KATATONIA - Last Fair Deal Gone Down [2001]

Whether or not this album's title refers to bluesman Robert Johnson's classic song of the same name, Katatonia is still singing the blues in their own way here, even if their style has nothing else to do with the blues as a genre. Continuing in the vein of their previous release, Tonight's Decision, this is depressing, heavy alternative rock with a notable Cure influence -- Katatonia is not really playing metal anymore here. The production has been sharpened on this album compared to its predecessor, accentuating the quiet verse/loud chorus dynamics the band so often uses, making the loud parts hit harder and the softer parts come through with more detail. Meanwhile, frontman Jonas Renske has continued to grow as a vocalist, showing greater range while also maintaining that worried, defeated delivery. Not many singers can trot out chorus after chorus of woeful lyrics such as "Burn down my house/Stab me in the heart" ("Chrome") and "When you have no one/No one can hurt you" ("Don't Tell a Soul") and make it sound so convincing. Song-wise, there are obvious standouts -- "Teargas," "Clean Today," and "Sweet Nurse" -- but the album is well-paced and consistent throughout, the only real weak spot being the chorus on "We Must Bury You," where Renske reaches a little too hard for the high notes. That's a minor quibble, though; this is an excellent album on the whole: heavy, tuneful, and thick with atmosphere and melancholy.
== by William York ==

Tracks
1.Disposession
2.Chrome
3.We Must Bury You
4.Teargas
5.I Transpire
6.Tonight's Music
7.Clean Today
8.The Future Of Speech
9.Passing Bird
10.Sweet Nurse
11.Don't Tell A Soul

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KATATONIA - Saw You Drown [1998]

Tracks
1.Saw Your Drown
2.Nerve
3.Quiet World
4.Scarlet Heavens

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KATATONIA - Sounds Of Decay [1997]

Tracks
1.Nowhere
2.At Last
3.Inside The Fall

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KATATONIA - Brave Murder Day [1996]

The first of two Katatonia discs to feature Mikael Åkerfeldt of Opeth subbing for regular vocalist Jonas Renske, Brave Murder Day is perhaps the most thorough and accomplished first-phase release from the Swedish death/doom outfit. The music is simple, almost trance-like gothic metal topped with Åkerfeldt's signature shouts and growls. Dynamics aren't exactly places at a premium on Brave Murder Day, but quieter moments on tracks like "Day" are a nice touch. These softer spots never really hint at the band's coming genre shift, and unlike later outings, there are no borderline alternative rock moments on Brave Murder Day. This should delight fans of Katatonia's earliest recordings. Consistent and committed to its gloomy theme, this 1997 Century Media offering represents the metallic high-water mark from an ever-evolving group.

Tracks
1.Brave
2.Murder
3.Day
4.Rainroom
5.12
6.Endtime
7.Funeral Wedding (Bonus Track)
8.Shades Of Emerald Fields (Bonus)
9.For Funerals To Come (Bonus)
10.Epistel (Bonus)

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KATATONIA - Jhva Elohim Meth... The Revival (1992)

by Eduardo Rivadavia
Although already active in one shape or another since 1987, Sweden's up-and-coming Katatonia were condensed to a duo of vocalist/drummer Jonas "Lord Seth" Renkse and guitarist/bassist Anders "Blackheim" Nyström at the time of 1992's Jhva Elohim Meth...The Revival. Essentially their first demo of a year previous now made commercially available, its five tracks (two of them, "Midwinter Gates" and "Crimson Tears," bookending atmospheric instrumentals) showed great maturity as compared to the group's only slightly more established doom/death counterparts in England: the unholy trinity of Anathema, My Dying Bride, and Paradise Lost. Indeed, "Without God," "Palace of Frost," and "The Northern Silence" were all leaden of pace and sorrowful of tone, with memorable melodies and riffs that instantly secured Katatonia their contender status in anticipation of their acclaimed Dance of December Souls debut album the following year. [Jhva Elohim Meth...The Revival was later included in 2004's Brave Yester Days collection.]

Tracks
1.Midwinter Gates (Prologue)
2.Without God
3.Palace of Frost
4.The Northern Silence
5.Crimson Tears (Epilogue)

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KATATONIA - Dance Of December Souls (1993)

With their first full album, 1993's Dance of December Souls, Sweden's Katatonia proved that classic death/doom need not come from England, whence, until then, the genre had flourished at the hands of Paradise Lost, Anathema, and My Dying Bride. In fact, December manages to drag heavy metal to a near-standstill along with the best of 'em, combining cookie-monster growls, slothful riffing, morbid guitar (and, snuck in now and then, morbid synthesizer) melodies, and slow but busy drumming into a mesmerizing wash of depression. Eight-minute highlight "Gateways of Bereavement" and the desolately beautiful instrumental "Elohim Meth" are both perfect examples of these exquisitely sluggish and gloomy capabilities, although other offerings like "In Silence Enshrined" and the fan favorite "Without God" do eventually pick up the pace somewhat -- also with very positive results. Not so the ensuing twin monoliths stacked back to back, "Velvet Thorns (Of Drynwhyl)" and "Tomb of Insomnia," both of which exceed 13 minutes in length and prove simply suicide-inducing for all but the most patient of metalheads -- despite any number of memorable passages strewn about their massive girths. Then again, it could be said that, by inspiring such thoughts of self-destruction, Katatonia accomplish their mission. And, in any case, flawed though it may be, Dance of December Souls has stood the test of time pretty well, and thus remains one of the doom/death genre's important building blocks.

Tracks
1.Seven Dreaming Souls (Intro)
2.Gateways Of Bereavement
3.In Silence Enshrined
4.Without God
5.Elohim Meth
6.Velvet Thorns (Of Drynwhyl)
7.Tomb Of Insomnia
8.Dancing December

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