Swedes offer an epically chilling album

By Greg Manning
Collegian Reporter
April 5, 2006

There are certain bands that present a considerable challenge for me to review. When reviewing any piece of popular music, the decision must be made whether to weigh bands’ latest offerings against their past albums, or against the current music scene at large. In this sense, Katatonia’s new album, The Great Cold Distance, is an enigma. The band’s original sound was a melancholic, droning brand of melodic metal that had elements of doom, death and black metal. The effect created on Dance of December Souls and its follow-up, Brave Murder Day (which featured Opeth’s Mikael Akerfeldt on vocals), was a trance-like, slow-building, steadily accruing sort of desperation. The repetitive, atmospheric nature of the music made those albums most rewarding after repeated listens.

These Swedes haven’t been playing metal for quite some time now. Starting with 1998’s Discouraged Ones, the band started to abandon the growled vocals of its past and interject elements of alternative rock into its sound. Subsequent albums, Tonight’s Decision (1999), Last Fair Deal Gone Down (2001), and Viva Emptiness (2003), maintained a heaviness that was undeniably rooted in the band’s past. However, the band also began to rely more and more on verse-chorus-verse song structures and moody moments that called to mind The Cure. The depressively titled The Great Cold Distance continues in the same vein.

What is most immediately noticeable about the album is that it is the heaviest thing Katatonia has done in a while. The band made a conscious effort to make its prior album, Viva Emptiness, more aggressive than L.F.D.G.D. The Great Cold Distance continues in this direction, and is even more aggressive than its predecessor.

Opener “Leaders” is a perfect example, starting off with a dirge of a main riff that becomes the basis for the song’s chorus. Songs like “Follower” and “Consternation,” while carrying the trademark Katatonia aura, are mostly exercises in guitar riffing that border on death-metal heaviness at times. “Follower” in particular features a bridge that makes great use of some double-bass propelled aggression.

This album has space to spare, despite its heaviness. Overall, it combines and enhances the heavy riffs that carried Viva Emptiness with the atmospheric tendencies of L.F.D.G.D. “Deliberation,” “In the White” and “Rusted” are particularly good examples of the band’s sense of melody, whether it be through some clean guitar strumming, subtle keyboard swells or the repetition of brief lead-guitar melodies that lay partially hidden in the mix.

Whether the band is concentrating on its heavier or mellower aspects, the vocals of band-leader/main songwriter Jonas Renkse are what give Katatonia that little extra “something.” This is perhaps his best vocal performance to date. Renkse has a voice that is perfect for the type of music Katatonia is playing. It is mellow without sounding angsty, and sad without coming across as melodramatic. The best way to describe his vocals is to say that he sounds defeated. The album’s lyrics aren’t very up-beat, and they fit his vocal style and the music it accompanies perfectly.

Despite all of these great qualities, The Great Cold Distance is not without its faults. Past albums, though they have relied on verse-chorus-verse song structures, have mixed up this recipe a bit in order to avoid sounding too predictable or repetitive. On this release, the band seems content to stick with the same formula for the entire album. The first single from the album, “My Twin,” is indicative of this approach: a calm, moody verse followed by a heavy chorus with an even heavier bridge thrown into the song somewhere. This glaring flaw makes the album too obvious, and gives it less of a replay value than all of the band’s prior offerings.

Ultimately, The Great Cold Distance is an album that should garner Katatonia some new fans from the world of mainstream rock while pleasing older fans. Those accustomed to the mainstream’s attachment to verse-chorus-verse song structure won’t be bothered by the band’s somewhat formulaic approach on this record, while the strength of the songs themselves will prevent long-time fans from dismissing it completely. However, as someone who falls into the latter category, I get the feeling that while I am enjoying The Great Cold Distance immensely, I won’t be listening to it as much as other Katatonia albums in the future. Perhaps time will prove me wrong. This is a very solid release. Depression never sounded so damn catchy.

manningg1@lasalle.edu