It’s no secret that David and I love Katatonia. Ask either of us about our feelings on the morose Swedish legends, and we’ll inevitably pontificate ‘til the cows come home about the greatness and general unfuckwithability of Katatonia’s entire back catalog. However, it’s also been established that my humble editor and I don’t always see eye to eye with exactly which eras Katatonia rule the hardest.
Our opinions on the band’s latest record, Night Is The New Day, were similarly divisive. I—being the skeptical and crotchety curmudgeon that I am—was a bit disappointed at first, while Mr. Gehlke peppered almost each and every one of our copious email back-and-forths with something to the effect of, “this album rules, maaaan.” Of course, David was right; Night Is The New Day DOES, in fact, rule….it just took a few listens to sink in, that’s all.
This, in essence, is the beauty of Katatonia. Their art doesn’t reveal all its complex layering with a mere casual listen. No, this band is much more than that. Their music requires time and devotion from the listener, with a promise of life-altering brilliance for those willing to put in the time. Night Is The New Day might just be the darkest Katatonia record to date; a different kind of darkness, and one which seems oceans away from those black metal influenced beginnings of Jhva Elohim Meth and Dance Of December Souls.
So, to celebrate Katatonia Week here at Blistering.com, David and I decided to go back and revisit our love affair with this humble little quintet from Avestra, Sweden. We’ve bitched, argued and complained over our favorite tracks and shining moments from the band’s discography, and plastered the results here on The Interwebs for you fine folks to do your own bitching, arguing and complaining. Because what better way to celebrate a new record by one of our favorite bands, then by nitpicking, right? Right.
Dance of December Souls (1993, No Fashion)
David E. Gehlke: This album has forever been attached to wintertime for this scribe; it just oozes cold, you know? It’s in those Paradise Lost (Gothic era, of course) guitar melodies and Jonas Renkse’s [actually, it was Lord Renkse back then] absolutely downtrodden vocals. There’s no light to be had and even when the band ventures down more optimistic avenues like on "Velvet Thorns (of Drynwhyl),” they are quickly dashed with swaths of darkness that were yet to be founded by anyone else outside of the holy Trinity of British doom (PL, My Dying Bride, Anathema). There's this loose, almost un-rehearsed vibe to Dance Of Decembers Souls as well...it's like [producer/engineer] Dan Swano made them pull back on the reigns and just jam. No Katatonia album has followed suit in this vein and the songs, while long and labored, are intimiate, throttling, and will move you. Tracks to watch: "Without God," "Velvet Thorns (of Drynwhyl)."
MetalGeorge Pacheco: For many years, I held fast to the opinion that Katatonia could never top Dance Of December Souls. For me, this was the benchmark; a blueprint and standard to which all others should be judged. Of course, I’ve softened a bit over the years, but this magnificent album certainly has not. In fact, I dare say that Dance… has aged surprisingly well, containing genius riffs and melodies which some bands are still basing their entire careers on to this day. Of course, the era of corpse-painted Katatonia has now long since passed, but there will always be something special to Anders ‘Blackheim’ Nystrom’s inimitably mournful playing on this record that sets it apart from anything the band has done since. Add to this Lord Renkse’s tortured, shredded vocal performance, and you have a stone-cold, certified classic on your hands. Hell, this might still be my favorite piece of music from The Gents. If you’ve never heard Dance Of December Souls, then it’s high time that you take a listen what “depressive black metal” sounded like in the early 90s. Flawless.Tracks to watch: "Without God,” "Tomb Of Insomnia," “Gateways Of Bereavement.”
Jonas Renkse’s verdict:Hungry teenagers.
Anders Nyström’s verdict:Our oh-so sloppy, yet ambitious debut.
Brave Murder Day (1996, Avantgarde)
MetalGeorge Pacheco: This is where the angles and edges started to blur for the band; an unmastered record which producer Dan Swano still has issues with, yet which has—over time—jump started the careers of a million pretenders to the throne. When this album was originally released, however, people weren’t quite sure what to make of what they were hearing. Renkse—still behind the drum kit, though no longer a “Lord”—was relegated to clean vocals only, with Opeth’s Mikael Akerfeldt stepping in for screaming duty. Blackheim continued to change and challenge the underground’s perception of metal guitar, eliminating the more involved melody-mangling of …December Souls in favor of a severely stripped down approach of layered, 4/4 chords and shoegazing atmosphere. The end result was gangbusters, however, and Brave Murder Day ended up containing a handful of songs which remain classic fan favorites to this day. Trancelike in its simplistic, mournful beauty, Brave Murder Day again proved Katatonia as leaders, not followers.Tracks to watch: "Brave," "Murder,” Rainroom.”
David E. Gehlke:Brave Murder Day is an exercise in monotony, albeit, hypnotizing monotony. Nystrom would admit to this scribe that he could write riffs in the vein of “Brave” and “Murder” all day and still not run out of material and this has now been copied by the likes of Rapture, Noumena, and Slumber, three bands that are worthy in their own right. Still, BMD is solid gold, the result of the re-solidified writing tandem of Renkse and Nystom realizing that less is more, which in turn, brought Katatonia out of their quasi-black metal era and into the thick of the burgeoning Euro metal underground. Renkse’s clean vocals on “Day” were a sign of things to come, but this also signaled the end of the band’s all-out melodic era, as the back-half of “12,” and opening of “Rainroom” are some of Katatonia’s most gripping melodies in their catalog. One will forever wonder what a proper mastering job would do, but that’s all a part of the album’s timeless charm. Tracks to watch: “Murder,” “12.”
Renkse:Harsh times turned into genius. Well, not maybe genius, maybe something unique.
Nyström: If we ever made a "classic," I guess this could be it.
Discouraged Ones (1998, Avantgarde)
MetalGeorge Pacheco: For many, Discouraged Ones ranks as one of Katatonia’s finest efforts. I know our humble editor thinks so, and I can’t say that I blame him. For yours truly, however, this was an album which I never really connected with on a personal level. Of course, songs like “I Break” are certified Katatonia classics, yet I felt the album as a whole was a slight step down from the majesty of Brave Murder Day. While this follow up doesn’t stray too far from the formula of its predecessor—Nystrom’s dynamic guitar playing shines throughout—the biggest change ushered in here on Discouraged Ones is the re-emergence of Jonas Renkse as a scream-less lead singer...which is essentially my problem. To these ears, Renkse’s vocals are not as fully fleshed out yet on this record. Always a fragile singer, Renkse’s Robert Smith-isms do not speak with the confidence displayed on the band’s later works, but instead evoke the image of a man uncomfortable in his position, and unsure of his performance. Discouraged Ones is probably the only moment of Katatonia’s career I could possibly consider a “misstep.” Tracks to watch: “I Break,” “Saw You Down,” “Deadhouse.”
David E. Gehlke: Fucking miserable. That’s Discouraged Ones and yes, George and I have had several debates over the merits of this album, but it’s still one of the most near and dear to my heart. Renkse’s vocals languish over top off a no-so metal riffing and in fact, this might be more stripped-down than the barely-there Brave Murder Day. It works in spades, though, just bare witness to solemn majesty that is “Saw You Drown,” or the mesmeric “Deadhouse” (”Headlights fuck the city” is still one of Renkse’s most poignant lines ever). You can package Brave Murder Day and this one together – they’re like close cousins in their sparse execution and revelatory dark angles. The band has yet to eclipse the atmosphere of this; its production is miles beyond that of Swano’s, a credit to the hollowed halls of Sunlight Studios. Trivia question: Who played bass on Discouraged Ones? Mikael Oretoft. Tracks to watch: “Gone,” “Nerve,” “Cold Ways.”
Renkse:The title says it all. We were really discouraged at the time and didn’t know what do with the band and we did another album and it was a turning point for the band.
Nyström: The landmark album for the "new" sound.
Katatonia Album Breakdown Page One << you are here
