KATATONIA | City Burials | Album Review

Sweden's Katatonia is back with their first record in four years. To many metal fans, Katatonia is a beloved band for multiple reasons. Beginning in the early 1990's as a doom metal act, Katatonia has evolved significantly past that as their career has gone on, and are pretty hard to classify. Some call them progressive metal. Others label them a dark rock band. Some still classify them as a doom metal band. Whatever you want to consider them, Katatonia have had an interesting career and they've still managed to receive acclaim across the board. The band's eleventh studio album "City Burials" marks their return to writing music after going on hiatus in 2018. Many fans worried that this hiatus might be permanent were instantly excited when the band returned. Regarding why the band felt their hiatus was necessary: "We felt that we needed to recharge and get some perspective. Basically we did a lot of touring from previous albums and by the end of that, the last few gigs, I think we all felt that we were pretty sick of being away from home for such a long time". That is commonplace for many bands who get tired of touring and get burnt out by it, especially if they're a band making music for 30 years at this point. Katatonia has definitely been known for taking a while to make new music, one example being "The Fall Of Hearts" as it took four years after its predecessor to be unveiled, so embarking on a break from writing music is a smart move on their part in order to make something they feel represents them in the best way possible.

"City Burials" begins with the five and a half minute epic opener "Heart Set To Divide", followed by the two tracks put out in promotion of the entire album, those being "Behind The Blood" and "Lacquer". These three songs are different in various ways, but all of them succeed at introducing listeners to this album's and the band's style. "Heart Set To Divide" begins quietly in its first act before building up to a guitar-driven sound for the rest of the song. The instruments definitely work effectively here and vocalist Jonas Renkse has that typical vocal delivery that Katatonia fans love. The verses in particular are excellent as they focus more on the ambience here as well as featuring some solid bass notes in the background. "Behind The Blood" is probably the heaviest song on "City Burials", as it contains two technical guitar solos amongst what you'd normally get from this band. This is one of the highlights of the entire album and it's definitely one of the more consisten tracks on the album. "Lacquer" is a bit of a red herring as far as this album is concerned, being a subtle ballad with electronic effects and cinematic elements that make it sound big, and it works. I can see why longtime fans would be a bit turned off by this song as there are no guitars and it's a wildly different song for the band. Compared to previous albums like "The Great Cold Distance" and "Last Fair Deal Gone Down", it's hard to believe that "Lacquer" was made by the same band aside from Jonas' vocal delivery, but it's an early highlight that proves that Katatonia can make anything work.

Right off the bat, I think I should make it known that this clearly isn't Katatonia's best work to date. After the first three cuts, the album doesn't necessarily live up to what those songs accomplished. Don't misinterpret that statement; Katatonia still put a lot of effort into "City Burials", and that's something you can pick up on right away as you listen. They know what they're doing. However, I just don't think that this stacks as high as some of their earlier work. That doesn't mean that there aren't any highlights on this album because all of these statements I'm making would be misleading. "Vanishers" is definitely a moment where the band goes in a unique direction similar to they did with "Lacquer", but this track features a bit more volume on the instrumental side, and it adds to the song as a whole. The addition of female vocals really gives the song another layer to its already visceral sound. Closing track "Fighters", a cover of an Enter The Hunt song, is probably the most consistent track on the album, while also being one of the heaviest. It's a track that people that are new to the band will probably enjoy the most. Jonas' delivery works well here and the instrumentation goes a long way, especially with the double kick drums that take over. Other tracks such as "The Winter Of Our Passing" and "City Glaciers" are also solid cuts as well, adding to the immersive style that Katatonia have forged for themselves on this entire album.

One problem that I have with this album is that a lot of the tracks in the second half tend to blend together very easily. "City Glaciers" and "Flicker" literally sound like they could be the same song with minor differences to each. Tracks such as "Rein", "Neon Epitaph", and "Untrodden" aren't that remarkable either. Most of these have the potential to be great moments, but they don't really go anywhere and you're left rather bored by them, or they do something to make the song less desirable. "Untrodden" especially suffers in this department, as the guitar solo isn't that impressive and the second half isn't as potent as the first half. Putting all of that aside, Katatonia still put all of their time and effort into the final product. I may not care for some tracks on this album but "City Burials" as a whole doesn't have a bad song across its entirety. I discovered Katatonia in 2014 and fell in love with several of their songs, and while I don't think "City Burials" is on the same level as an album like "The Great Cold Distance" or even "Night Is The New Day", the metal band from Sweden have delivered a satisfying project for longtime fans. Overall, "City Burials" is a slightly different album for the long running act, and it might not fulfill a listener on every level, but when it does, it really succeeds. While it may not blow people away to the point where they'll travel outside of their city to thank the band, it definitely doesn't leave them disappointed.

RATING: 7/10

Leave your thoughts about this album in the comments section below. Was this album good or bad? Was it a surprise or a disappointment? All you have to do is type it in. Everybody's opinions matter even if they are different than mine. Please feel free to enjoy my content on the Scamp4553 Deviantart account as well, including other lists, reviews, and other series. Also, if you'd like to get a glimpse at all of the insanity that goes on outside of this site, check me out as Scamp4553 on Instagram and as SimbaKoda444 on YouTube. And of course, more content is coming your way soon. Take care.