April 2020 sees the return of Swedish progressive rock band Katatonia, fresh from a brief hiatus following the release of 2016’s universally acclaimed ‘The Fall Of Hearts’. It was the first time the band had stepped back in almost 30 years and thankfully for their legions of fans, it proved that they still had the hunger and drive to move forward with a band that is constantly evolving.
‘City Burials’ sees a vast majority of the music and lyrics written by vocalist Jonas Renkse, however that doesn’t mean that this was not a band effort, with creative partner and fellow founder member Anders Nystrom fully involved in production, whilst the chemistry with the rest of the band is as strong as ever, buoyed by the introduction of guitarist Roger Ojersson, who appears on his first album despite joining the band in 2016.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mnWkTAB-ceg&w=560&h=315]Jonas’ melancholy opening to ‘Heart Set To Divide’ soon gives way to a heavier backing full of guitars, that goes on to create a superb contrast with his emotive tones without drowning him out, resulting in a track full of atmosphere. ‘Behind The Blood’ goes for a more straightforward hard rock approach, exploding out of the starting blocks, throwing in plenty of riffs and raising the tempo and the volume. The addition of Ojersoon with the second guitar, gives a fuller sound with tones of 80’s heavy metal thrown in for good measure. Jonas explains “……we thought that maybe we should have some 80’s heavy metal music stuff thrown into our music for the hell of it and see how it works out”.
‘Lacquer’ was the lead single off the album and is a calm track, with an underlying menacing vibe, which allows Jonas’ vocals to be front and centre as the anguish comes through as he sings “Scrape the lacquer, can’t you see it’s all tarnished”. The song has more electronic backing than the previous tracks and this hints at part of the beauty of the album – the unexpected musical turns – as we find ourselves 3 tracks in and each completely different. All are well crafted melodies with individual arrangements and powerfully evocative lyrics that take us off down twists and turns when you least expect it.
‘Rein’ and ‘The Winter Of Our Passing’ pick up the pace leading us down one way before a complete about turn for the delicate ‘Vanishers’, when the band are joined by Anni Bernhard from Full Of Keys as a guest vocalist. ‘City Glaciers’ leads in with drums and guitars and opens up into a very dramatic arrangement which bounces around in your head long after the last note.
‘Flicker’ is one of those tracks that builds slowly giving us a great drum beat, guitars, keyboards and Jonas’s haunting voice carrying you along, drawing you in so you can almost feel the angst with the rise and fall of the tempo. ‘Lachesis’ on the other hand harks back to the gentleness of ‘Vanishers’ but this time with just the simplicity of a piano and vocals, which adequately conveys the feeling of desolation.
‘Neon Epitaph’ kicks off with a slightly distorted riff, reminiscent of an eighties tv drama theme, which lifts the track to the heady heights of a rock track and a damn good one at that, with drums and guitars duelling at one point bringing us to ‘Untrodden’ which throws in a soaring guitar solo amid the dramatic album finale.
This album uses the themes of loss, love, sadness and joy, but it is never morbid and be in no doubt that this is a great prog rock album, which is beautifully crafted by a band who are back and hungry for more success.
‘City Burials’ is released on 24th April 2020
Track Listing:
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
Reviewed by : Howard Whitelaw for MPM
Katatonia are:
Jonas Renkse – vocals
Anders Nyström – guitar
Niklas Sandin – bass
Daniel Moilanen – drums
Roger Öjersson – guitar
Follow Katatonia:
www.facebook.com/katatonia
www.instagram.com/katatoniaband/
www.twitter.com/katatoniaband
www.katatonia.com
