Katatonia has been evolving throughout their career, shifting from extreme metal progenitors to melancholic masters to progressive provocateurs. They have always been interesting for that reason, and the proverbial cocoon finally cracked open with "Sky Void Of Stars". That record was Katatonia emerging as the epitome of what their blend of sounds could be, giving us music that was dark and emotional, yet uplifting and optimistic. I named it my Album Of The Year, and marveled at how a band so far down the road was able to make their greatest work.
Things have changed in the two years since then, with the band's founding partnership dissolving. The track the band is on does not change with that move, but it reinforces the knowledge that Katatonia was not going to stand still, no matter how much I would have liked to hear at least one more record mining that same ore before the next gold rush was discovered.
I was concerned with the first single "Lilac", when listening to it gave me none of the spark the previous album did. The lush melodies and captivating energy was not there, instead replaced by a slower and more insular atmosphere. It was the same components, but with the polish and paint stripped off. "Temporal" was very much the same case, feeling like it was cut from the same cloth, but only after it had sat in the sun and had the color bleached into a new, pale shade. This was the Katatonia of "City Burials", not "Sky Void Of Stars".
Digging deeper into the record, my concerns only grew. "Wind Of No Change" was more of a slow doom lament, which in and of itself isn't a bad thing. However, when the underwhelming chorus of the song culminated in a lyric calling to "hail Satan", it felt out-of-place for the emotional territory I expect Katatonia to explore. There is a fine line between being cheesy and campy in a way that is fun, and doing so in a way that makes the edges of your nose cringe. This is the latter, and if anything made me appreciate Scorpions even more for making an anthem complete with whistling into a classic. "Wind Of Change" is beyond capable of Katatonia's grasp here.
My disappointment continues throughout the record, as the tempos stay so slow that the momentum is like pushing a Nerf ball across Velcro. "Sky Void Of Stars" worked so well because Katatonia was subverting the melancholy of their natural sound with the swelling melody of happier music. It was gorgeous, infectious, and the most engaging they had ever been. This record, though, pulls back on the reigns, trudging through ten tracks that suck the life from the experience. Too often, the verses resort to bass and drum 'rhythms', but the notes are so sparse Jonas Renske is left to croon over beds of near silence. As unique and evocative as his voice is, that is not the right setting for it.
In evolutionary terms, everything about this album, including its overwrought title, feels like a recessive allele that had been buried in the gene pool. Through happenstance it has emerged, and perhaps like folklore creates stories about those afflicted with the resulting traits, we will one day try to reason how Katatonia veered so far from where they had just been.
Even though "The Fall Of Hearts" faded in my esteem, I still hear what it was trying to do. "City Burials" took years to unravel its approach, but I came to appreciate that record as a lovely transition. "Sky Void Of Stars" was an immediate gem. This record... this one I'm having trouble seeing the silver lining in. It doesn't do any of the things I like about Katatonia as well as they have been done before.
I figured it anything could reach me as I have been stuck in my own darkness for much of this year, it would be Katatonia. I was wrong, and that might be the most disappointing thing I have to say all year.
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