Customer Reviews

Kallocain (Bonus Dvd) (Spec)

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

It's not fair at all that I'm the first person to review this album. I just got it last night, and haven't stopped listening to it since. Well, okay, so I did put it aside for an exploration of King Crimson's "THRAK", but that _any_ album could draw my attention away from King Crimson's body of work, which I'm currently discovering and obsessing over, is a marvelous achievement.

I know little about this band. I haven't looked into them, their past work, or their members. What I do know is that this isn't any female-fronted rock group. While most bands with a female vocalist tend to downplay the music in favor of "powerful" female singing, the vocals seem to be more like another texture in a beautiful daydreaming landscape of energy, creation, sorrow, and adoration.

The instrumentation itself is comprised of mournful mellotrons, subtle, intricate, tasteful, exploratory jazzy guitar that _really_ weeps, drumming patterns that explore various time signatures, driving rhythms, and what almost seems like dance beats thrown in a blender in an interesting crossbreed of Bill Bruford and Pat Mastelotto (Mmmm, King Crimson...)'s respective improvisatory jazz stylings and hard-rock grooves. The sonic textures remind me a bit of Radiohead's "Kid A" at its best, but more melodic and less abrasive. Traces of Anekdoten abound.

This is good music. It's just too bad that no one else has reviewed it before, because what you get are basically my first impressions. If my initial reaction intrigues you, take a chance. And write a review of your own... this is a talented band. Four stars because I haven't given it the test of time yet, but I can definitely say that these songs are texturally dense... with lots of melodies, harmonies, and rhythms to sort out and fall in love with as the music unfolds.

Recommended to fans of King Crimson, Yes, Anekdoten, Opeth's Damnation, Porcupine Tree, Portishead, Radiohead, or anyone who feels they need something different in their life.

This album is that one in a thousand that makes it worth trudging through the other 999 to find a gem! I love it, especially the song 'Look At Us'. The singers voice is very nice, and the instrumental arrangements are quite unique and very well done. Personally, I like this album better than Timeloss, but they are both well worth picking up. The DVD that accompanies this CD is also outstanding but it only has 4 songs on it. I hope they release these albums on SACD and an entire concert recorded in DTS Surround!

This is intense , experimental , progressive music with high levels of musicianship . It is not like Frank Zappa , but I think Frank would have approved .

First (despite being cut after their shelved-and-held '02 debut recording) and best record from little known Swedish alt-rockers comes across as a progressive Portishead with the keen melodic sense of Blonde Radio-Redhead thrown in for good measure, yielding a solidly original release of female-led mood rock.

Paatos is yet another talented progressive rock band from Sweden. Their sound is somewhat unique. It is rather moody and mellow for the most part reminding me of bands like White Willow or possibly even The Sundays. I have also seen them compared to Bjork in some reviews and I can see where this connection could be made. This album was produced by Stephen Wilson of Porcupine Tree although his influence is not as up front and apparent as it is on some of his production projects for other bands. Overall this is a very nice disc. The band is not overtly proggy, but somewhat straddles the middle ground between prog and commercial. They describe their music as "melonconic post rock" and I guess that is a pretty good way to put it. These guys are worth checking out.

After having listened to this album about 5 times so far, I find that I like it more and more. Some of the songs are so beautiful you just can't help but feel moved. The singer has a very tender and expressive voice that I love. The DVD that is included shows the group in concert doing some of their material and is an excellent addition to this already great package! At times, this group reminds me of Portishead, other times they sound a bit like Karnataka or Mostly Autumn. They really have their own unique sound though and I can hardly wait to get their other album Timeloss!

I was recently introduced to PAATOS a few months ago with their previous album, "Timeloss". While that album certainly peaked my interest in the band with their dark-and-dreamy 70s & modern influenced prog/dream/shoegaze pop/rock -- their latest album 'Kallocain' has me on my knees! Nearly every song is an emotionally driven gem. The vocals are fragile yet powerful - somewhat similar to Bjork, but also to Slowdive. Speaking of Slowdive, fans of that shoegaze/britpop style of the mid-90s will worship songs like "Holding On" and "Happiness". The mood over-all is heavily melacholic yet never one-dimensional. Musicianship must also be noted as the rhythm section is absolutely INCREDIBLE. Guitars are always drenched in superbly chosen effects and mixed with both acoustic and electric passages. Not to be forgotten are the wonderfully sorrowful string (violin/cello) and piano arrangements similar to Nick Drake 'Way to Blue' era. I get chills just thinking about it!

The only reason I didn't give 5 stars was because there are a few moments with electronic elements that just aren't my style, but thankfully they are very limited.

This album is a must have for anyone into melacholic moody music. Fans of The Cure, Slowdive, Nick Drake, Bjork, Mazzy Star or even Opeth ('Damnation'-era) -- you will NOT be disappointed.

Being a big fan of their 'Timeloss' effort, I was rather anxious to listen to Paatos's new album after their having been signed to label, as it almost always means commercializaion of music. Kallocain proved it. Paatos became less unique, they started to sound like other bands, like Cardigans for instance. Making big hits is not what Paatos is best at.
But still Kallocain has some nice melodies, sound is good, and most important, that's not the kind of music that's released every day.
4 stars for being less unique.