Stockholm’s masters of melancholy, Katatonia, have outdone themselves once again with yet another beautiful, meticulously written masterpiece titled ‘City Burials’.
With a career spanning close to 30 years, Katatonia have evolved throughout the decades transforming their sound from their blackened death/doom roots in the 1990s, to becoming modern day masters of their craft in the realm of dark, atmospheric progressive metal. Following their return from an unexpected year long hiatus for the first time in their career, Katatonia have proven with City Burials that they are not afraid to continue evolving and experimenting with their music whilst still staying true to their signature sound. Produced by vocalist Jonas Renkse and guitarist Anders Nyström, City Burials is proof of the duo’s creative bond that is stronger than ever as they continue to craft beautiful melodies and intricate arrangements.
The first track, Heart Set to Divide sets a sombre and emotional tone to the album, with nothing but the haunting, yet beautiful sound of the voice of Renkse as he sings the words “In times of surrender, I am shedding my scars”. From this point forward, it is clear that this album is going to be an emotional journey through that of love, loss, life and ruin. There is no denying that this track picks up after the first two verses, exploding with an off-beat progressive riff with Anders Nyström and Roger Öjersson on guitars, Niklas Sandin on bass and Daniel Moilanen on drums. It’s important to note that Katatonia also chose to have the addition of Frank Default on City Burials after his masterful work on Night is the New Day (2009), utilising his talents in playing the synthesizer, piano and percussion instruments, which is extremely prominent throughout the album.
The two singles, Lacquer and Behind the Blood, are two leading examples of how Katatonia have pushed the boundaries for this album in regards to their overall sound and song structures. Renkse handled the majority of the song-writing duties for City Burials, and these two songs showcase how far he has progressed as an artist from both a vocal performance and song-writing perspective. At first, Behind the Blood was a track that I was not particularly fond of upon the first listen. It is definitely something out of left field for Katatonia, featuring crushing 1980s heavy metal inspired guitar riffs and its slightly upbeat tempo – something the band has never particularly explored in previous times. However, after a few listens, this song has me hooked and I absolutely love the direction the song has taken, as they pay homage to their heavy metal roots and influences.
The Winter of Our Passing is a standout track with its electronic rock vibe, simplistic yet groovy drum beats and memorable guitar hooks. This track proves that no matter how they choose to develop and modernise their sound, whether that be taking an unexpected musical turn, it’s always going to end up sounding like Katatonia… And the fans will love them for that. This band has a tendency to pave the way for collaborations with guest vocalists on their albums, with the addition of the beautiful voice of Anni Bernhard of Stockholm rockers Full Of Keys on the stunning track, Vanishers. Her beautiful voice and that of Renkse compliment each others perfectly, as they sing in harmony whilst Bernhard takes the lead in singing the haunting, yet powerful chorus. Whilst on the topic of powerful choruses, I personally think that Flicker has one of the most memorable and uplifting choruses on the record, not to mention the careful layering of instrumentation and intricate guitar work.
Katatonia can simply not be tied down to a single genre, and City Burials is a fine example of why that is the case. This album is the result of not only a culmination of Katatonia’s previous works, but is a testament to the band’s desire to continuously push themselves to evolve and modernise their sound that can only be described as progressive, dark and atmospheric with elements of electronic rock. City Burials is a powerful, emotional and moving album that takes the listener on a musical journey. This is an album that must be listened to in full, multiple times, in order to experience all of its emotional highs and lows, from beginning to end – and I have no doubt that this record will soon become a new favourite amongst their avid fanbase.
9/10
TRACKLIST
Heart Set To Divide
Behind The Blood
Lacquer
Rein
The Winter Of Our Passing
Vanishers
City Glaciers
Flicker
Lachesis
Neon Epitaph
Untrodden
Bonus Tracks available on various formats
Closing Of The Sky
Fighters
Pre-orders available
https://katatoniaband.lnk.to/cityburials
www.nervegas.com.au/katatonia
