REVIEWS:
Katatonia's goal is to 'express depression through music' or so they say, and they create a blend of gothic Cure-esque rock and death/doom metal that does have a unique sound to it. They began out trying to be progressive death metal, but they probably weren't happy with that so they turned to a cleaner, successful formula that's kept them running for their past three albums.
--Robert Grazer
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(reviewed by Robert Grazer)
HIGH POINTS: Brave. LOW POINTS: None.
I want this to be my favorite Katatonia album. Honestly, I do. Not only because it was made in 1996, but in a sense this is more in the style of what I really like than the later albums. It's more progressive, epic, like all good death metal should be. Unfortunately, especially with Mikael Akerfeldt on vocals (and he's still using the unpleasant early style of his growls), they end up sounding more than a little bit like a heavier version of Opeth. I suppose that's their goal, but the sound somehow doesn't work correctly. Katatonia make it a misison to be a depressing act. I find Opeth (and I know fans who would greatly disagree with me), despite being very often dark, a very uplifting band, especially for a death metal band. If you're trying to be Opeth and at the same time trying to be depressing, you're going to find some problems there.
At the same time, despite the contradiction in styles, amd despite the fact that it all sounds the same after awhile, and you really have to be in the mood to appreciate most of it, there is one track that still manages to be quite interesting during its run. It's the opening "Brave" (side note: on this album, Brave Murder Day, the first three tracks are "Brave", "Murder", and "Day". I haven't bothered to read the lyrics, so I wouldn't know if we're looking at some sort of conceptual unity here), which, at over ten mnutes, manages to stay interesting even though it's based around a simplistic riff. Now that's the Opeth-kind of talent there. The vocals aren't even that irritating there. It's like some sort of dark magic works in favor of the song, helping it become the great tune it is.
The others, though, aren't all that great. They have they're little moments in them ("Murder" especially), but the songs just never seem to go anywhere or become truly memorable in and of themselves. It's like the Orchid syndrome (though the Renske's must have been quite impressed with those first couple of Opeth albums if they wanted to mimic the band after after only their first two albums, which weren't even as well received as the three after them). Woops. Though this would prove to be Katatonia's last big death metal album, and we should be thanklful for it. No one could predict the success of the formula they'd soon find themselves using. Shed those Opethian roots and let the real dark doom metal be released. Oh yeah, Dan Swano produces this album. What a surprise.
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(reviewed by Robert Grazer)
HIGH POINTS: In Death, A Song, I Am Nothing, For My Demons, (Had to) Leave, This Punishment, Right Into the Bliss, Nightmares By The Sea, Black Session, No Good Can Come of This. LOW POINTS: None.
Katatonia continue their venture into the cleaner vocal territory and shorter songs that they'd begun on the previous album, and, if you want the truth, this doesn't sound too musically or stylistically different than Discouraged Ones. Katatonia have found quite a successful formula for themselves by now, and continue perfecting that here. So this may not be that different than the previous album, but it is in my mind (as I know some would disagree) unquestionably better. Besides, when you have melody-writers a good as the guys in Katatonia, almost any formula can work well. Of course, the death metal purists (does such a thing exist?) will still be disappointed with the band for abandoning their Opeth-influenced past (since this album is probably even more accessible than Discouraged Ones), but I think this was definitely the better path for them to take.
There is musical growth present: the vocal harmonies sound cleaner, but whether this is due to the production or Renske’s actual singing I really don't know. I tend to think both, myself. For one this is his second album with fully clean vocals, so there is certainly some improvement there. Besides, could you imagine the Renske of 1996 able to sing the chorus to "In Death, A Song"? On the other hand, even before on tracks like "Deadhouse" the vocals were fine, it was just the production that seemed to be holding the music back a little bit. I don’t know, I could be wrong, but that’s how it seems to me. Maybe it's the fact that now he actually seems to be singing rather than moaning and groaning.
Anyway in addition to the vocal improvement, the melodic aspect of the album just seems more developed overall, not to mention the band seems absolutely sure of what they're doing. Before there were a couple of sections here and there that seemed sloppy, but now for the first time the band is tight and focused. Not to mention the atmosphere of Tonight's Decision is incredibly effective. If the band wishes to express depression in their music, this is the closest they've gotten thus far. I mean, everything from the crunch of the guitars to the vocals to the lyrics (dealing with subjects of suicide, murder, isolation, pain and so on) to the album's title and cover (one of the best album covers I’ve ever seen) helps build the mood up to something Katatonia had never reached before. And that leads me to call this one of the best albums of the year.
The opening stretch of music here, the first four songs in particular, is perfect, not a single note out of place. Slow chords (in a rather odd progression) begin the album cleanly, right into the dark atmosphere of "'For My Demons." Some haunting (and depressing, naturally) lyrics here ("You would never sleep tonight/If you knew what I’ve been through", particularly with Renske’s slow, almost mumble delivery. A fantastic way to start the album. "I Am Nothing" is no slouch either, more energetic than the last one, and once again an extremely memorable chorus and fantastic vocal melody (the "If you would tell me..." line is quite spectacular indeed).
Perhaps the album's best moment, though, comes in "In Death, A Song," where pretty much every member peaks for the album. The "You came back to a place without sun" intro line starts the song off with a bang, and listen for the guitar lines behind that. One of the pleasures of this band is that almost never does the lead guitar fade away, even when it’s in the background. There's almost always an interesting and melodic guitar line backing whatever the song does. And this is no exception. Watch for the quick instrumental toward the songs end. I love the drums there. Which reminds me. There was no official drummer I the band when Tonight's Decision was recorded, so a session musician was found. And that session musician was none other than (you guessed it) Dan Swano.
Anyway finishing off the immortal opening to Tonight’s Decision, is "(Had to) Leave," a much slower track, pounding its not-so-merry way along, More unhappy lyrics and another excellent depressing melody to be found here. Actually, as far as being unhappy goes, which is obviously the band’s goal, this track probably stands as their greatest success there. And so that finished off one of the better opening stretches to any album I’ve heard, and possibly the best stretch of Katatonia available. Actually, you could extend the stretch an extra song if you want to include the heavily dark atmosphere of "This Punishment," which plays out more like an interlude than an actual track. It’s still quite a great extension of the atmosphere, with a subtle but powerful cry from Renske, certainly one of his vocal peaks.
Needless to say, the rest of the album isn’t going to match that, but the atmosphere is maintained throughout, and there are some great highlights to be found throughout the rest of the album as well. "No Good Can Come of This" is one of the catchiest moments on the album, boasting of the sort of melody it only takes one listen to memorize (and appreciate). They cover Jeff Buckley’s “Nightmares By The Sea,” giving it a metal edge and even darker overtones while still maintaining most of the song’s original qualities. I'd personally say it's an improvement over the original, myself. "A Darkness Coming" may seem a little sub-par as far as the band’s lyrical skills go (though well expressed through Jonas Renske’s voice, something about the line "I see it coming, something bad" just doesn’t sit well with me), but once again the melody is superb (sort of the band's own attempt at a "Stairway to Heaven" style semi-epic), and it more or less makes up for the substandard lyrics.
"Black Session" is a true epic piece, maintaining the heavy dark atmosphere of the album. It a bang to complete the album, letting you breathe for a moment, thinking it's over before a short secret instrumental acoustic piece comes in to haunt the listener for one more time. Both "Black Session" and the secret track provide a great finish to the album. So unless you grow tired of the similar style of the songs (which I don't in the least) or you've got something against Katatonia in general for abandoning the pure death metal (and plenty of people like that do exist), you'll probably find Tonight's Decision quite an impressive listen. By moving and growing mar in their chosen direction both atmospherically and melodically, Katatonia are quickly becoming the greatest metal band out right now.
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(reviewed by Robert Grazer)
HIGH POINTS: Tonight's Music, Clean Today, Teargas, Dispossession, Sweet Nurse, I Transpire, Chrome. LOW POINTS: We Must Bury You..
Katatonia’s website (http://www.katatonia.com, go there now and watch the flash movie for information on this album and a great clip of the opening track here, "Dispossession") says that this is going to be the album that’s going to "make people stand up and listen." If only this were true, there might be a brighter future for the mainstream metal community. But seriously, I could imagine some of this stuff played on the radio next to System of a Down and Tool. This is even more accessible than the band’s previous two albums, and boasts of probably their overall melodic peak. And even though it isn't as big a success as Tonight's Decision atmospherically, I'm slowly beginning to prefer this anyway, simply because song after song here shows so much growth melodically. And if somewhere in there a little bit of the atmosphere was lost, I suppose that's just some sort of necessary sacrifice if the band want to continue progressing themselves musically in a more accessible and melodic direction.
Yeah, this IS still a Katatonia album, and as such it's all dark and depressing ex-death metal, but anyone who has heard "Teargas" knows that, if by some miracle they could only get the chance to break into the hard rock radio, the band could easily have a top ten hit. And if Katatonia managed to break into the hard rock radio, then the entire Swedish metal scene may actual gain recognition. Or maybe it's just a dream. Whatever the case may be, the sound that Katatonia have developed here pretty much put them second only to Opeth for chances of actually making that dream come true. Even so, this isn’t just a more accessible continuation of their sound. No, changes are present. For one, the band produced the album themselves, which gives it a much different sound overall, not quite as dark and heavy as either of the past two albums, but cleaner, and still maintaining the trademark sound. It’s partly the production that gives parts of it the almost radio friendly sound.
On top of that, they are actually expanding on their formula exploring new little corners of their own style that they hadn't before. Because of this, Last Fair Deal Gone Down actually sounds a little bit more diverse than anything Katatonia had done before. If the similar sounding tracks of their past releases got to you before, this should fix that. On the surface it may seem like the tracks are just continuing the same formula, but repeated listens prove that, no, there is actually more than the consistent doom and gloom of previous albums. Whether or not that's actually an improvement or not is really something you'd have to decide for yourself. But a lot of people (myself included) can find some relief in the fact that they're not just repeating themselves again since, as successful as that was before, that success probably wouldn’t have lasted too much longer.
They're putting more effort into everything they're doing now. Growth is everywhere. Renske's range improves again (and probably will even more in the future, if this is any indication). The lyrics are just as good as ever. They've recruited a permanent drummer. Nystrom's melodic abilities with the guitar are growing even more. In many ways, everything is being put into place. Whether or not you agree with the general opinion that this is Katatonia's masterpiece is up to you, but I think it's clear that the band wants it to be. I think they want to break through to a larger audience, create music that really has both mass appeal and their trademark style, and this album is the band doing their best to capture that.
We open with a muffled clean guitar, right into "Dispossession," and despite how I just tried to emphasize that this isn't quite business as usual for the band, I still think that this track is an excellent musical sequel to "For My Demons." That’s not necessarily a bad thing, of course. It sets a dark mood, and then when you hit some of the lyrics, wow. "We Must Bury You" on the other hand is a lyrical misstep, maybe a filler track, actually (though not all that bad). The words are ridiculous violence, and as good a tune as there could be to back it, they still should have known better. Sorry. Not a bad track, but still not half as good as any other given song on the album.
The aforementioned "Teargas" on the other hand is the band's most popular tune for a reason. Being their most mainstream sounding song, as well as one of their most melodic, it makes a perfect introduction to Katatonia’s current sound. And I love that guitar solo in the middle. "Tonight’s Music" derives most of its power from Renske, who probably hits his overall peak thus far there. It's like the atmosphere of "The Punishment" put to a fill song. Brilliant. But even with most of the qualities coming vocally, I still love the simple guitar lines backing the song there. The album’s finest moment, in my view, and one of the band's overall peaks in nearly everyway.
Both "I Transpire" and "Clean Today" rank as highlights here. The former has a THICK guitar sound on it during the chorus that builds next to the vocals to form maybe the heaviest song on the album, and still a sure highlight. "Clean Today" has an incredibly infectious chorus, complicated building vocal melody and those trademark melodic guitar lines -- god, I love those. All that and also some proof that the drummer they've recruited, Daniel Liljekvist, is perfect for their sound. Listen to the way he pounds away during the chorus, driving the whole melody. He was a great choice for a band of this style. "Passing Bird" combines perfectly mellow verses with the subtly heavy sound of the chorus, which still remains slow overall. I really dig that riff toward the end.
"Sweet Nurse" is probably even more Cure-esque than they've even been before, the verses almost have an 80s-goth rock sound to them, but the choruses show off just how much range Renske has developed. Some haunting lyrics too, some fairly frightening images describes with the lyrics. A definite highlight. Closing off the album is "Don’t Tell A Soul" bringing out some of the keyboard orchestration that has been present on some of the other tracks during the intro, continuing in the older Katatonia style, a track that could easily have fit onto the last album. And ending the album with the climactic guitar solo and repetition of "When you have no one/No one can hurt you" was a great touch to finish the disc off.
All-in-all, this comes out as one of the best albums to be released in 2001 (at this point in my mind I hold it second to Audima's immortal Definition), and yet another winner from Katatonia. They're melodic skills have never been better, and I've got a feeling that they're only going to improve from here. They've done so much with such apparent ease, that it seems like that to people of their immense skills, they have an even greater peak ahead of them. Last Fair Deal Gone Down has made me optimistic about their future, and even though it's unlikely that this will give them the immense popularity they could have, one thing is certain: they do deserve it.
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