Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Katatonia are like Tool meets Venom with a little Pink Floyd thrown in there, March 13, 2008
Katatonia is probably THE most unique band in the underground metal scene, I wish these guys could get more recognition than they do. Their style is a mix between heavy and somber, slow and mid-paced, with mainly clean vocals and mainly distorted guitar, but they use the clean guitars a lot more often than their peers. There is some incredible songwriting on this release, lots of dual guitar work but not what you'd expect. They are as progressive as Tool or Dream Theater, heavy as Venom or "...Puppets" era Metallica, somber like Opeth or Pink Floyd, but also sometimes catchy like Black Sabbath, CKY, Black Label Society or Lacuna Coil. If you like ANY of the bands I mentioned, or bands like Perfect Circle, Rush, even Korn, Godsmack or Disturbed, you will definitely like Katatonia!!
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5.0 out of 5 stars
Fantastic, ineffable..., December 18, 2008
I can't quite explain what it is that I like so much about this album, but it's simply great. And not just a couple tracks, the album is full of interesting and catchy segments - taken as a whole it is fantastic. I catch myself humming parts of it all of the time, and was surprised to notice that it bumped Opeth's "Watershed" out of my frequent play list rotation. Not that there's really much basis comparison between the albums - Opeth is definitely heavier, whereas this reminds me a little of Porcupine Tree, but more cohesive, and again, catchier. If either of those band names mean anything to you, you might like this.
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5.0 out of 5 stars
What I've Been Looking For, August 5, 2008
This was my introduction to this band, and it made them my favorite band. My previous favorite, Misery Loves Co. disbanded in '00. But this band creates a darkness unrivaled by any other band I've listened to. It's not a brutal, horror-movie kind of darkness, but a psychological and depressive kind of atmosphere... like Sin City w/o any happy parts.
One of the stand-out tracks lyrically, is the song 'Criminals.' The singer apologizes for leaving his wife/lover behind to be killed by someone else... in pain he wills her strength:
"So gather your strength and break free
Or you will surely die
Gather your strength don't follow me
'Cause I will surely die"
This album--every time I crank it up--reminds me of fall. They're THAT good at conjuring mental imagery. Of any well known band they probably compare with A Perfect Circle more than anyone else.
Another one, a fan favorite, "omerta," seems like a light drinking song, until you listen carefully to the lyrics and realize... its a suicide note. (Or someone just poisoned him--its tad ambiguous.) The last half of the album almost has a spiritual quality... it seems to lift off the ground and attain a dreamlike state.
There are some people who were really, really down on this album when it came out... and usually I just say, "That's their opinion." Well, never has an opinion been MORE wrong than the one that does not give credit to what these swedes have done so masterfully...
And to think that sonically they categorically take this sound further on "A Great Cold Distance."
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