Katatonia "Viva Emptiness" review @ DigitalMetal

awesome review..as always!
Can't fucking wait for the album...

I wonder, do you think it's better than Last Fair Deal?
 
Better than "Last Fair..." Hmm... that's a tough one. I enjoy them differently, but get back to me in a year, and then ask. To be honest, "Last Fair..." still sounds great after aging a bit.
 
Is it better than Last Fair Deal? I'd say no. Is Last Fair Deal better than Viva Emptiness? I'd say no. I'd probably say these are my two favorite Katatonia albums. I like listening to them together, they very much do fit together imho; though they are different, but to be honest it's not very significant. I'd almost say it's Opeth going from Still Life to Blackwater Park.

The best way to put it is that I love both equally the same. It's just their sound evolving slowly, but it is certaintly moving forward in a progressive way. It's just the next gradual step, and it makes for awesome, beautiful music.

A very memorable part that's stuck in my head right now is "Burn the Remembrance". There's a part that just has this hypnotic sound that I get sucked into, it completely reminds me when I went to Opeth's show and I was in the front row... :)
 
Great, great review.

In my opinion, Viva Emptiness is the best Katatonia to date. The strength/production of the riffs is most powerful, the arrangements tighter, more defined. Like cunningly observed in Digital Metal review, this time it's both youthful anger of the early days(Dance...) and the deepression of Discouraged/Tonight's/LFDGD...
I've listened to trax Ghost of the Sun, Criminals and Evidence and I can't get them out of my head (nor Cd player) for 10 days, ferchrissake...
A masterpiece.