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Katatonia - Viva Emptiness: Anti-Utopian MMXIII Edition



8.7 | 138 votes |
Release date: 28 October 2013
Style: Alternative rock

Owners:

109 have it
25 want it


01. Ghost Of The Sun
02. Sleeper
03. Criminals
04. A Premonition
05. Will I Arrive
06. Burn The Remembrance
07. Wealth
08. One Year From Now
09. Walking By A Wire
10. Complicity
11. Evidence
12. Omerta
13. Wait Outside
14. Inside The City Of Glass

Top 20 albums of 2013: 1

Additional info
Reworked original Viva Emptiness with newly recorded keyboards, b-side "Wait Outside", vocals on "Inside The City of Glass" which previously were not included and new artwork by Travis Smith.

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Comments

Comments: 22   [ 1 ignored ]   Visited by: 1194 users
08.11.2013 - 15:25
Pimeässä
Pimeässä
Ooooppsssss
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08.11.2013 - 18:13
Rating: 7
SyntheticBreed

Its alright. nothing giant over the original besides a couple of songs. One Year From Now, Criminals, Wealth, A Premonition, and Burn are definitely better,.
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08.11.2013 - 18:15
!J.O.O.E.!
Account deleted
Heard Wait Outside the other day. I can totally see why it was kept off this record to begin with. Not a good song.

Also not happy that Inside The City Of Glass has vocals on it now. It was a brilliant finish to the record and totally didn't need vocals. This is going to be a wreck of a remaster.
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08.11.2013 - 18:39
Opethian

Cash Grab, plain and simple
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08.11.2013 - 22:55
INÆRIS

They re-did Dead End Kings, now Viva Emptiness, next thing you know, they're going to make a jazz flute version of Discouraged Ones...
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Still Life, Still Death
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11.11.2013 - 01:56
Rating: 9
Argônio

It's good to listen 'Wait Outside' remastered, but it doesn't fit the album. Breaks something! Interrupt the flow of the album.
'Inside The City of Glass' suprised me, I never thought that vocals can be a big difference in this song (but I have to admit that the music is overshadowing the vocals at some parts).
'Will Arrive' lost something than the original, that's my guess.
Viva emptiness, it was how I first met Katatonia. I won't say that this album is better than the original, but is good hear to this new "fresh" sound.
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13.11.2013 - 00:27
Therapy?

Hmmm... there are a lot of albums (not necessarily from Katatonia but in general) that I think might benefit from having a reworked version. But this is definitely not one of them. For some reason this album really doesn't sound "authentic", if you get what I mean. Especially in my favourite song "criminals", because the second vocals in the refrain have been put more towards the foreground. The result is that these vocals now sound a bit off key... it's weird. And a bit of a shame, too. I really wanted to like it.

The vocals in "Inside The City Of Glass" are a welcome addition, though. Superb song.

Nope, I much rather have them make new material. Or make an album that contains all the awesome b-sides like "unfurl" and "breaking bonds" and the likes.
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13.11.2013 - 08:56
Rating: 8
CobiWan1993
Secundum Filium
I'm probably not gonna buy this one (though some of the songs on here sound better than their original counterparts, partly because of the added keyboards, which sound lovely). Im gonna stick to my original copy since I think it sounds perfectly fine (I know the band complained about the initial drum sound, but again, I think the original sounds great the way it is) and the band members themselves actually signed my booklet (along with my Dead End Kings one) when I went to a meet-and-greet to see them last May, so now it's basically a prized possession of mine. I actually think "Inside The City of Glass" sounds a lot more "complete" with lyrics since when I first listened to the original, even though I loved it, it sort of seemed like something was missing and could go with some singing. Jonas' vocals have obviously aged since the original recordings so he sounds different compared to the rest of the songs on this remaster, but I can't complain too much there, since he's technically a better singer ten years later anyway. I'll still give it a 9, since it's still the same awesome music, but I'm not planning on rating it higher than the original (which I give a 10). It's a very solid remaster, even if a bit unnecessary.
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Ordinary men hate solitude. But the Master makes use of it, embracing his aloneness, realizing he is one with the whole universe (Lao Tzu).
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23.11.2013 - 13:23
Rating: 9
IronArkadius666

Is that really the title?
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23.11.2013 - 13:54
!J.O.O.E.!
Account deleted
Written by Therapy? on 13.11.2013 at 00:27

Hmmm... there are a lot of albums (not necessarily from Katatonia but in general) that I think might benefit from having a reworked version. But this is definitely not one of them. For some reason this album really doesn't sound "authentic", if you get what I mean. Especially in my favourite song "criminals", because the second vocals in the refrain have been put more towards the foreground. The result is that these vocals now sound a bit off key... it's weird. And a bit of a shame, too. I really wanted to like it.

The vocals in "Inside The City Of Glass" are a welcome addition, though. Superb song.

Nope, I much rather have them make new material. Or make an album that contains all the awesome b-sides like "unfurl" and "breaking bonds" and the likes.

2 seconds into Criminals and I knew I wasn't going to like this. Those horrible floating keyboards at the start just unbalance the whole thing. The original version of Viva Emptiness had a rough, raw simplicity to it. This version has been taken apart, every part polished, then a 100 new unnecessary elements slotted in to all the spaces that's been left from that over-polishing.

And yes, for all the clarity in the music the album supposedly now has, the vocals have been pushed right back and lost all of its effectiveness.

It's like seeing an old friend you used to get on really well with many years later, and finding that they're in a high powered job and have 7 kids. You realise pretty soon that you have nothing in common with them anymore.
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24.11.2013 - 00:08
Rating: 4
Evil Chip

Adding more elements into the mix was a big mistake. They must really think that their new style is superior to their previous ones. They almost removed all the album aesthetic singularity to add these dull new elements from their new style.
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25.11.2013 - 22:04
Rating: 8
Jeeers

I have always wondered how "Inside The City Of Glass" would sound with vocals. My wish has been granted! And I must admit - it sounds awesome! On the other hand it's also awesome without vocals.
Speaking about other songs on this remaster - term "unbalanced" came to my mind very often. I think remastering such a classic album in such a drastic way is uneccessary. I could not find any track which I could say is improved over older version. Yes, there are some additions and improvements (some good keyboard sound), but also it seems with the other hand they steal something of value out of every song. Even "Wait Outside" is better in the older version.
But I must listen more carefully to pass my FINAL JUDGEMENT!
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10.12.2013 - 08:58
ironlord

I really wanted a new album, but now when they rerecorded two albums in a row, I think I don't want a new album because I fear, that next time there will be just flutes, keyboards and vocals, don't get me wrong I love dead end kings, but I think that sharp rhythmic guitars make the atmosphere of their older songs much stronger than couple of ambient sounds and keyboards
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17.12.2013 - 18:48
Slayer666

Sorry, Katatonia, slapping some make-up on this album won't change its boring writing.
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20.03.2014 - 23:17
Rating: 9
IronArkadius666

My God, what have they done to One Year From Now?!

Rest of it is decent though, I especially like A Premonition and Complicity
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24.10.2015 - 15:49
Jurgen33

It shouldn't be listed here in discography, it's just reissue of Viva Emptness, not another album.
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24.10.2015 - 15:55
!J.O.O.E.!
Account deleted
Written by Jurgen33 on 24.10.2015 at 15:49

It shouldn't be listed here in discography, it's just reissue of Viva Emptness, not another album.

Have you listened to it? It sounds totally different to the original. It's a "reworked" version, not a re-issue.

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24.10.2015 - 18:02
Jurgen33

Written by Guest on 24.10.2015 at 15:55

Written by Jurgen33 on 24.10.2015 at 15:49

It shouldn't be listed here in discography, it's just reissue of Viva Emptness, not another album.

Have you listened to it? It sounds totally different to the original. It's a "reworked" version, not a re-issue.




I heard One Year From Now and one other song, I don't remember. Yeah, I know, they added some synthesizers but it isn't other album so it shouldn't be listed here.
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24.10.2015 - 18:04
!J.O.O.E.!
Account deleted
Written by Jurgen33 on 24.10.2015 at 18:02

I heard One Year From Now and one other song, I don't remember. Yeah, I know, they added some synthesizers but it isn't other album so it shouldn't be listed here.

That's not the rule of MS. Reissues are to be omitted, but reworkings and rerecordings are allowed because it's essentially a different version of the original album, which is exactly what this is.
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03.09.2016 - 19:33
!J.O.O.E.!
Account deleted
Quote:
Top 20 albums of 2013: 1


Lol. But actually
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02.11.2021 - 19:14
Jared Archon

This should not exist.
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24.12.2021 - 04:11
Rating: 8
Ivy Patterns

The vocals added to "Inside the City of Glass" were a very nice touch
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