Review Summary: An alternative to those who like softer music, yet want that harsh, driving tone of most Metal. An excellent release that will surely be cherished for quite awhile.
So many words to describe
Katatonia, yet all fall under a few umbrella terms; melancholic, deep, beautiful… and all are usually true. While Katatonia may not be as technically impressive as their peers like
Opeth, they are sure not one of these bands you leave behind, for they are just as mesmerizing and unique as them.
Discouraged Ones, Katatonias’ first full length without harsh vocalization, is an excellent example of how much a band like Katatonia can go above and beyond with terrific songwriting and ideas to make the listener fall in love with them.
The overall sound of this record can be described as soft yet abrasive, delicate but emotional, harsh and blissful at the same time. See, the vocalist(s), Jonas Renkse, and backing vocalist Anders Nystrom, use clean, gothic singing in contrast to most of the albums heavy, guitar driven music. Such a combination would be devasatingly terrible if not done right, but Katatonia achieves this feat most precisely. Also incorperated is the use of soft, laid back vocals alongside loud, forceful singing. This use of musical inspiration has a dark, ominous tone, yet can be overwhelmingly lonesome and somber as well.
In contrast to the vocals, we have the guitars, which are abrasive and chunky, with a murky, thick sound. Certaintly this is a big sonic wall, and not to be taken lightley, for much of the album has this tone, albeit the clean tones. However, the main part of the guitar takes a backseat when a melody comes in from an accompaning guitar or the keyboards. Speaking of which, melodies are abundant, one appearing in almost every work, and have an infinite amount of beauty established within, and most make the song so wonderful, both on the guitar and keyboard parts. An immense amount of work must’ve went into these insturment parts, and it is easy to see that their work paid off.
Percussion is handled by the main vocalist, Jonas Renkse. While nothing mind blowing and earth-shattering, Jonas does a fair deal of more-than-avarage drumming, when one considers he does at least three major things in this project, done all by himself. Slow beats make the rest of the album flow as such, tying everything together, with no room for dissapointment. A very well-done job has been done by Jonas on this LP. Keyboards also make their small, but effective, parts. Noises, some bubbly, some drawn-out and hard, and some just plain weird, take place in songs and add a touch of atmosphere and depth to the music, something which Katatonia wholeheartedly uses to their advantage.
And whist everything might seem to be to perfection, sadly, it is not. While there are dents and scratches to this wonderful work of art, they are little and nitpicky, but make all the difference from me giving this a five star rating. The first and foremost is, Jonas sometimes sounds nasally. It really distracts when it happens, but it doesn’t occur much. The second is that the lyrics are something of an odd nature, and can be really hard to see where Renkse and Co. came from. But from that, as aforementioned, this is an excellent, excellent album, and a great place to start if you’re getting in to later-day Katatonia.
FINAL RATING - A STRONG 4.5 OUT OF 5
