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13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Amazing, August 25, 2001
While I a normally listen to more technical music than Katatonia, such as Meshuggah or Cynic, I felt that, theoretically, minimalism could be also employed for powerful artistic expression. When I got this album I realized that my theory had been proven, and I am very grateful for it. I love the simple, straightforward playing nearly all in eighth notes because it lends an amazing continuity to the album. However, while the playing is minimal, the songwriting is not. Granted, riffs are repeated several times, allowing you to feel immersed in their plaintive churning, but songs on Brave Murder Day can be found full of interesting key and tempo changes. The song structures themselves are also not at all standard, except for "Day" which is not radically standard, but relatively normal compared to the others. From what I have heard of Katatonia's other albums, I have a feeling this will be by far my favorite, mainly because of the amazing presence of Mikael Akerfeldt of Opeth. His voice could be categorized as death metal, but he uses it as a beautiful texture to layer over the instruments. He can hold a growl for a very long time, fading into amazing waves of white noise. As opposed to expressing singleminded fury, his singing sounds very sorrowful and vulnerable. I would recommend this album to anyone, especially if they were feeling very depressed, because although sad, it lends consolation in the fact that someone had to be at least as depressed as anyone else to create an album of such despondent majesty, and they can share your feelings.
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13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Choice music for a rainy day (or night)., December 12, 2003
This is the album where Katatonia nailed the sound of their dark, depressing metal. As far as I can tell, they have done nothing better than _Brave Murder Day_, before nor since. I also find it quite accessible compared to their other works. This is an album truly greater than the sum of its parts. Distant, simple production, elementary guitar melodies and riffs that would probably look very dry on paper, drums and bass that are entirely bereft of frills and serving the purely utilitarian purpose of rhythmic anchor -- overall, it would seem like rather basic, amateurish stuff. And yet the end results are really amazing. Firstly, the atmosphere of this album -- generated by the melodic quality of the riffs, the dreary production sound, cold sterile rhythm section, and despondent sludgy walls of guitar -- is incredibly arresting. It is the synaesthesia of gray, which is coterminous with its sense of being "rainy day" music (listening to this album is greatly complemented by proper environment). Also the songs are perfectly executed through their structure. Songs tend to be relatively long, usually 6+ minutes, flowing through 'movements' rather than verses and choruses. Usually a key theme is repeated to resolve the song and bring a degree of added emotional clarity. The whole album is characterized by its highly economical, mood-intensive arrangements. Even though different sections may not be related to others musically, the overall emotional flow and mood-sustaining arc makes it very effective. In "Brave", the beginning and end of the piece is a riff that is almost overwrought and 'washing,' and yet when it returns at the resolution of the song it is haunting and powerful both because of its familiarity and because of the sense of resolution it brings. The starry 4/4 sprinkled guitar notes of the middle section, melodic metal frame, and the intense performance of Mikael Akerfeldt all enhance the power of the song's flow. Of course, it is also very important that Akerfeldt does the growled vocals on this album. The album is about 80% growling and this is possibly the best vocal performance of Akerfeldt (from Opeth, by the way, if you don't know) that I have heard to date. Tormented, emotive, and raw, he is integral to this album's success. The other songs aren't really worth describing entirely, since they are basically just variations on the theme, so to speak, but they are all effective, especially the distinctive loud-soft dynamics of "12" (although it's a bit of overkill on the last riff there). One track is notably different: "Day", where the band makes one of the most hypnotic metal 'ballads' out of relatively pedestrian Pod-ish guitar effects, basic chord progressions, a singer who sounds like he's about to keel over and die, and a dry static drum machine beat. "Endtime" uses some voice samples effectively, backed by ashen, somber arpeggios. I have the version of _Brave Murder Day_ which also sports the EP _For Funerals to Come..._, which is an excellent complement to the main cd. "Funeral Weddings" and "Shades of Emerald Fields" are epic, melodic, and dreary. Unfortunately they have a few cheesy Iron Maiden-ish riffs that don't totally gel with the band's mood, but for the most part it works beautifully. The EP's title track is a mellow piece with clean electric guitar and some subtle background synths. "Epistel" is a basic noise experiment. _Brave Murder Day_ is a fine accomplishment. If you don't like the growly vocals though, one might prefer to stick with Katatonia's albums from _Discouraged Ones_ forward (no growls, more 'gothic' sounding).
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The indisputable Katatonia masterpiece, April 5, 2006
Some fans were extremely disappointed after Katatonia decided to explore more alternative yet equally dark areas after releasing the Sounds of Decay EP (which was basically the counterpart of Brave Murder Day). I personally believe after creating a masterpiece like this, there was nothing left for them to achive in this genre, so they decided to pursue more depressing music with all clean vocals, distinguishing themselves from hundreds of other bands. It would be best to think of Katatonia in two phases: their earlier doom-death period with albums like Dance of December Souls and Brave Murder Day as well as several EPs, and their more recent starting with the release of Discouraged Ones. Both eras of the bands are amazing, though I feel Brave Murder Day will always remain as most people's number one album.
For their second full-length album, the band decided to enlist the help of their friend Mikael Akerfeldt of Opeth to do the vocals, since Jonas Renkse was unable to produce any harsh vocals at the time. I've always argued that Brave Murder Day contains Mikael Akerfeldt's best vocal peformance (outside Opeth that is), as he's never sung with so much pain and emotion before or after. He sure has improved a lot over the years, both as a growler and clean singer, but his vocals on this album are unparalleled.
The album starts with the 10-minute "Brave", perhaps the most definitive Brave Murder Day song. Grey guitar lines slowly dissolve during tense, mournful passages thanks to the distant, simple production of Opeth's and Katatonia's earlier producer Dan Swano. The whole album is laced with repeated key themes, which show little variation on the following songs, giving the impression that they are just parts of a huge composition a la Edge of Sanity's Crimson (also featuring Mikael Akerfeldt as a guest). The growls on the piece are low and sound extremely tortured, climaxing during the line that says, "Wherever you are I am not". That is possibly Mikael Akerfeldt's longest and most emotional scream ever recorded. Add to this Blackheim's haunting guitar melody that keeps churning forever. Thus, a doom-death metal masterpiece is complete. "Murder" is perhaps the most simple cut on the album. Only half as long, slowly strummed guitar chords and a repetitive melody bring the piece an added clarity while Akerfeldt delivers the lyrics with utmost conviction.
"Day" features Jonas Renkse's clean voice from start to finish. Since Renkse played the drums on Brave Murder Day, they decided to use a static drum machine for this particular song. The guitars are repetitive in a hypnotic fashion. Granted Renkse has come a long way as singer over the last years (particularly from Last Fair Deal Gone Down onwards), his vocals on this track are very emotive and the "Let's stay here for a while" chorus is infectious. On the final track "Endtime", Renkse and Akerfeldt sing together, with Akerfeldt doing the growls (do I have to repeat you've never heard him growl like this before?) and Renkse the clean vocals. Mostly acoustic, the song bears effective guitar waves and a solemn, gloomy pace. On the other hand, "Rainroom" has a nice yet dark acoustic interlude and a very powerful guitar theme. "12" is the album's most progressive number, and in many ways similar to the first two Opeth albums, particularly Morningrise. The Dan Swano influence is impossible to overlook here, as the songs goes through several movements, ignoring any conventional songwriting formulas. The intro of this song is simply fantastic: utterly dark, it even destroys the smallest glimpse of hope. Huge, cascading doom riffs explode only to reinvent themselves with ever-changing chord progressions (though it's all done so subtly that you may not understand anything upon first listen).
If you get the re-release of Brave Murder Day, you'll also hear the For Funerals to Come EP, consisting of four tracks, featuring original singer Jonas Renkse. This is a great EP with some great songs, but Renkse's harsh vocals simply pale in comparison to Akerfeldt's, both on this album and its successor: the Sounds of Decay EP.
All in all, this album is easily a milestone in doom-death and quite possibly the favourite album of most Katatonia fans.
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