Review Summary: Greet and be captivated by the eternal night.
Few bands inspire reflection quite like Katatonia. Through their many blends of darkly crafted music, the Swedish outfit have made it their ongoing mission to explore every expanse of available shade, often through personal accounts.
The Great Cold Distance, for example, achieved a sense of balance and confirmation by weaving melancholy and angst together in an utterly taut soundscape. Indulgent tendencies were all but stripped away, creating an album that was less of a raw rendition than it was a collected statement; Katatonia were far from the same band they were in the 90’s, something they’d only continue to verify with each subsequent release. The first of these, aptly titled
Night is the New Day, showcased Katatonia in their finest form yet.
Each Katatonia album has its own defining characteristics;
Brave Murder Day achieved harmony through repetition;
Last Fair Deal Gone Down felt like drowning in a swamp at night;
The Great Cold Distance was an exercise in tension; you get the idea. With
Night is the New Day, we’re treated to the deadly sounds of an album overflowing with atmosphere. What makes this a distinguishing factor is the album’s unyielding commitment to entrance us, an achievement made possible by the choice to keep things simple.
The Great Cold Distance rightfully showed Katatonia in an unassuming light, thanks in no small part to its consistent supply of basic song structures. In many ways,
Night is the New Day is even simpler. The entire band feel less intense than before, as if their goal was to play less while saying more with each note. By contrast, Jonas Renkse no longer feels so distant; he croons and sustains his notes several times on any given track, such as the ominous chorus on “Nephilim,” curiously followed by a quiet chant of noir-like la la la’s. Amidst these shifts is the push of a relatively new element: electronics. Keyboards have certainly had a role in other Katatonia albums, but never quite to the extent found here. Moments such as the chiming piano notes on “New Night” and the sampled use of violins on “Inheritance” are among the album’s many defining moments. Another clear example, “The Promise of Deceit,” opens with a distorted wailing, emulating the words Renkse sings to us:
Evening
Coming through the crowd
I hold my head high
Straining
Out here dissonance surrounds
I hold my head high
I see the wings behind your back
From the above lyrics we can plainly see that Katatonia were still depicting somber struggles, which effortlessly translates into the music. As ear-tingling as the above moment is, the album rarely (if ever) descends into a state of extravagance. In reality, heavy-hitters “The Longest Year” and “Day and the Shade” stand out as the more immediately memorable moments, primarily thanks to a strong use of power chords. Yet these tracks act like a catalyst and climax, respectively, with the rest of the album unfolding like waves, rising and receding in response. “Idle Blood” is a perfect example of the latter, serving as one of three included ballads. It features a beautiful and strangely upbeat acoustic melody, which only makes Renkse’s voice feel all the more soothing. The other two ballads (“Inheritance” and “Departer”) are even more piercing due to their tragic natures, with “Departer” taking advantage of Krister Linder as a guest singer.
Linder’s involvement, however brief, is all the more evidence to support
Night is the New Day’s electronic influences, but it’s hardly to the album’s detriment. Quite the opposite, actually. Anders Nystrom previously commented that the band’s “withdrawn and shy aura actually does more justice to the concept of our songs than going wild,” which is thankfully reassured with every track. Where
The Great Cold Distance found a way to balance fire and ice at their sharpest points,
Night is the New Day delicately calms the two and weaves them in seamless harmony. The choice to lean away from sounding heavy works to the band’s favor here, since they were able to more effectively implement the aforementioned atmospheric elements--and then some.
At the risk of sounding hollow and vacuous, Katatonia ventured into transcendent territory with
Night is the New Day. It was at this point that they began to fully realize their untapped potential which, unsurprisingly, could be boiled down to a collection of dualities. They could be involved without sounding fervent, emotional without being sentimental, and they could mature while still showing passion.
Night is the New Day is, to borrow one of their song titles, a promise in deceit. It sounds simple yet feels profound; it snares your mind and senses without making you feel like a helpless hostage, an arguably dangerous combination. At the end of the day, this is Katatonia’s definitive hour, an hour that makes the impending night something to embrace.
