katatonia tribute review
- Thread starter insidethefall
- Start date
the_dying
Member
From the thankslist: "especially to Anders for all help along the way".
I pitty the huge list of rather unknown bands. Why there isn't Daylight Dies, Rapture, Novembre or even Opeth listed? Would add a lot more prestige to the release.
I pitty the huge list of rather unknown bands. Why there isn't Daylight Dies, Rapture, Novembre or even Opeth listed? Would add a lot more prestige to the release.
Katatonica
noise and whisper
i thought that too but then i listen to the original SYD and peed on myself... so yeah still that syd cover is ass kicking... so is the rest of the thing
I thought Aeveron's cover of shades of emerald fields was incredibly good along with Fragile hollows's cover of saw you drown. Overall i love this cd, maybe 1 or 2 songs that im not too fond of.
deadhouse.
on fire, baby!
Hum, I heard a lot about these bands, even before the "Tribute .." came out.
What's wrong now?
My absolutely favorites are "farsot", who interpreted "I Break".
Fragile Hollows, hum.. no - there are loooots of songs, they played better than this! Honestly I was disappointed. =/
What's wrong now?
My absolutely favorites are "farsot", who interpreted "I Break".
Fragile Hollows, hum.. no - there are loooots of songs, they played better than this! Honestly I was disappointed. =/
LifeDepraved
My soul got a crack
Heh, I thought Farsot killed I Break. It sounded like a joke...now whenever I listen to the song I hear the lazy half-assed screech that sounds like black mettaler taking a shit.
Other than that...awesome tribute!
Other than that...awesome tribute!
deadhouse.
on fire, baby!
They would never do, I swear. ;-)
A band interpreting Katatonia like they don't give shit? On a Tribute-Album? Hum.. interesting, very interesting. But fine. You feel what you feel.
They did Katatonia their way.. Nobody payed for copies, I guess..
A band interpreting Katatonia like they don't give shit? On a Tribute-Album? Hum.. interesting, very interesting. But fine. You feel what you feel.
They did Katatonia their way.. Nobody payed for copies, I guess..
LifeDepraved
My soul got a crack
I encourage the bands to do it their own way...That's why I said I liked the rest of the album. Their track is just awful though. Personal opinion..yeah.
deadhouse.
on fire, baby!
the_dying
Member
the_dying
Member
Here's my review:
"December Songs" was created by fans for fans. All who participate here love Katatonia with all their hearts and cherish the old days, claims the info inside. Take a look at the Northern Silence homepage and immediately you'll find out why this German label had to release this tribute to Katatonia. And as a Katatonia lover I fully agree. Northern Silence solely focused on this double CD on the old days of Katatonia of which the most recent songs hail from "Discouraged Ones", released back in 1998. Katatonia never disappoint whether you listen to the first "Jhva Elohim Meth" MCD or the latest "The Great Cold Distance". Their unique style of melancholy and catchiness opened doors for many other bands. The atmosphere on the first full length "Dance of December souls" is a milestone in the doom and black metal genre. Only few other bands can compete with the feeling on that disc. Northern Silence definitely thinks the same.
Chronologically 16 obscure black metal bands pay their homage. Most famous names are Xasthur, Wyrd, Dark Fortress and Forgotten Tomb and their performances aren't flawless. So there's the American Loss ruining "Brave" with their out of tune guitars (good thing the annoying feedback of the original is cut). Apart from their own style, most bands just copy their song. Only a few dare to challenge Katatonia's status and make a short own interpretation of the song. There's Hel singing "Cold Ways" with some clean vocals (performed by Winterheart) and Finish gothic combo Fragile Hollow creating a poppy version of "Saw You Drown", which doesn't really suit the black metal vibe on "December Songs". Nevertheless their performance is stunning and I dare to say Fragile Hollow beat the original. I imagine Northern Silence mainly chose for underground bands – given the gloomy sphere. But I somehow regret no big names are put on this compilation. I'm sure bands like Opeth, Novembre, Anathema, Drudkh, Rapture and Daylight Dies would add even more depth and prestige to this release. Also the promo stunt about 2 never seen photos of the first Katatonia session is rather lame. One is blurry as hell and the other shows us Lord Seth (Jonas Renkse) in true black metal style sitting in a circle of candles. Eat this, new era fans!
In the end "December Songs" is one hell of an album with marvelous artwork by Kristian Wåhlin. You feel the admiration for Katatonia dripping from this release, I only regret "Murder" being left out on this compilation.
* For the real Katatonia fans: on the back side of the booklet there's an image of the moon. Right after "Dance of December souls" Katatonia wrote the "Moonbride" album having the same cover artwork. Later the title changed into "Brave Murder Day".
Source: http://www.vampire-magazine.com/article.php?aid=42931
"December Songs" was created by fans for fans. All who participate here love Katatonia with all their hearts and cherish the old days, claims the info inside. Take a look at the Northern Silence homepage and immediately you'll find out why this German label had to release this tribute to Katatonia. And as a Katatonia lover I fully agree. Northern Silence solely focused on this double CD on the old days of Katatonia of which the most recent songs hail from "Discouraged Ones", released back in 1998. Katatonia never disappoint whether you listen to the first "Jhva Elohim Meth" MCD or the latest "The Great Cold Distance". Their unique style of melancholy and catchiness opened doors for many other bands. The atmosphere on the first full length "Dance of December souls" is a milestone in the doom and black metal genre. Only few other bands can compete with the feeling on that disc. Northern Silence definitely thinks the same.
Chronologically 16 obscure black metal bands pay their homage. Most famous names are Xasthur, Wyrd, Dark Fortress and Forgotten Tomb and their performances aren't flawless. So there's the American Loss ruining "Brave" with their out of tune guitars (good thing the annoying feedback of the original is cut). Apart from their own style, most bands just copy their song. Only a few dare to challenge Katatonia's status and make a short own interpretation of the song. There's Hel singing "Cold Ways" with some clean vocals (performed by Winterheart) and Finish gothic combo Fragile Hollow creating a poppy version of "Saw You Drown", which doesn't really suit the black metal vibe on "December Songs". Nevertheless their performance is stunning and I dare to say Fragile Hollow beat the original. I imagine Northern Silence mainly chose for underground bands – given the gloomy sphere. But I somehow regret no big names are put on this compilation. I'm sure bands like Opeth, Novembre, Anathema, Drudkh, Rapture and Daylight Dies would add even more depth and prestige to this release. Also the promo stunt about 2 never seen photos of the first Katatonia session is rather lame. One is blurry as hell and the other shows us Lord Seth (Jonas Renkse) in true black metal style sitting in a circle of candles. Eat this, new era fans!
In the end "December Songs" is one hell of an album with marvelous artwork by Kristian Wåhlin. You feel the admiration for Katatonia dripping from this release, I only regret "Murder" being left out on this compilation.
* For the real Katatonia fans: on the back side of the booklet there's an image of the moon. Right after "Dance of December souls" Katatonia wrote the "Moonbride" album having the same cover artwork. Later the title changed into "Brave Murder Day".
Source: http://www.vampire-magazine.com/article.php?aid=42931
LifeDepraved
My soul got a crack
Skaldir
formerly known as Unicorn
LifeDepraved
My soul got a crack
KittyKatatonia
Member
I finally got this tribute the other day. It's not as good as I had hoped. Only a scattered few songs are worth listening to really. Forgotten Tomb and October Falls are fantastic (like usual), and Forest of Shadows, and Beatrik are decent. The rest range from average to pretty embarrassing unfortunately. I figured with a band so well-loved and respected like Katatonia they would have had better bands signing up to do this tribute, especially for two discs worth. It's still nice to see Katatonia finally get a tribute album though.
Speaking of October Falls, maybe Mr. Lehto can answer a curiousity of mine. From what album/EP session did you record your cover of For Funerals To Come during? Or was it recorded seperately? If so what year? Since there's no notes of any recording info in the booklet whatsoever, it's tough to tell.
Speaking of October Falls, maybe Mr. Lehto can answer a curiousity of mine. From what album/EP session did you record your cover of For Funerals To Come during? Or was it recorded seperately? If so what year? Since there's no notes of any recording info in the booklet whatsoever, it's tough to tell.
It was actually done before Marras, in a separate session, so it's already few years old. Too bad there was a bit of a hurry to do it, because the tribute was supposed to be released much earlier, than it finally did. Anyway, it ended up simple, added small melody, did the speaking part differently and added the sounds of nails, going through the coffin...for funerals to come.
KittyKatatonia
Member
Okay, thanks for clearing that up! I initially asked because it sounded to me more like a song from the Tuoni sessions rather than the Marras sessions. I guess this tribute took a long time to get going, because even the Forgotten Tomb song sounds like it was recorded during their Love's Burial Ground album from back in 2004.
deadhouse.
on fire, baby!
I did. They got an excerpt to listen to on myspace.com. (http://www.myspace.com/farsotband)
I like' em. Mh.. =)
With some opinions in this thread, let's see:
First, when i buy a tribute, i don't want listen the songs exactly as this songs appear in the normal cd. For me, that i know very well all songs, it's great listen songs like FOSCOR-Gateways of Bereavement. It sounds faster, agressive, but at first time i could recognize what song i was listening. So great job in this direction.
About the bands and its famous status: Those bands i'm sure that love Katatonia from the beginning of the days, and they worked at their best level because they love it. I have a band, and one day if I can i would play songs from Katatonia, 'cause they're a referent for me. I have doubts about if first Katatonia albums are a reference for Rapture, Novembre or any famous band i could read. And i could discover new and fresh bands in this Cd, so better!
And last: Each song has something interesting. Some songs sound better than others, but i love each song, specially for the different sound of the original cd. THIS IS THE SECRET OF A TRIBUT IN MY OPINION, could compare cold ways with DO-cold ways, could compare Love of the swan with the original War compilation-love of the swan... I don't want a listen the same. In this case, i will listen the original.
That's all, and i respect all opinions, but this is my vision and also i want say thanks to NORTHERN SILENCE for the job. Great tribut, man!:
P.D: FOSCOR-Gracies pel Gateways que us heu parit!!! Fantastic i espero poder-lo escoltar en directe algun dia compartint escenari a Catalunya!
First, when i buy a tribute, i don't want listen the songs exactly as this songs appear in the normal cd. For me, that i know very well all songs, it's great listen songs like FOSCOR-Gateways of Bereavement. It sounds faster, agressive, but at first time i could recognize what song i was listening. So great job in this direction.
About the bands and its famous status: Those bands i'm sure that love Katatonia from the beginning of the days, and they worked at their best level because they love it. I have a band, and one day if I can i would play songs from Katatonia, 'cause they're a referent for me. I have doubts about if first Katatonia albums are a reference for Rapture, Novembre or any famous band i could read. And i could discover new and fresh bands in this Cd, so better!
And last: Each song has something interesting. Some songs sound better than others, but i love each song, specially for the different sound of the original cd. THIS IS THE SECRET OF A TRIBUT IN MY OPINION, could compare cold ways with DO-cold ways, could compare Love of the swan with the original War compilation-love of the swan... I don't want a listen the same. In this case, i will listen the original.
That's all, and i respect all opinions, but this is my vision and also i want say thanks to NORTHERN SILENCE for the job. Great tribut, man!:
P.D: FOSCOR-Gracies pel Gateways que us heu parit!!! Fantastic i espero poder-lo escoltar en directe algun dia compartint escenari a Catalunya!
norghash
December Soul
thanks for your opinions on "december songs"! EGODIE has the finger in the wound, that's also my opinion about a tribute.
the main reason why bands such as opeth or agalloch are not on the tribute is that it was meant as an underground thing. i'm sure it would have sold even better with more "big names" but i didn't care about that when i asked bands or agreed when they asked me. katatonia back then were underground and they were black metal, no matter what anyone says now, so i wanted more black metal bands than others for the tribute.
who knows, maybe in a couple of years there will be another tribute for the 2nd era with acts such as opeth, agalloch, dan swanö etc.
the main reason why bands such as opeth or agalloch are not on the tribute is that it was meant as an underground thing. i'm sure it would have sold even better with more "big names" but i didn't care about that when i asked bands or agreed when they asked me. katatonia back then were underground and they were black metal, no matter what anyone says now, so i wanted more black metal bands than others for the tribute.
who knows, maybe in a couple of years there will be another tribute for the 2nd era with acts such as opeth, agalloch, dan swanö etc.
