City Burials Opening Thoughts, Standout Tracks & Singles:
*As usual, I wrote all this without reading the other album-specific comments. I'll read through those later and comment if needed.
*City Burials came out at a really weird time. It was a month into the pandemic, and nothing felt right in the world. Nothing. I had retreated back into the online space (kind of still there, really), and while I gave it a listen and casually liked it, I wasn't in the mood for it at all for a few months. As I talked about more in-depth for The Fall of Hearts, I was still skeptical about Moilanen and was far from over Liljekvist leaving. But as the end of the year started approaching and I was working on best of the year lists, I knew it wouldn't be right to not at least give it more of a chance, so I did. It was growing on me and it did wind up in my top 10, though honestly it felt kind of like forcing it a bit even though I did like it.
*Early in '21, with the pressure of year-end lists over, I was able to relax a bit more and appreciate it more than before. In particular, "Heart Set To Divide", which had already been the standout track for me, became kind of an obsession, and it has become one of my favorite songs of theirs. It has one of their most atmospheric intros (I love those chords ringing out at 1:08), and at 1:40 might be my favorite riff they've ever written. Overall it just sums up so well a lot of the vibe I like about them, how they can so effortlessly synthesize heaviness and subtle complexity, all while oozing ambiance.
*Just in general, for me they have an unparalleled way of integrating metallic elements (chunky riffs, solos, double bass drumming), keyboards, other atmospheric components (sometimes from synthesizers, sometimes from guitars, sometimes light symphonic orchestration), acoustic parts (sometimes guitars, percussion at times), and memorable songwriting and melodies. More on some of that later... They don't touch on quite as many genres as Opeth often seamlessly and naturally does, but they have a more diverse sound palette.
*"Untrodden" was the other early standout. I especially love the muted but delayed clean guitar motif in the second verse and how it interacts with the electric piano. Plus, it contains easily one of the best solos they'd ever had later on from Öjersson.
*As "Behind the Blood" was one of the first singles, it was a bit of a surprising diversion for them. It definitely has more an 80s Judas Priest flavor than much of anything they've ever done, with maybe a hint of Yngwie in the solos. Certainly not the sort of song I'd have expected them to do prior to Eriksson and then Öjersson raising the level of technical capability in the band. I think at the time it came out I'd completely forgotten they'd done their cover of Priest's "Night Comes Down", so clearly that tip of the hat filtered a bit into their songwriting for this album. If they tuned back up to standard, had a more retro-style production, and a more traditional metal vocalist it would be even more obvious. This is definitely the song I'm most curious to get TAC's opinion of.
*Like Night Is the New Day, this is another album of theirs essentially just written by Jonas. And it still sounds like them. I'm kind of curious at this point how an album by them solely written by Anders would sound. Potentially quite different given earlier projects of his like Diabolical Masquerade.
*This might be the lightest album they've done. Fewer heavy songs, and the moments of more sonically tense material seem spread out a bit more than ever.
Vocals:
*Lacquer" to me is Jonas' greatest vocal performance he's ever done. 3:19 on "the house we lived in" I think is the highest note I've heard him hit. He is not normally the sort of vocalist you listen to in order to hear an enormous range of notes and techniques - it's more about the vibe, and for me the contrast of how calm his voice is over the heavier riffs, but the melodies and nuance on this song are unusually dexterous for him. I also love the vocal doubling he does in the second verse an octave below the main melody. And then he adds a higher harmony on top of that. Plus, at 2:36 the backing vocals are adding some independent lines as well. I think Jonas' vocal harmonies and layering in general are a quite underrated and underdiscussed part of their sound.
*"Vanishers" is probably the song that has grown on me the most while going through the process of writing this. Prior to Lethean starting this thread it was just another good song of theirs that didn't especially stand out - other than being kind of a sequel to "The One You Are Looking For Is Not Here" from Dead End Kings, which had the duet with Silje Wergeland from The Gathering and Octavia Sperati. That's still the superior song, but this one really has come alive now because I'm more accustomed to guest Anni Bernhard's vocals. I'd never gotten around to checking out her band Full of Keys before, and Lethean managed to sneak them into a round of my roulette. After the round I listened to all their albums, so I now have a much greater appreciation for this song.
*There's no credit for it, but I'm wondering if Anni is also doing some of the high harmonies on "City Glaciers" uncredited. Some of them don't sound like Jonas.
Guitars & Bass:
*I've already mentioned "Untrodden" and "Behind the Blood", but "Fighters" also stands out as having another excellent guitar solo from Roger.
*I don't recall hearing any acoustic guitars on the album. I think I was spoiled with hearing more of them on The Fall of Hearts, so their absence is felt here.
*"Rein" has one of their most overtly bluesy sounding riffs with that slide guitar motif, though it's still going through the Katatonia mood morpher. "City Glaciers" and "Neon Epitaph" also have a dash of that.
*Anders being less involved in the creation process of this album and the result makes me think that Jonas is more of the big picture songwriter, and Anders tends to fill in more details and enhance the songs texturally. Not that those details are completely absent, but it just feels slightly less layered than usual. There aren't quite as many standout moments here as some other albums playing or tone-wise, and some of the ones I do mention are clearly from Roger.
*The biggest exception is the 2-3 minute range of "Rein". Those are some great tones there, both clean and the swirling lead parts.
*Tying in a couple points here, if you'd asked me before Dead End Kings if Katatonia could benefit from adding a guitar shredder like Opeth did with Åkesson, I'm not sure what I would have said, but I might have been more skeptical. Serendipitously, it works out quite well, adding a bit of flair in certain spots, while still not overtaking their moodier approach overall.
*I remember on The Fall of Hearts looking at my notes and it being conspicuous that I didn't have much of anything to say about the bass. This time I'm hearing more bass in the mix on this album. I'm not sure if the level is higher or Niklas just has a more cutting tone this time.
Drums:
*"Untrodden" around 0:44 and other sections has that offbeat 6/8 cymbal pattern that Liljekvist did a number of times, though it doesn't feel like it has as much impact to it. He might be just hitting the bow of the cymbal rather than the bell, or has a less prominent one than Liljekvist. He does do it on the China towards the end of the song, so maybe it's still a feel or mixing difference.
*I don't recall any percussion on this album. That was part of what gave a bit of extra spark to Viva Emptiness and The Fall of Heart, so I miss it here.
Keyboards:
*3:50 of "Flicker" has a synth solo of sorts, which is rather uncommon for them, but is certainly a welcome addition to their sound.
*I like the synth pattern at 2:10 in "Fighters".
Final Thoughts:
*Again I was worried how much I'd have to say about this one, but somehow getting in the process of writing always winds up generating more ideas than I thought I'd initially have. Maybe it's less than some other albums of theirs, but it seems sufficient.
*Overall, still to this day, this is possibly my least-listened album of theirs other than Dance of December Souls. Going through this process is definitely going to start evening that disparity out a bit now.
*I'll probably wait 'til after I do Sky Void of Stars, but I'm not sure this album is going to budge in its position in their discography for me yet. Part of that is what's not on the album rather than what's on it. Arguably smaller, subtle things, but the lack of acoustic guitar, percussion, and less of Anders' musical input in the writing process might hold it back a bit.
Favorite Songs: "Heart Set To Divide", "Untrodden", "Lacquer", "Vanishers"
Topic: Katatonia Discography Discussion: Sky Void of Stars (2023) (Read 22623 times)
