everything in perspective of Christ and who we are as His representatives – the Church. I believe the intention behind this album was to get believers to see the seriousness of sin and its effect on our relationship with Christ. If you give this album a listen you will be able to hear his heart; you will be able to hear the frustration caused by false teachers, lazy Christians (in terms of studying to show themselves approved), as well as bringing to light people that claim to be Christian but deny Christ in every way through their actions/inaction. I really appreciate the mindset of this album; you’ll hear it in almost every song; normally that becomes repetitive and will cause people to tune it out; but in this case, it is the call for every Christian; it is a plea we cannot ignore; dying to self in order to represent Christ and let the Spirit of God have an effective work in our lives; that is something we all need to chew on.

Lyrically, I was impressed. I knew Katalyst could bring it because I heard him on some other tracks. Katalyst didn’t disappoint on this project either. If you like punch lines, he’s got plenty. If you are into lyricists that bring analogies, he’s got those too. Katalyst puts different flows into effect in this body of work, and any emcee can recognize this brother has skill. There were a few times I had to back up the track to catch some of the lines, and that is a big plus to me because I enjoy having to figure the puzzle laid out through wordplay. I would say Katalyst is about five notches above average in lyrical skill; he hasn’t made it into my top 10 of lyricists, but he did well enough to make me take notice and look forward to his next release.

I have to admit, production wise this album was average. Only one track comes to mind, "Come Back Home," that just bangs and gets the head going ’til the neck starts to hurt; the track is insanely hot! There are a few other tracks that have decent production but most weren’t anything that stood out. On a few of the tracks the music is turned up to the point that the vocals are drowned out; as much as I am a fan of the music I am also a fan of the vocalism, so that was a drawback for me. Another drawback was the usage of vocal effects. I can deal with a little reverb, but when the voice gets morphed and you no longer here the artist and all you hear are the production techniques it is a turn-off. You have to hear it for yourself. If you enjoy this new rage of digitized voices and Autotune you won’t be bothered at all, but personally I think it should’ve been left alone after Roger Troutmann and Zapp did it back in the late 1970s & early 1980s. Once again, that is just my opinion.

Spiritual Significance

Death By Design is full of meat. It’s meant for grown folks and the babies in Christ alike. As I’ve already alluded to, dying to the flesh and it’s lustful desires is the cry of this album. Unless you are living right and working out your salvation, there are no feel good songs on this album; that is a good thing! If you do fall into the group of Christians striving for the mark of the high calling in Christ then this album will serve as a constant reminder that we are at war with our flesh every second; we can never relax; we must remain vigilant and focused on Christ if we are to make it through with our salvation intact.

One of the first songs that stands out for me is "Thinkin Bout;" it focuses on the difference between what we testify about and confess with our mouth versus what we live out day to day. There is also the recurring mantra of dying to self in order to give God the top priority in our lives. What I like about this song is that instead of just pointing out the problem, he also gives the solution: replacing the death we’ve inherited with life through ingesting the Word. Another noteworthy song is the title track "Death By Design." Listening to this song brings up the question of distinction between believers and the rest; where is the peculiarity that is supposed to be the trademark of God’s chosen people? Death By Design attacks the issues of Christians chasing materialism, denying Christ through our actions, the lack of the Holy Spirit’s effectual ministry in our life, and our divorcing the Body of Christ and not the world.

Lately the body has come under attack because of the feel good preachers. Typically preachers that will preach blessing after blessing without acknowledging the caveats that accompany the blessings. With all of the messages of “good news” and blessing, the church has garnered a lot of attention, but the problem is that people are in church attendance to see what they can get and not in attendance to meet Christ. To make matters worse, the “prosperity” ministries are drawing negative attention because a lot of their leaders are being scrutinized and caught up in a lot of situations that compromise the Faith. This subject gets addressed specifically in the song “U Kiddin Me.” I was so happy to hear this song! A lot of Christian emcees have addressed it, but I like the fact that Katalyst went more along the lines of exposing the fallacy of it versus attacking specific preachers or denominations. He hit two key points as to how people go astray and fall for this type of doctrine. First, a lot of preachers are taking a single verse of scripture without looking at the context in which it was spoken, not looking at the preceding verses, or the ones to follow. John 14:13-14, specifically verse 14 where Jesus says “If ye shall ask any thing in my name, I will do [it].” People use this verse to justify all of their wants and desires then add the tagline, “God said I can have whatever I ask for in His name.” Well, they leave out the most important part which comes from verse 13, “And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.” Everything God gives us is supposed to revolve around giving God the glory and bringing Him the attention He deserves that other people will see, believe, and be saved. All of Christ’s miracles were a testament to God intended to prove that God was present among them and desired people’s repentance and sincere worship. Asking for a house on the hill, a car we can’t afford to upkeep, jewelry, and/or riches has nothing to do with glorifying God (see James 4:3). God didn’t promise that. Matter of fact, most of the early church consisted of people that were poor in materials, and full in terms of persecution; they counted themselves rich because of their sure relationship with Christ. Secondly, people take what the preacher says as “gospel” and don’t read, examine, or test the Word for themselves. Granted, most preachers don’t have the intention of teaching bad doctrine or trying to lead people down a path that will pull them away from Christ; but, at the same time, the preacher is still a fallible human being. I look at verses like 2 John 1:6, Deut 26:16, 2 Kings 18:5-7, Psalms 103:17-18, the entirety of Psalms 119, 1 John 2:1-6, and 1 John 3:21-24 which all revolve around the commandments of God, keeping them, and the benefits that follow. The qualifying condition to all of these scriptures is keeping the commandments of God, but if you don’t know them and only live based on what you heard from the preacher or your grandmother how can you know for sure if you are keeping them so that you can be blessed?

I enjoyed this album. The meat of scripture was sufficient, and the lyricism was good. The only drawback for me was the voice effects and lack of creativity, minus one or two tracks, on the production side of it. I would definitely suggest this album to a friend. Not the best album ever, but I would put it in the top 15 or so albums I’ve heard this year. I would also purchase the follow up project if Katalyst is blessed to have a sequel. Death By Design is definitely worth the 10-15 dollars you’ll spend to cop it.

Topics Covered

• Sufficiency in Christ
• Proselytizing
• Mortification of the flesh

Key Tracks

Die if I have to*, Come Back Home*, I Got Proof (* denotes my favorite tracks)