*Side note - it's weird to analytically listen to Katatonia after a round of a roulette. It's tricky to flip mindsets and engage in a whole different kind of listening, to something you've been playing regularly for well over a decade, compared to something you've never heard before. Lethean (possibly semi-jokingly) mentioned that I should do writeups for these songs like roulette ones. I'm not even sure I could, it's a whole different thought process when every track is a different artist, whereas here it's just various iterations of the same overall approach. Anyway, enough about me, it's time for Katatonia!
My Twin EP
Recorded June-September 2005, released February 2006 on Peaceville Records.
Tracklist:1. My Twin (single edit) - 3:44
2. My Twin (opium dub) - 4:18
3. Displaced - 5:16
4. Dissolving Bonds - 3:43
Total Track Time: 17:01
Lineup:Jonas Renkse - vocals, guitars, keyboards, programming, songwriting, lyrics
Anders Nystrom - guitars, keyboards, programming, backing vocals, songwriting, lyrics
Daniel Liljekvist - drums, backing vocals
Fredrik Norrman - guitars
Mattias Norrman - bass
Peter Damin - percussion
Production - Jens Bogren, David Castillo, Anders Nystrom, Jonas Renkse
Mastering - Jens Bogren, David Castillo, Thomas Eberger
Engineering - Jens Bogren, David Castillo
Mixing - Jens Bogren, David Castillo
Remixing - Anders Eriksson, David Castillo
*I accidentally started typing "bonds" as "bongs". After the "opium dub" parenthetical I guess my brain just went there.
The Great Cold Distance
Recorded June-September 2005 at Fascination Street Studios, released March 2006 on Peaceville Records.
Tracklist:1. Leaders - 4:21
2. Deliberation - 4:00
3. Soil's Song - 4:12
4. My Twin - 3:41
5. Consternation - 3:51
6. Follower - 4:46
7. Rusted - 4:21
8. Increase - 4:20
9. July - 4:45
10. In the White - 4:54
11. The Itch - 4:20
12. Journey Through Pressure - 4:21
Total Track Time: 51:52
Lineup:Jonas Renkse - vocals, guitars, keyboards, programming, lyrics, songwriting
Anders Nystrom - guitars, keyboards, programming, backing vocals, songwriting
Daniel Liljekvist - drums, backing vocals
Fredrik Norrman - guitars, songwriting
Mattias Norrman - bass
Andreas Akeberg - backing vocals
Peter Damin - additional drums, percussion
Jens Bogren - keyboards, samples, programming, effects
David Castillo - keyboards, programming, samples, effects
Production - Jens Bogren, David Castillo, Anders Nystrom, Jonas Renkse
Engineering - Jens Bogren, David Castillo
Mixing - Jens Bogren, David Castillo
Mastering - Jens Bogren, Thomas Edberger
Remixing - Jens Bogren
*This cross is legendary in Swedish metal lore for when Entombed had some photoshoots with it.
*Now
this is the sound of Katatonia, as far as I'm concerned. Not my favorite of theirs (though almost assuredly second), but by far the album I'd be most comfortable recommending to someone into prog metal who hadn't checked them out yet. I might go as far as saying if someone asked me what music should sound like, I might just hand them this album.
*This was their smoothest recording session yet, with Jens cracking the whip in the studio.
*They changed their logo artwork for the covers, but still used the previous one for other contexts, such as Daniel's drumhead and their stage backdrop.
*The song arrangements have increased so much in complexity that Daniel wasn't sure at first whether he could even handle the new songs, and had to spend extra time rehearsing for the album. Needless to say, Liljekvist has become a monster drummer by this album. Some of the double bass parts and fills on this album, maybe Jonas could create in his head, but no way was he ever capable of playing them, which is why Daniel has become vital to them now.
*Whereas Tool nods were somewhat subtle before, they're just all over the place now. In most previous albums I can keep their rhythmic structures in my head pretty well, but here I've often felt totally lost, in the best possible way. Their music now is so much more rhythmic and percussive, but still very melodic. The lack of rhythmic variation is one thing that holds their earlier work back for me.
*They're now settled into their definitive tuning. Whereas LGDGD took the Eb standard tuning of DO and put some tracks in drop-Db, TGCD takes the C standard tuning of VE and puts some tracks in drop-Bb. They've kept this template on every album since then. Do I love Katatonia so much at least partially because those are two of my favorite keys, or are those two of my favorite keys because of Katatonia? We'll just never know...
*The sound is just so massive, the drum production and guitar tones are leaps and bounds above everything before to my ears. It was the largest budget they had for an album at least through the 2000s. Supposedly the album was used as a reference in some hi-fi audio shops.
*After years of lobbying Peaceville, their relationship with them was improving and they had their first music videos with "July", "My Twin", and "Deliberation", directed by Charlie Granberg. Note in the "July" video Daniel's Daylight Dies shirt, who they toured with and whose drummer was their webmaster.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gLEogbdozHchttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nH45PdkXF9Ihttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SXwFQKwHdbk*I remember that the "My Twin" single leaked in the late fall of '05. That semester my MP3 player had broken down, so I spent most of the semester with my portable discman listening to Nevermore's
This Godless Endeavor and Opeth's
Ghost Reveries. But I got a new player in time to put "My Twin" on to make that my new soundtrack for walking around campus for a few days.
*One of my favorite things about them is how they have the ability to vary the tempo so much on this album. There are many faster sections, more here than any other album before or since. And simultaneously, they still have doom riffs from time to time that effectively contrast those and hit even harder. 1:07 in "Increase" is a perfect example. "Journey Through Pressure" is also fairly doomy. I also like how they can juxtapose heavier chugging with sustained clean fingerpicked rhythms like at 3:36 of "July".
*If you're still on the fence about Daniel's drumming, I challenge you to put on "In The White", listening only to his playing. His ghost notes on the snare are just impossibly crisp throughout the whole album. His recorded cymbals for the album were Paiste Rudes, which have a reputation among cymbal snobs as sounding poor. Daniel must have heard that and said "hold my beer..."
*Some other Liljekvist highlights for me are all of his effects cymbal work with the Chinas and splashes, often in unexpected places. I love the offbeat ride bell in the bridge of "Consternation", or the offbeat China around 3:10 in "Increase". The Danny Carey-esque tom work in the verses of "July". How the ride bell cuts around 2:10 of "July". The fill at 3:09 of "Rusted". Or the one at 3:29 of "The Itch". Subtle details like occasionally hitting two splashes before certain downbeats, starting around 0:20 of "Leaders". His ride and snare work in the first minute of "Journey Through Pressure". Hitting the snare precisely and consistently like he does there takes a lot of finesse.
*I love the riff at 2:57 in "Follower" with the hits alternating with the harmonic flurry. I also like the swirling guitars like in the ending of "Increase". Then there are those background tremolo-picked notes like at 2:25 of "Rusted". It's like proto-blackgaze. Nystrom, being into both black metal and shoegaze, was way ahead of Neige. I like how they have separate arpeggios going on with different guitar tracks like at 1:58 of "Increase". The flanger in the verse of "The Itch" creates a nice texture. I love the melody for "In The White", or the background lines around 1:38, creating three separate interesting parts going at once.
*I like the background synth ambiance in the middle of "Increase", or in the verses of "Leaders". I also like the Mellotron at 3:20 of "Deliberation".
*My favorite bass line on the album has to be for "In The White". It's especially powerful at 2:43 when the guitars drop out for a bit.
*I think this album has the most harsh backing vocals, with some in "The Itch" and in "Leaders".
*If I have to complain about anything, I do miss the percussion from the last album, and the piano.
*I find it amusing that five of the songs are within a second of 4:20. The multiple interpretations of that are fascinating. They are very much headed towards a more progressive sound in terms of rhythmic complexity, but were still operating in pop songwriting structures. And of course I have to imagine that the 420 is where the "opium dub" reference comes from.
*They toured with Cradle of Filth, Apocalyptica, Moonspell, The Haunted, Daylight Dies, Novembre, Scar Symmetry, Insomnium, and Swallow The Sun for the various shows for this album.
*Christian Alvestam of Scar Symmetry sang "Sweet Nurse" at the last gig on tour with them onstage.
*Due to family committments, Daniel wasn't available for one of their gigs, so filling in was Robin Bergh from Amaran, who would later be in October Tide.
Deliberation EP
Recorded May-August 2005 at, released May 2006 on Peaceville Records.
Tracklist:1. Deliberation - 3:59
2. In the White (urban dub) - 5:30
3. Code Against the Code - 3:34
Total Track Time: 13:03
Lineup:Jonas Renkse - vocals, guitars, keyboards, programming, songwriting, lyrics
Anders Nystrom - guitars, keyboards, programming, backing vocals, songwriting
Daniel Liljekvist - drums, backing vocals
Fredrik Norrman - guitars, songwriting
Mattias Norrman - bass
Production - Jens Bogren, David Castillo, Anders Eriksson, Anders Nystrom, Jonas Renkse
Engineering - Jens Bogren, David Castillo
Mixing - Jens Bogren, David Castillo
Mastering - Jens Bogren, Thomas Edberger
July EP
Recorded May-August 2005 at released March 2007 on Peaceville Records.
Tracklist:1. July - 4:46
2. Soil's Song (Krister Linder 2012 Remix) - 4:40
3. Unfurl - 4:52
Total Track Time: 14:18
Lineup:Jonas Renkse - vocals, guitars, keyboards, programming, songwriting, lyrics
Anders Nystrom - guitars, keyboards, programming, backing vocals, songwriting
Daniel Liljekvist - drums, backing vocals
Fredrik Norrman - guitars
Mattias Norrman - bass
Production - Jens Bogren, David Castillo, Anders Eriksson, Anders Nystrom, Jonas Renkse
Engineering - Jens Bogren, David Castillo
Mixing - Jens Bogren, David Castillo
Mastering - Jens Bogren, David Castillo, Thomas Edberger
Remixing - Krister Linder
*"Unfurl" to me is their best experiment with electronics they've ever done, with the trip-hop beat and all. They rarely play it live, but did so as an encore when I saw them.
Live Consternation
Recorded August 2006 at Summer Breeze Open Air festival in Germany, released May 2007 on Peaceville Records.
Tracklist:1. Leaders - 5:11
2. Wealth - 4:48
3. Soil's Song - 4:15
4. Had to (Leave) - 4:53
5. Cold Ways - 5:23
6. Right Into the Bliss - 5:20
7. Ghost of the Sun - 4:07
8. Criminals - 4:02
9. Deliberation - 4:05
10. July - 4:42
11. Evidence - 5:01
Total Track Time: 51:47
Lineup:Jonas Renkse - vocals
Anders Nystrom - guitars, backing vocals
Daniel Liljekvist - drums
Fredrik Norrman - guitars
Mattias Norrman - bass
Production - Kaja Kargus, Ronald Matthes
Recording - Jacky Lehmann
Mixing - David Castillo
Mastering - David Castillo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ESOodJMoXA*The key non-album songs to hear are "Displaced", "Dissolving Bonds", "Code Against the Code", and "Unfurl". Everything else on the EPs are edits or remixes. Fun to hear at least once, but not as essential.
Favorite songs: Every. Single. One. Of. Them. But specifically, "In the White", "Unfurl", "My Twin", "Consternation", "Code Against the Code", "Leaders", and all the rest.