Hey, sups everyone. Just checked out Katatonia today (finally) with the album 'Viva Emptiness'. I was very surprised to see any Katatonia at the local music store at all, but then I saw this one there, and realized that it didn't have a name that I knew (I would have recognized 'Tonight's Decision') and that the artwork was very Travis Smith-esque, and that, most importantly, it was Katatonia, whom I have been wanting to try out for a long time now. I first saw the name via the early Opeth albums (THANKS TO: KATATONIA, EMPEROR, etc.), and went on amazon.com to read some reviews and get an idea of the music. It looked like it'd be something I'd enjoy. But then, I don't like ordering online, and it's hard to find this kind of this in music store, blah blah... To make this shorter, I finally got my chance, and I leapt at it. My first impression was that Katatonia is different from what I was expecting. I had a slower, more doomy sound in mind, but there are some quite heavy and fast moments on 'Viva Emptiness', which surprised me. Also, the occasional swearing in the lyrics kind of took me aback; I guess I was expecting something a bit more Opethian? Not a big deal anyway, especially since there are some GREAT sad and eerie lyrics on this album. I have to say that I'm impressed with Katatonia so far. I won't venture to say yet that I'm a 'Katatonia fan', as that would be rather premature. Time (like, maybe a day or two, heh) will only tell, but things are looking positive. Anyway, just saying 'hi' and 'Viva Katatonia' to everyone here. I'm also on the Opeth forum, as well as the Nevermore, Soilwork, and Symphony X UM forums; I'm also on the Blind Guardian forum (the one on their site) as Fates Guardian'. K, I'll shut up now and get back to concentrating on VE... \m/
