I think the cool thing about Katatonia is they haven't left the gloomy atmosphere behind that they originated from, how many rock bands have you seen that can produce such dispaired imagry as Katatonia? And to be honest, I don't think they made a big jump from their old stuff to the new rock stuff, they essentially still use the same style of melodies, the only thing that is drastically different is the vocals. Some people might prefer the anguished screams they used before, which were pretty unique on albums like "DoDS", but I personally think it adds a new dimension to their music, now they essentially have another instrument to work with, Anders singing voice, and I must say that they are great at writing vocal lines that go along with the music perfectly. I think their trademark style that makes them sound like Katatonia whether they are playing doom metal or doomy rock is the amazing amount of desparity that they can project in their music. Honestly, I think that Sounds of Decay and Tonights Decision are the 2 most depressing albums I've ever heard, lyrically and musically. I think my favorite is Tonights Decision, just for the fact that it can be both very mellow and very dark and brooding at the same time. It takes talent to make music like that, trust me. LFDGD is a good record, but it's a little harder for me to get into, it was produced well and has some really good songs on there, but the lyric department took a fairly big dip on that record and quite a few of the songs just don't catch me like most Katatonia stuff does, nevertheless a good record, the first track on it is amazing.
So yeah, I feel that their new approach is much more original and interesting than their older (but still good) doom metal. I'd take a unique entity over just another doom metal band any day.
So yeah, I feel that their new approach is much more original and interesting than their older (but still good) doom metal. I'd take a unique entity over just another doom metal band any day.
