Year : 2021
Style : Gothic Rock , Depressive Rock , Heavy Metal
Country : Sweden
Audio : 320 kbps + scans
Size : 315 mb
Bio:
No matter how brightly the sun shines, sorrow will always cast its ageless shadow across the human soul. Expressing that eternal sadness is an art in itself, and over the last two decades, Sweden’s masters of melancholy Katatonia have firmly established themselves as the most passionate and skilful exponents of the form.Formed by vocalist/drummer Jonas Renkse and guitarist Anders Nyström in Stockholm in 1991, the band emerged from the amorphous maelstrom that was the nascent death/doom metal scene; a darker, more emotionally resonant sibling to the ongoing extreme metal world, and one that offered a new and more humane perspective on life’s darker days.The band’s first releases, the Jhva Elohim Meth…The Revival EP and debut album Dance Of December Souls may have seemed to draw from the same set of influences that inspired like-minded bands across the North Sea like Paradise Lost and My Dying Bride, but by the time Katatonia arrived at 1996’s Brave Murder Day (which featured guest vocals from Opeth’s Mikael Åkerfeldt), the band had already begun to plough their own tearful furrow.“Initially we had no masterplan,” says Renkse today. “All we wanted was a band of our own, as we were totally devoured by the death and doom metal scene that was happening. It wasn’t until later that we could actually carve out our own space and see things with a broader perspective. Katatonia has become a philosophy, at least for ourselves, since it is pretty much all we have. It’s dark and personal music and lyrics, no matter what the environment around us.”In 1998, Katatonia released Discouraged Ones, an album that saw them step away from more traditional doom-laden atmospheres into an increasingly distinctive sonic world. Incorporating a wide variety of influences, from gothic rock to dark folk, the band’s evolution was gathering pace and their songwriting was maturing accordingly. With Jonas Renkse stepping away from the drum stool to focus on his role as vocalist, the Katatonia sound became more focused and intense on 1999’s Tonight’s Decision; a bravura collection of downbeat hymns to the void that set the tone for the new decade that followed.“Most of our evolution has occurred naturally,” explains Renkse. “We started as Paradise Lost fanboys, but now I think we have a different sound, something we have crafted over the years. With every new album we try to push the boundaries of songwriting and expand the concept of Katatonia without abandoning our foundation and roots.”As the 21st century has progressed, Katatonia have become one of the most revered and cherished of all bands in the modern heavy music firmament. Through extensive touring and a steady stream of superlative studio releases, including 2001’s classic Last Fair Deal Gone Down and its coruscating 2003 follow-up Viva Emptiness, the Swedes have spread their baleful gospel across the globe, refining and redefining themselves with every step into new territory. With 2006’s The Great Cold Distance and, in particular, 2009’s universally acclaimed Night Is The New Day, Katatonia have stretched beyond their roots in the metal scene and drawn in fans from all across the musical spectrum, not least in the progressive rock realm that has also embraced peers like Opeth and Anathema in recent times.In August 2012 the band released Dead End Kings, their ninth studio album and their most successful to date. The album marked another step in this journey towards a more progressive sound.Dead End Kings was recorded with a new line-up, in which Renkse and Nyström were joined by guitarist Per Eriksson, bassist Niklas Sandin and drummer Daniel Liljekvist. Together they created a rich, adventurous and endlessly evocative masterwork that exhibits all the Swedish quintet’s established traits while absorbing countless fresh ideas into that monumental sonic brew.“Dead End Kings represents progression and taking things to the next level,” concludes Renkse. ”The writing was a little more intense and spontaneous for this one. I think that’s the biggest difference. But it was made with the same mindset as the last few albums. It just had a little more fire involved. We don’t want to repeat ourselves. We are still hungry for new music.”The band return in September 2013 with Dethroned and Uncrowned, their first album for Kscope, the sister label to Peaceville, the band's home for the past 14 years. Dethroned and Uncrowned allows them to explore the progressive elements of Dead End Kings further as they have reworked the album, creating new moods and textures while still staying truthful to the core of the songs.Guitarist and founding member Anders Nyström explains how the band have revisted the album, ‘the synopsis is simple and album title won’t lie; the drums will be dethroned and the distorted rhythm guitars will be uncrowned! Instead, we’ll place the emphasis on the many layers of ambience, with the melodies staying central and the vocal harmonies representing the heart of the album.'
Album:
It has been thirty years since drummer / vocalist Jonas Renske and Anders “Blackheim” Nyström began a musical journey that would see them evolve from a studio-only project exploring their darker musical tastes to becoming one of the most respected purveyors of melancholic and post-Gothic music; always evolving with each album, embracing Gothic and progressive metal, and always distinctively Katatonia.It has been a career that the duo, supported for a large swathe of it by Fredrik and Mattias Norrman (guitars / bass) and Daniel Liljekvist (drums), and more recently underpinned by Niklas Sandin (bass), with Daneil Moilanen (drums) and Roger Öjersson (guitars) joining for 2016.And it is with this line-up, and the recording sessions for the luxuriant, Progressive Rock-laden The Fall of Hearts, that Mnemosynean (Peaceville) – a collection of memories, those songs that graced singles, EP’s and bonus versions of their respective albums and a story of the band told, Memento style, present(ish) to past – begins.‘Vakaren’ is a layered, understated opener in the band’s native tongue, accompanied by ‘Sistere’ introspective acoustic and melancholic, tugging at the emotions. ‘Wide Awake In Quietus’ announces itself in a more uptempo and distorted manner, before a genuinely excellent sombre reworking of Judas Priest’s classic ‘Night Comes Down’, the song transformed into one of their own. Dead End Kings is represented by the reflective ‘Second’ and the whimsical ‘The Act of Darkening’, which sees Nyström experimenting with folkier inflections.‘Ashen’ and ‘Sold Heart’ (from the Night Is The New Day period) are lush, excogitative trademark Katatonia, before ‘Displaced’ (from the My Twin single) snaps you to attention, with harsher guitar tones reminiscent of a heavier time in the Swedes catalogue. ‘Unclean’ follows (from the Kocytean record day release / Great Cold Distance reissue), with a slow, sleazy electronic beat and a sombre swirl; a truly great understated song, before it’s couple, ‘Code Against The Code’ uses a simple underpinning motif to great effect.The second disk reminds us straight away of the rougher edges of earlier Katatonia, as we have now travelled back nearly twenty years to ‘Wait Outside’ from the Viva Emptiness sessions, before the Teargas single brings us ‘Sulfur’, which begins as a lilting acoustic song and unveils great harmonies before hitting a driving, melancholic punch that is pure first-half of their career Katatonia. The latter part of the song sees Renske trying out some vocal melodies and ideas that would surface and be perfected as time and tide would unfurl.We visit the lighter pair of ‘O, How I Enjoy The Light’ (originally by Will Oldham) and ‘Help Me Disappear’ from Last Fair Deal Gone Down times, while both ‘Fractured’ and the overdriven and discordant ‘No Devotion’ could have stood proudly on parent album Tonight’s Decision (all Peaceville).As ground-breaking, if naive and flawed, as Dance of December Souls (No Fashion) was, and excellent as For Funerals To Come and, particularly the iconic Brave Murder Day were, the true Katatonia sound really began in earnest with the departure of Mikael Åkerfeldt and Renske exploring the scope of his clean vocal abilities on the Saw You Drown EP and Discouraged Ones album in 1998 (all Avantgarde), a period represented by ‘Quiet World’, a delicate and shimmering partner and precursor to the ten minute rarity (though not for those of us who bought – and still own – the 10” split with Primordial on release – ahem!) Death Rock / Goth(ic) classic ‘Scarlet Heavens’, the track that closes out the reverse chronological spiral through days gone.Our second disk then jumps back forwards, and showcases a handful of remixed tracks, where delicacy and understatement ensure they fit the feeling of the overall release, and with the Frank Deafult remix of ‘Day And Then The Shade’ in particular a graceful and intriguing take.To trace their journey from where they are today, back to the moments when they were establishing themselves as a powerful outfit in their own right – and everything in between – through the medium of a series of songs that didn’t make it onto albums is an interesting and effective approach; to note the distinctive sounds and trademarks of each of those distinct respective periods brings a happy, reflective smile.With effort put into the packaging – Mnemosynean is available on double CD and differing triple vinyl formats – this is no thrown-together ‘b-sides and rarities’ filler, receiving the treatment and respect such a representation deserves. See, while Katatonia’s additional songs may, whether by design or consequence I don’t know, tend to reflect the more contemplative side of the band, don’t be fooled, dear reader, into thinking they are any less worthy, realised, dynamic or of any diminished standard. The only slight negative is, these songs are, generally, quite freely available elsewhere. Although not in one collection, and probably not in the collection of those who are not truly devout followers.These songs are not after-thoughts or off-cuts. With perhaps a couple of exceptions only, these songs are as strong and are as fleshed out, produced and developed as their brethren that made it onto the final full-lengths, and that this double album runs so strong, so deep back into memory’s garden is testament to the quality and consistency of a lynchpin band. We may be drinking from the stream of their memories through a collection of artefacts lesser known and lesser celebrated, but isn’t that just apt and typical of a rather special thirty-year old band.
Line Up:
Anders Nyström - Bass, Keyboards (1991-1993), Guitars, Programming, Vocals (backing) (1991-present) - See also: Bloodbath, ex-Diabolical Masquerade, ex-Bewitched, ex-Melancholium
Niklas Sandin - Bass (2010-present) - See also: Lik, ex-Amaran, ex-Chaosys, ex-Life Eclipse, ex-Dark Eden (live), Aoria, ex-Sodomisery, ex-Bloodbath (live), ex-Shadows Past, ex-Lamia Antitheus, ex-Siebenbürgen, ex-Slavegrid
Daniel Moilanen - Drums (2015-present) - See also: Runemagick, ex-Mnemonic, ex-Heavydeath, Den Tunga Döden, ex-Dracena, ex-Lord Belial, ex-Sandalinas, ex-The Project Hate MCMXCIX, ex-Grindnecks, ex-Relevant Few, ex-Notre Dame (live), ex-Engel, ex-Pen Expers
Roger Öjersson - Guitars (2016-present) - See also: Tiamat, ex-Kamchatka
Jonas Renkse - Drums (1991-1998), Vocals (lead), Guitars, Keyboards, Programming (1991-present) - See also: Bloodbath, Wisdom of Crowds, ex-October Tide, ex-Melancholium
Tracklist:
CD1:
01. Vakaren (04:50)
02. Sistere (04:11)
03. Wide Awake in Quietus (04:58)
04. Night Comes Down (04:12)
05. Second (03:34)
06. The Act of Darkening (05:51)
07. Ashen (04:07)
08. Sold Heart (04:34)
09. Displaced (05:17)
10. Dissolving Bonds (03:44)
11. Unfurl (04:50)
12. Code Against the Code (03:28)
CD2:
13. Wait Outside (03:39)
14. Sulfur (06:23)
15. March 4 (03:53)
16. O How I Enjoy the Light (02:44)
17. Help Me Disappear (05:13)
18. Fractured (03:32)
19. No Devotion (04:49)
20. Quiet World (04:38)
21. Scarlet Heavens (10:28)
22. In the White (Urban Dub) (05:26)
23. My Twin (Opium Dub Version) (04:17)
24. Soil's Song (Krister Linder 2012 Remix) (04:42)
25. Day and Then the Shade (Frank Default Remix) (05:29)
26. Idle Blood (Linje 14) (03:22)
27. Hypnone (Frank Default Hypnocadence Mix) (04:41)
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