Katatonia - City Burials

Anyone comparing this to Brave Murder Day is (most likely willfully) ignorant of the band's progression.

Written by angel. on 24.05.2020 at 23:31

Oh yeah I should have compared it to mid 90 Britpops.

At least stylistically you would be in closer territory. BMD is fantastic for what it is but expecting another one of those from Katatonia is like expecting Anathema to return to their doom roots. It's best to just ignore them now if you aren't into their sound.

Written by angel. on 24.05.2020 at 23:31

Oh yeah I should have compared it to mid 90 Britpops.

The Winter of our Passing is the closest.

Written by Troy Killjoy on 25.05.2020 at 00:33

Written by angel. on 24.05.2020 at 23:31

Oh yeah I should have compared it to mid 90 Britpops.

At least stylistically you would be in closer territory. BMD is fantastic for what it is but expecting another one of those from Katatonia is like expecting Anathema to return to their doom roots. It's best to just ignore them now if you aren't into their sound.

I am absolutely with you Troy as to expectations for the next Katatonia album.
Yet, reading Gothic Doom Metal in the style labels I wouldnt expect too much proximity to 90s Brit Pop either I have to admit.

Absolutely there is no Gothic Doom song here.

Yeah, I wouldn't mind changing the Gothic Doom tag

Written by No False Steele on 25.05.2020 at 18:22

Written by angel. on 25.05.2020 at 12:47

They carry the the name of band Katatonia, which became Katatonia because of those albums in the style of gothic doom in their early career but now they release albums under the same name but with completely different style. It's not Katatonia anymore but they use the name Katatonia still, again the same as Anathema, for me it's not a development or progress, it's change of direction, and a complete new project. So change the name of Katatonia, I expect Katatonia brings what its name promising.

I don't think we (anyone) outside the band should set ourselves as authorities to say what the band should or should not be called even if the original sound isn't there anymore. Many bands change: Therion, Samael, Moonspell etc. Good luck on convincing them all to change their name because they don't operate in the genre where they started Btw, I think Anathema still sounds like Anathema albeit their newest albums haven't been as good as the earlier ones.

I dont think Angel N. wants an authority that tells bands when to change their name.
I understand she advices Katatonia to proceed with their output in the name of an alternative project with the possible result that there are fewer people out there that have "distorted" expectations with respect to their output as they will always think of the bands' older days when they read the same old name.

I think it is a trade off:
On the one hand, you reach more people with the old popular band name.
On the other hand, some of the people you reach will be disappointed for the above mentioned reason.
So: What do you want? A high rating or many votes?

It is very unlikely that Katatonia will change their name this late in their career, so let's get back to topic.

That said, the band's present sound has nothing to do with either gothic doom or brit pop.

Written by angel. on 26.05.2020 at 09:05

That's a polite shut up!

What's the point of forums? isn't it for talking? then put a sign on every forum: JUST APPROVE WHAT I LIKE NOT WHAT YOU THINK!

You can take it as you wish but no, it is not. It is a request because this is a thread for the latest Katatonia album and the discussion has now taken the direction of how Katatonia should change their name 20+ years after having changed their sound and who has the authority to say or do that. The point of forums is for talking of course, but people that visit this thread and want to read comments on City Burials should not have to wade through a whole discussion on why having the same name while making different music is right or wrong. There is already a thread you can discuss all this and everything else related to Katatonia.

It's not about what I like, staying on-topic is one of the rules of posting. And you don't have to shout at me by using caps, I can hear you. Refraining from using caps lock is also in the rules of posting I just mentioned.

Since you decided to edit your original post twice after I commented, let me reply to your additions.

Written by angel. on 26.05.2020 at 09:05

And now that's what's called "Authority"!

It's not called 'authority', it's called 'moderating'. There was nothing authoritative in my tone and I certainly did not intend to come across as an 'authority' figure.

Written by angel. on 26.05.2020 at 09:05

I'm out! Enjoy your majestic Katatonia , aka, alternative rock gothic doom metal. WHATEVAAAH!

You were right about that, so we have now removed the 'gothic doom metal' tag. And for what it's worth, I don't really enjoy this version of Katatonia either so we agree on that too.

Is Katatonia post-NITND like this album, in general? I already sort of lost interest with TGCD (for me the top three are Viva Emptiness, Dance of December Souls and Discouraged Ones) but stuck around for NITND, which was OK but still too polished and safe. But this seems like a step in yet another direction, and not a very interesting one. It's very meh.

(In my head, I group DoDS alone, BMD, DO and TD together, LFDGD and Viva Emptiness together, and TGCD and NITND as a sort of polished and tamed outgrowth of that last group.)

Written by IronAngel on 26.05.2020 at 12:57

Is Katatonia post-NITND like this album, in general? I already sort of lost interest with TGCD (for me the top three are Viva Emptiness, Dance of December Souls and Discouraged Ones) but stuck around for NITND, which was OK but still too polished and safe. But this seems like a step in yet another direction, and not a very interesting one. It's very meh.

(In my head, I group DoDS alone, BMD, DO and TD together, LFDGD and Viva Emptiness together, and TGCD and NITND as a sort of polished and tamed outgrowth of that last group.)

They got to a sweet spot in The Fall of Hearts, I highly recommend checking it out as it has both the Gothic Rock sweetness and the modern Prog edge they aspired to get too since NitND.

Written by InnerSelf on 28.05.2020 at 02:03

They got to a sweet spot in The Fall of Hearts, I highly recommend checking it out as it has both the Gothic Rock sweetness and the modern Prog edge they aspired to get too since NitND.

Cheers. Doesn't sound as bland on first listen, at least! Still has the same issue that I think started with TGCD: it's so well-produced, so cleanly sung and overall nice that it turns me off. I don't mind glossy pop or immaculate symphonic prog, or whatever, but for a band that relies so much on "atmosphere" I think it's doing them no service. I also dislike modern Porcupine Tree and Opeth for similar reasons. There's something detached and professional about it, hard to say what it is.

When I think of Discouraged Ones, I think of "smudgy and melancholy"; when I think of Viva Emtpiness, I think of "bitter and dirty"; when I think of these recent albums, I'm kinda drawing a blank about what their character is. (Though to be fair, it's also a matter of personal history, having found Katatonia with VE hot out of the press.)

At first I was furious about this album. Really hated "Lacquer", afraid that the band will be led in a path that many bands of this kind has followed and I absolutely disgust. Although, after some spins I found some interesting tracks: "Heart Set To Divide", "The Winter Of Our Passing", "Neon Epitaph" and "Fighters". The album really misses melodies. I really hope they will keep distance from the rest of the album in next releases, as at least for me, Katatonia is a band that kept quality over the years and just in the two previous albums it seems like falling.

Katatonia's best stuff lately has been on the last two The Ocean albums...

First listen 5/10, second listen 7/10, third listen 8/10... fuck you me from the past, this is a good album

evolution....just accept it ...and try to grow up....Freaking amazing!!!

I've only ever listened to Katatonia's early works but was recommended this album so I tried it out. I knew it would be very different from the old stuff so I made no comparisons and approached it as its own thing.

Renkse has a wonderful voice and his singing is great with lots of layers and dynamics. Some of the overall writing and guitar parts are really good and there is a well developed atmosphere but this album is simply too much of the same thing. There isn't nearly enough variety to prevent it all from blending together pretty early on. I enjoy it but always end up checking how much longer I have to sit through it after the fifth or sixth song because it's just not giving me anything new. I honestly couldn't tell you much about anything after that even though I've listened to it all several times. Some assortment of half of these songs would have made a good EP.