I was away for a few days, and I just wanted to post a couple of thoughts on Brave Murder Day and what it means for me in the context of Katatonia's discography...
Well, first off, I LOVE the album. I think it's just such a unique record. Sure, it can be generally categorized as "death/doom" and there is nothing wrong with that. But there's something about it that sets it apart. I'd say it's mostly Anders' approach to the riffing - those repeating and "cascading" motifs, together with the steady tempos. That, to me, really becomes a trademark of Katatonia from this album on...even though most of what comes after BMD is quite different, there are many traces of the Katatonia "riff" in songs scattered throughout their discography. Speaking of BMD, it's certainly something that sets this apart from Dance... While their debut was already kinda "different", the more linear song structures here really are a step in a new direction. In particular, Brave, Murder and Rainroom are, imo, the defining songs of this album.
Back in 1996, when BMD was released, one of my best friends and music "buddy" got it - he was into more extreme music than me, at the time. Copied it on a tape for me. He was pretty excited about this one, as it sounded quite different from anything we'd heard before. On a superficial level, yes, it didn't seem like some of the songs needed to last that long. But, in a way, that added to that almost "otherwordly" desperation they conveyed. Well, that's what we thought as 19-year old kids, at least
It was strange but quite powerful. Again, those riffs - so sad, but at the same time almost uplifting.
I tend to be a bit wary of the "you had to be there" argument when I see it. Often it comes across as "you just can't understand the same way I do how deep and meaningful this is "
I worry I'm doing the same here. However, there really isn't anything particularly deep here...it's just that I think at the time Katatonia really did create something pretty unique for the genre. And then of course proceeded to move away from it, almost immediately
As for where BMD stands for me: it has a very special place in my music journey, for sure. It still stands very tall among Katatonia records, even just for that reason, but also (and most importantly) because, well, I love the music in it. That said, Katatonia is a very different band now, and I do prefer a good number of their subsequent albums to this one...but we will get to that soon enough