Written by Nefarious on 21.09.2012 at 11:02

Jonas' vocals are getting better & better, but unfortunately their music is not.

Actually I think I'm one of the few people who are really split on this album and oddly enough in a way an inverted (not necessarily opposite) reason to this. I think DEK is a departure from the sound of NITND and TGCD, but is oddly both a distancing from their pre-Viva Emptiness sound aesthetically but emotionally a return to this old sound (perhaps some symbolism could be found in the cover arts of Brave Murder Day's and DEK's Crow Boned cover). However as intricate as the song writing is (because I refuse to believe that this is just synth noodling) and actually a step in an interesting direction, I feel they are also held back by the ghost of certain band members talent and prominence in the band. I think this is perhaps Jonas' best vocal performance in terms of vocal ability but I feel it doesn't really fit into the overall sound of the album. His voice is way to loudly recorded and is placed way too high of priority in production over the actual instrumentation to really have it fit, and this becomes especially distracting when they double up his voice, clearly an acknowledgement of his vox but at the same time is like tossing a grilled porterhouse steak on top of some fine angel hair alfredo. I'm not even sure of Jonas' voice works in this soundscape anymore, as even making him more quiet to blend into the overal music would really fit, as I almost feel a completely different singing style would work even better.

Just saw them live with Hevy Devy a few nights ago. They were sooo fucking boring. I dont see why they r so popular.

Written by Crème fraiche on 23.09.2012 at 11:35

Just saw them live with Hevy Devy a few nights ago. They were sooo fucking boring. I dont see why they r so popular.

They're pretty much a studio band according to quite a large crowd. Many agree that they suck live.

Written by Crème fraiche on 23.09.2012 at 11:35

Just saw them live with Hevy Devy a few nights ago. They were sooo fucking boring. I dont see why they r so popular.

Katatonia is one of the most boring bands I have ever seen live. I have seen them about seven times now over the past ten years and every time they were boring as could be.. I'd much rather put on their albums at home (even their last boring three which btw are totally riveting compared to the band live) then going to see them live again.

http://terrarelicta.com/index.php/reviews/all-reviews/389-katatonia-dead-end-kings-cd-2012
Check my review...

Lol, glad people some people agree with me XD

This is a really solid effort by Katatonia. Definitely one of their better albums of this century and better than Night Is The New Day. There is no groundbreaking evolution here - Katatonia continues their shift towards less heavy music. It's not metal anymore, at least not the whole time, but there is still no better source for melancholic rock than Katatonia. They've proven that, and this album is no exception. I like it.

The worst by far from them.

Racing Heart is so an amazing song, how possible is nobody talking about this music?

Anyband can make heavy music, but just a few bands can reach the success to make you feel the real emotion and melancholy. Katatonia proves that they're one of this amazing bands with this album.I accept that it's not a strong album like the previous ones but this is the point what they wanted to come.

Dead End Kings contains some of best katatonia songs since LFDGN. Come on guys, it deserves much more.

How it's possible not to love this album which waits for us with Hypnone,The Racing Heart,Ambitions, Lethean.

Don't get me wrong, this album has some good songs on it, but for the most part, I must say I'm highly disappointed. It's average at best. I mean, to me there's too many boring parts in this release....it doesn't really have that "wow factor" that other Katatonia records have. Not that great....

Written by Slayer666 on 19.09.2012 at 14:08

Ok, after a few weeks of listening to this, I've finally figured out how I feel about it.

First of, why do I absolutely love NITND and hate(d) this one when they're almost identical style-wise? The choruses. Here, for the majority of tracks, they're incredibly weak and ineffective which seriously kills the overall impression. NITND had awesome choruses that truly felt like an appropriate climax to each respective track. No such luck here, the build-ups are too long, too forced and the finish just isn't worth it.

Not always, though. "First Prayer" and "The Racing Heart" are two fantastic tracks and that's how the rest of the album should have sounded like (if that were the case, this would have been Katatonia's finest since BMD). A lot of other tracks also have some serious potential ("Buildings", "Dead Letters", "Lethean" too name a few) but manage to fuck it up with extremely bland and unconvincing choruses.

So, yeah. It is better than I had previously thought, so I'm bumping my 5 to 6, and there's a possibility of that going up to 7, but I wouldn't count on it. I'll be giving it some more time, maybe some other tracks will also click.

Hey I'm glad you expounded on your score. Much appreciated. Its good to read another perspective.

I saw them live and I do think that Buildings and Dead Letters are a lot better than you are giving them credit for.

For me, this is a strong release where as NITND was mediocre at best (which is fascinating we have the exact opposite view, but might explain our reviews of DEKs).

Written by Opethian on 01.09.2012 at 20:19

Album of the Year? idk.., top 10? Perhaps

So far i have yet to decide between this one, Ihsahn's and Enslaved's

Written by Nefarious on 21.09.2012 at 11:02

Jonas' vocals are getting better & better, but unfortunately their music is not.

Agreed. I think it's my least favorite Katatonia album, but it's not a bad record that's for sure.

Every time I listen to a Katatonia album it makes me feel empty. By the end of the album I feel the music has partially filled the void, and I am left contemplating the missing pieces in my life - This is a good thing.
Unfortunately this album doesn't seem to fill the void, and I am left contemplating the missing pieces within the music - This is bad!

I could list many reasons why this album has failed to engage me, lyrically, musically, etc. Mostly coming down to lacking originality.
Rather I will just ask, what has this particular album taught you?

Written by Benjamin on 27.11.2012 at 13:48

Rather I will just ask, what has this particular album taught you?

It taught me Renkse should stop writing the music for Katatonia and let someone else do it for a while.

Upping my rating to 8. It's far better than I initially thought.

I found this album more subtle and atmospheric compared to their few previous records but I like it. Surely it doesn't have any hits such as My Twin or Day and Then the Shade but it's not what I'm looking for in Katatonia's music. And I must mention I was surprised (in a good way) by the bonus track (The Act of Darkening) - it didn't sound like a usual Katatonia song which let me experience a feeling of freshness. Anyway, I think I should give this album at least a couple more spins to fully appreciate it.

Written by Crème fraiche on 23.09.2012 at 11:35

Just saw them live with Hevy Devy a few nights ago. They were sooo fucking boring. I dont see why they r so popular.

I'm not bashing or anything, but I personally loved seeing Katatonia play when I went to see them three months ago. What you may consider "fucking boring" I consider to be beautiful and atmospheric. I actually left before "Hevy Devy" came up to play to be honest, his music has done nothing for me personally. But each to his own...

Written by CobiWan1993 on 21.12.2012 at 02:06

Written by Crème fraiche on 23.09.2012 at 11:35

Just saw them live with Hevy Devy a few nights ago. They were sooo fucking boring. I dont see why they r so popular.

I'm not bashing or anything, but I personally loved seeing Katatonia play when I went to see them three months ago. What you may consider "fucking boring" I consider to be beautiful and atmospheric. I actually left before "Hevy Devy" came up to play to be honest, his music has done nothing for me personally. But each to his own...

Yes, to each his own i guess.

I can take a few Katatonia songs, but the ones they played live all sounded the same. They had the same boring mid tempo, and the drums sounded identical on every song. It pissed me off because alot of people left b4 Devin got on stage, and Katatonia had the effect of a shot of NyQuil on the crowd.

Yay, it won best Gothic Album!

Written by CobiWan1993 on 02.03.2013 at 06:07

Yay, it won best Gothic Album!

Woh cool! I adore this album.

I enjoyed this album ,, reminded me a bit of Tool's elements from 10000 Days album

The first few times I listened to this when it first arrived home, I loathed it, regretted purchasing it before listening to it, and went back to the 2000ies Katatonia.

Now, suddenly, a year after, I tried it again out of spite. Now I'm in love. From the 2nd to the 6th song I'm not even able to pause nor do anything else, totally mesmerized and entranced and seduced by them.

I gotta admit that I love when this happens.

Lethean is like the soundtrack to my soul, or rather, how my soul felt a specific point in life. I love that song to death and beyond.

Very solid album. This is like soundscape of my soul

Written by Rovdjur on 27.10.2023 at 01:48

Lethean is like the soundtrack to my soul, or rather, how my soul felt a specific point in life. I love that song to death and beyond.

Very well put sir!