Album Review: Katatonia - City Burials

No one does depression like Katatonia does. For decades, they have been the soundtrack to the darkness, with an ethereal sound that is unmistakably theirs, and pitch-perfect for self-reflection. There have been others who have tried, but none match Katatonia's ability to make a creeping shadow sound like an old friend. They were never better than on their previous album, "The Fall Of Hearts", an epic statement of bleak songwriting and beautiful destruction. It took me a bit of time to find the right mood for it, but when I did, that record was revealed as a masterpiece of tonality.

Which is why it was so hard to hear the first single from this record, "Lacquer". Gone was everything Katatonia has been, replaced with an electronic sound that was hollow, plastic, and gave Jonas Renske nothing to pull from as he sang a weak, flaccid, and forgettable melody. It was, simply put, the worst Katatonia song I can ever remember hearing. It was also an omen for the rest of "City Burials".

This time out, the band's writing is more concise, and more textural. The guitars pull back, letting rhythms and soundscapes take much of the lead. It's a different backdrop for Renske's voice, and one that doesn't work well at all. The beauty of Katatonia is how his voice plays against the cold guitar tones. With less on one side of the scale, the balance is thrown off. In trying to do something new, Katatonia has diminished one of the things that makes them who they are.

I hear more 80s influences in "The Winter Of Our Passing", which is weird, but does make sense. A lot of synth-heavy 80s music was rather cold and robotic, and that part translates to Katatonia's personality. If they were searching for something new to explore, that sound is one that could work. Despite being only three minutes long, or perhaps because of it, there's a sense of urgency that we don't hear from them anywhere else. That makes it quite possibly the best song on the album.

Unfortunately, there is a fair bit of slower material, but with the approach the band has taken this time out, there isn't enough power in the music to make those moments shine. With the guitars pulling back, the ominous ringing chords aren't there to give the sense of foreboding needed. Instead, the slower songs plod along with lackadaisical rhythms made all the more obvious. Katatonia has never been an energetic band, but they also haven't always sounded this lifeless. The gap between "The Winter Of Our Passing", "City Glaciers", "Flicker" and the rest of the album is immense. Renske's melodies and layered vocals on those tracks are stirring, evocative, and glorious. On the other tracks, the beauty Katatonia has always pulled from the darkness is absent.

That leaves us with a mixed bag of an album. Katatonia wanted to do something new, and they have, but not all of it works. There are three fantastic tracks that show some new tricks in their repertoire, but there are more that don't have the songwriting to tie it all together. Getting off to such a slow start, and lacking some of their traditional guitar melodies, it's a record with less emotional power as usual. There's enough to make it worth hearing, but it's a far cry from "The Fall Of Hearts".