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The Swedish band Katatonia is somewhat of an anomaly in the metal scene. The band started out firmly entrenched in the doom metal scene and released a number of albums regarded as classics in the genre. However, the release of the album Tonight’s Decisiion saw the band move towards a more conventional and accessible sound. Long meandering doom metal epics were replaced with shorter songs that almost sound like they could fit on radio. Unlike other bands that have undergone such a transformation, Katatonia has still retained the respect of most in the metal community due to the high quality of their newer releases. The Great Cold Distance only continues this trend and even shows improvement over their last release, the stellar Viva Emptiness.
The first thing I noticed when playing the new album was the excellence of the albums production. The choice of Jens Bogren, who also worked on Opeth’s Ghost Reveries, to mix the album was a good one. The guitar sound is massive and riffs hit the listener with the force of colliding planets. Guiding the listener through the dark world the band creates are the vocals of Jonas Renkse, who sings as if he is on the verge of suicide. In addition the drum sound has a lot of punch to it, which accentuates the rhythmic alchemy cooked up by the band. Songs such as “Increase” and “Consternation” are driven forward by forceful syncopated rhythms and angular riffing. The album may not be heavy in the sense that the vocals used are almost all clean, yet calling the monstrous riffs anything but heavy would be a crime.
Of course, it would not be a Katatonia album if it didn’t have beautiful melancholic melodies to counter the heaviness, and these are present in abundance here. From the explosive chorus of “July,” to the graceful waltz found in the bridge of “In the White” and to the mournful “Deliberation” the album is full of moments that haunt the listeners’ soul. Katatonia are masters of tension and release; the basic template for a Katatonia song has a quiet restrained verse explode into a loud cathartic choruses. It may be a simple formula but when executed as well as it is on this album it is a wonder to behold. Nowhere is this more present than on the single “My Twin.” The most remarkable aspect of TGCD is how the whole album blends together. The sequencing of the songs is perfect and I have never been tempted to press the skip button while listening to the disc. I have tried hard to be critical and identify tracks that could be labeled filler but there really are none. In the end, the album is yet another excellent album by Katatonia, who can seem to do no wrong at this stage in their career. I cannot think of another album that would be as good of a soundtrack to the grey winter days that are all too common where I live. Mark it as a huge upset if this album does not land near the top of my best of 2006 list.
| Tracklist |
| 1. Leaders |
| 2. Deliberation |
| 3. Soil's Song |
| 4. My Twin |
| 5. Consternation |
| 6. Follower |
| 7. Rusted |
| 8. Increase |
| 9. July |
| 10. In The White |
| 11. The Itch |
| 12. Journey Through Pressure |
: 51.52
| Buy other Katatonia albums |
