Band:	Katatonia
Album:	Dethroned & Uncrowned
Style:	Alternative rock
Release date:	September 09, 2013
Guest review by:	Sunny Pagliaccio

01. The Parting
02. The One You Are Looking For Is Not Here
03. Hypnone
04. The Racing Heart
05. Buildings
06. Leech
07. Ambitions
08. Undo You
09. Lethean
10. First Prayer
11. Dead Letters

Even though some may argue that Dethroned & Uncrowned has no originality sound-wise compared to its ancestor Dead End Kings, I passionately beg to differ.

Dethroned & Uncrowned sounds a lot more nostalgic, melancholic, but most of all - quietly desperate and resigning. While in Dead End Kings one can hear a faint sparkle of hope and light combined with an urgent frustration, in Dethroned & Uncrowned these feelings are gone and replaced by utter darkness. The fierce "Racing Heart" is no longer full with anger and frustration to reap a storm, but it feels more like a story told by a broken man who is telling of his youth, when everything was possible.

The overall feeling of the album is that of giving up, letting go (not in the Frozen way, mind you), conceding and - I'm sorry to use the same word twice in two consecutive paragraphs, but - resigning. The title itself hints of this degrading change from Dead End Kings - where the protagonist still has his crown - to Dethroned & Uncrowned; the degrading is both by status and possession.

The lyrical theme being identical to Dead End Kings has still a lot to offer as the emotions behind the re-make are different. The difference is, one may say, as if you say "I'm done!" (the factor of frustration and will to fight is still there) and "I'm done." (the frustration is gone, replaced by gloom acceptance).

I'm not going to talk about how each band member yields his instrument for I'm no professional musician and I've no idea of this stuff. However, I'm going to say that the band has found a new sound which, in my humble opinion, empowers each and every one of them both individually and as a group.

The acoustic sound coming from Katatonia is simply beautiful with its quiet nostalgic and again - resigning sound. Anyway, the band stays faithful to their ambient, atmospheric, dark sound throughout the whole album and in this specific one, Renkse's vocals add to the intimacy and melancholy of the songs, especially in "Ambitions".

I also enjoyed the sense of continuity between the songs, so where one stops the other begins as if they're one. This continuity contributes to the flow of the album which makes it easier to listen and one can drown in desperation for about an hour and a half with no disturbance.

So, to make the not so long story short, the album has the original dark atmosphere to it, but in a bit of a different - more gentle if you like - quality.