Review Summary: Katatonia's latest platter of doom and gloom is as convincing as it ever is. They may prefer evolution over revolution, but there's no denying it works.
Ah, Katatonia. Over the years they have started to become synonymous with doomy depressive metal. After starting off as some form of doom/death metal, they slowly turned towards the style they would pioneer today, a somewhat softer sonic (yet still quite metal) palette, enlaced with slow melodic lead guitars, crushing riffs, and Renske's unmistakable deathly croon. They occupy their own little niche of atmospheric doom rock/metal, and they have done it well in the past.
Good news for the Katatonia fans, this is, then. Katatonia have opted not to stray one bit from their musical course. That is, to say, on this album, the band is as depressing, suicidal, and pessimistic as they have ever been. However, this isn't just a rehash of the (admittedly awesome) Viva Emptiness, either. The prime differences between the former albums and this one is that the riffs are somewhat more brought to the forefront, omitting a couple of the last album's somewhat more ominous lead guitars. Not that that is a bad thing, anyway. Consternation, probably the heaviest song on offer, is one big riff-fest, as Nystrom and Norrman trade off hammering riffs, Renske comes in over it with one of his trademark haunting choruses.
Renske is still on top form on this album. Without Renske, who would like, for example, the gorgeous lead single "My Twin"? Renske's melodical yet oh-so-monotonous gloomy voice rips through the heart of the listener as he manages to squeeze out trauma-inducing lines of angst, fear, and paranoia. Leaders sees him in top form as well, and backed up by his comrades on guitar, it is indead a good leading song for the album, as the chorus and especially the heartbreaking ending line of "but you don't have it in you, do you?" leave one searching for the nearest knife to cut.
Then there is the rhythm section, who provide a colourless (I wanted to say colourful, guys, but come on, it doesn't fit this band) backdrop to all the lead melodies going on. Especially drummer Daniel Liljekvist is on fire: his drum fills are amazing and go together so well with the riffs: it's like every power chord that is churned out is cemented by some form of drum beat, giving every hammer of a guitar an immediate impact to break your spine. When Liljekvist isn't hammering along with the riffs, he does some really impressive patterns and fills that lead me to asking the question why he hasn't been in the band any longer: he is yet another asset for Katatonia (like they didn't have enough.)
Other standouts on this album are the ten ton hammer of "July", with another one of those memorable choruses, the restrained yet beautiful In the White, and Deliberation, which I can sing along now after a couple of listens. The atmosphere continues throughout the album, and somehow it never gets overbearing or too oppressive: every song takes another twist in terms of songwriting (Katatonia are ***ing around with verse-chorus structures a lot on this album), or musical elements (Renske does the occasional background growl.)
The only thing that could deter one from listening to this is that there is no release from the endless pessimism, darkness and bleak apocalypse this record has on offer. There is no escape from your personal demons, there is no running away. If you can't take that for these Swedes, the glass will always be half empty, don't listen to is. But if you are one of those people that revels in gloom, doom, dreariness and a bleak outlook on life, this should be your soundtrack. For everyone else, this is a highly recommended disc that almost anyone with a conventional interest in metal should own. Now for the next album...
