Katatonia - brave murder day
- Thread starter Satyros
- Start date
Hypnos
steck ihn nei!
Brave Murder Day is Katatonia's undisputed masterpiece, and by far their most accomplished work of their first phase.
From then on, with the release of Discouraged Ones, they became a different band, yet still amazing and perhaps more unique than before.
Brave Murder Day is also by far the most emotional vocal performance of Mikael Akerfeldt. He has never growled the way he does on "Brave" again...
Highly recommended.
From then on, with the release of Discouraged Ones, they became a different band, yet still amazing and perhaps more unique than before.
Brave Murder Day is also by far the most emotional vocal performance of Mikael Akerfeldt. He has never growled the way he does on "Brave" again...
Highly recommended.
NFU
I like pie.
NFU
I like pie.
derbeder said:
i think mike's vocals on that album make it lose a lot of emotion that would have been there otherwise. hes a good growler, but on that album it sounded like he was just going through the motions to fill the part of vocalist. which ironically...thats what he was doing. the growls on dance of december souls are a good example of emotive growling for that type of sound.
vampyrouss
Vampyrouss Vocalist
- Aug 3, 2005
- 760
- 0
- 16
NineFeetUnderground said:
I actually agree there.
I listened to it for the first time a couple days ago after only owning their old material, and it definatly did seem really disjointed with the harsh and mellow vocals. It just didn't gel too well to me. Vocals were good, songs were good, but together something just sounded... well, like he said, like a stand in. Need to give it more listens though, it may grow on me! Slowly working through the rest of their material...
I always really liked Mike's delivery on BMD and SoD. It fits the music the way I see it. As for what their best album is, it's hard to pick one for a band that made quite a big leap in terms of sound halfway through their carreer. I think all their albums and EPs (especially Sounds of Decay) are awesome except for Tonight's Decision and Viva Emptiness. Those aren't bad, but for some reason they never clicked as much for me as their other stuff did.
I still need to pick up the new one, but I liked the song they made a video for (good video too).
I still need to pick up the new one, but I liked the song they made a video for (good video too).
I don't like Jonas' vocals on Dance of December Souls and For Funerals to Come too much. Bringing in Mikael for Brave Murder Day and Sounds of Decay was a good idea (even though it was primarily because Jonas lost his voice at the time, I think.) Jonas's vocals and lyrics have come a long way since the early albums. Especially since Last Fair Deal Gone Down.
Opethian666
Booze influenced
- Sep 17, 2005
- 1,105
- 0
- 36
Brave Murder Day is the only album by katatonia that I have, I have the version with the added songs from for funerals to come. I also have heard a few mp3s from their later era.
I must say, BMD is a masterpiece. Brilliantly executed simplicity, creating such a cool atmosphere, with Mike's vocals on top, it's just incredible.
I haven't heard their other albums in their entirety yet, but from what I've heard, I do think this is their best album.
I must say, BMD is a masterpiece. Brilliantly executed simplicity, creating such a cool atmosphere, with Mike's vocals on top, it's just incredible.
I haven't heard their other albums in their entirety yet, but from what I've heard, I do think this is their best album.
If you haven't heard yet, I would highly recommend a couple of songs from each album:
Discouraged Ones: I Break, Deadhouse, Stalemate
Tonight's Decision: For My Demons, I am Nothing, Black Session
Last Fair Deal Gone Down: Dispossession, Chrome, The Future of Speech
Viva Emptiness: Sleeper, Burn the Remembrance, Evidence
The Great Cold Distance: Soil's Song, My Twin, July
Discouraged Ones: I Break, Deadhouse, Stalemate
Tonight's Decision: For My Demons, I am Nothing, Black Session
Last Fair Deal Gone Down: Dispossession, Chrome, The Future of Speech
Viva Emptiness: Sleeper, Burn the Remembrance, Evidence
The Great Cold Distance: Soil's Song, My Twin, July
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.
NP: Katatonia - Brave Murder Day
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.
NP: Katatonia - Brave Murder Day
I did my ritual walk through the forest with BMD today.
I can't say they are great musicians, but they are among the best at what they do - creating depressing music.
Brave and 12 are highlights on this solid album.
Each new album that Katatonia produces becomes my favorite, but they started off well.
I can't say they are great musicians, but they are among the best at what they do - creating depressing music.
Brave and 12 are highlights on this solid album.
Each new album that Katatonia produces becomes my favorite, but they started off well.
