Katatonia – The Fall of Hearts

[schema type=”review” name=”Katatonia -The Fall of Hearts ” description=”Label: Peaceville Records” author=”Basak Günel” pubdate=”20-05-2016″ ]

When it comes to darkness and melancholy, there’s no other band like Katatonia. The Swedish legends have delivered us the true ‘dark metal’ in different forms since 1991. Although some say that the band has gone to a different or more progressive direction, one thing is certain; the melancholy that they bring is definitely one of a kind.

In the last 2 releases of the band (“Dead End Kings” and the acoustic release “Dethroned and Uncrowned”), I got the feeling that the band has given us some signs of which direction they are going to take. Especially after some major line-up changes, fans wondered how the next album was going to sound like.The band has put an end to all the questions with the latest release “The Fall of Hearts”.

“The Fall of Hearts” is a type of record that grows on you slowly but steadily…Personally, this has not been the case with me and previous releases. Whenever I listened to a new Katatonia release, it was more like a ‘love at first sight’. With “The Fall of Hearts” however, I needed to spin the record over and over again to find those little beautiful elements of darkness. In this sense, you might maybe get a bit disappointed in the beginning but be patient. Especially if you are a die-hard Katatonia fan, you will love the record more each time you listen to it. The songs are quite long this time and there are those little transitions within songs in which the listeners will find the twists and turns & surprises.

Musically, we can definitely see that the band’s new line-up added a different dimension to the sound in this album.  Although the Katatonia sound is still there, I think that the band used the chance to experiment a bit with their progressive/dark sound with the new members and it’s a good start for sure! It has been obvious that they took this progressive direction for a while but with this record, they show us where they stand and what they can create even after changes in the band’s dynamic. Combined with the beautiful and diverse vocals by Jonas Renkse, the synths/melodies create a great harmony overall. The ‘metal’ vibe, on the other hand, remains a bit more in the background compared to the previous record “Dead End Kings”. So the e-guitars accompany the songs rather than taking the main role in the album’s overall sound.

So how do we ‘categorize’ “The Fall of Hearts” then?  In my opinion, it’s a mixture and the evolution of both the progressive and the ‘metal’ Katatonia. Surely, maybe this album might not be so ‘metal’ and I can even imagine some fans getting disappointed. All in all, some of the songs in the album are quite ‘soft’ and proggy.  However, in my opinion, Katatonia is not only about ‘progressive metal’ but it’s more than that; the lyrics, the melancholic vocals and the great harmony of the guitars and the synths. For the lovers of the ‘metal’ side, I can recommend the first half of the album. For the lovers of the ‘progressive’ side of the band, songs like “Residual”, “Old Heart Falls” and “Pale Flag” will definitely be the highlights. My personal favorites are “Residual”, “Old Heart Falls” and “The Night Subscriber”.

“The Fall of Hearts” definitely marks a new era in the history of Katatonia. This is quite a different release than the other ones and will capture you slowly… I am especially eager to see what the band will come up with this line-up as this will be quite an interesting musical ‘journey’ to experience.

Line-up:
Jonas Renkse – vocals
Anders Nyström – guitar
Roger Öjersson – guitar
Niklas Sandin – bass
Daniel Moilanen – drums

Tracklist: 01. Takeover 02. Serein 03. Old Heart Falls 04. Decima 05. Sanction 06. Residual 07. Serac 08. Last Song Before The Fade 09. Shifts 10. The Night Subscriber 11. Pale Flag 12. Passer

Links:
Katatonia Official
Katatonia Facebook