Style: Depressive/atmospheric rock
Primary Emotions/Themes: The album where Katatonia finally figured out what they wanted to do
Thoughts: "How could this go... so very wrong... that I would depend on darkness... would anyone follow me further down?
How could this go... so very far... that I need someone to say... what is wrong... not with the world... but me...?"
I got into Katatonia with Brave Murder Day. I was enamored with their hypnotic riffing and depressive atmosphere. I had not heard anything quite like it before, and the album had such a definitive style that I can immediately point out when another band takes influence from it.
It's well documented the musical shift that the band had after that album... and to say that I was not a fan would be a bit of an understatement. I absolutely despised Discouraged Ones when it released. Years later I was able to get into the album but it took decades for me to get past my initial disgust. One of my main gripes with the album wasn't that the band had shifted to clean singing... it was that the band seemed lost. They had such a defined style just a few years before and now they just seemed like a ship without a sail.
Tonight's Decision was a bit better but still a bit of an experimental mess... and then came this album. Last Fair Deal Gone Down was the album that I was hoping that Katatonia would make. They finally were able to define a solid sound throughout the album... and man was it a doozy.
The band finally tapped into the mournful tone that they had been flirting with since Discouraged Ones. The riffs are like a blanked of cold rain enveloping me completely and making me a wet mess. The drums finally have some dynamics to them, it's not just the snare, kick repeating pattern that the band has had the past few albums. Jonas' vocals have that fragile edge that sound like they are going to break at any moment.
It's so solid that there is not a moment in the first eight tracks that I would change. It's only towards the end of the album where the band takes a few minor missteps. Passing Bird sounds a bit out of place compared to the devastating The Future of Speech that came right before it.
Sweet Nurse again sounds a little out of place compared to the first eight tracks... almost like it's going back to the insecurities of Tonight's Decision. The band just had to experiment a little bit to get it out of their system.
Don't Tell a Soul is a return to quality as it retains the riffing style of Teargas and Tonight's Music, but it's not a great closing track. It's a minor disappointment to an otherwise amazing album.
Despite the challenges of the last three tracks, the album is a definitive statement for the band and their style. This would end up becoming my reference album for the band's future records, and contains one of my favorite songs by the band regardless of period. Essential listening.
"I have no lies or truth in what I say, there is no meaning. The words are numb and I am so afraid, there is no meaning."
No comments:
Post a Comment