Review Summary: Pretty interesting album to be honest
Katatonia - Tonight's Decision (1999)
Katatonia is a strange band, they have gone through many changes, in their music and in their lineup. It would be easier to separate Katatonia's timeline in 3 Phases, the death/doom phase, their doom/goth rock phase, and the alternative phase. This album came right in the middle of their second phase. When Tonight's Decision was recorded, they didn't have a full-time drummer, Dan Swanö played the drums on the recording sessions, so this is the reason why the drums to this album are so simple, but that's what distinguished Katatonia's sad, slow and eeirie sound.
Line up (Back then):
Jonas Renkse - Vocals
Anders Nyström - Guitars, keyboards, backing vocals
Fredrik Norrman - Guitars, bass guitar
Dan Swanö - Drums (only in studio).
Ok this is the first Katatonia album I ever heard, it got to my hands by accident, but I loved the artwork. I was expecting something really emotional, and really dark, and when I first listened to it, I was kind of confused, the album pace was very slow, and the music was sad, but in a dark kind of way. I listened to it lots of times and it grew on me, it has a hidden catchiness within the melancholly and the eeirie atmosphere, and it is very emotional, but in a different way.
It's kind of hard and confusing to explain how this album sounds like, the rhythmic work is fairly simple, it's very slow-paced, but it flows quite well and doesn't sound very repetitive, but it's definately not the album highlight. The lead guitars are in charge of managing the atmosphere, almost every single part of this album has an atmospheric lead guitar arrangement, and that's easy to notice, but that's exactly what makes this an interesting listen. The vocals are not very powerful, but they sound very sad and emotional, they also use a lot of layered vocals to increase the vocal power. The bass guitar does not shine at all, that's because they didn't have a bass-guitarrist, so Fred (Rhy guitar) recorded the bass, and it's mostly playing along the beat, following the rhythm guitar's chords.
While listening to this album, you'll notice that every song has at least one memorable moment, those moments that gets deep into your head and makes you think "Ok, that's pretty cool" and that they focus on the atmosphere that results of the addition of the elements I mentioned before, it's also really important to state that this album is not a difficult listen, no odd-time signatures, no harsh vocals, NO SOLOS and no extremely heavy riffs. The arguably "heaviness" on this album is pretty digestible for those who can't stand straightforward heavy metal, the heavy moments are simple power chord progressions of the rhythm guitar and fairly simple drums, they are usually short moments, though.
This album has some of the most emotional Katatonia moments ever, album opener "For My Demons" is an example, it opens with an odd clean guitar that will instantly anybody up, then an excellent tonight's decision label moment comes, the main riff to this song is brilliant and extremely memorable, it will surely stay in your head, the verses are so melancholic and the chorus is a fine display of emotion. Those memorable moments are also easily found in "Strained," "Right into the Bliss," and "In Death, a Song." The dark side of this album is shown in songs like "(Had To) Leave" which has a huge haunting chorus over a deep and fairly heavy main riff, this song has a superb bridge, the lead guitar sounds so atmospheric and melanchollic, definately and album highlight. That dark side is also shown in songs like "No Good can come of This" and "Black Session." Another album highlight is "I am Nothing" of all the songs in the album, this one would come closer of being a "hit single," this song is the catchiest one, but it's one of the best, the chorus is one of the deepest katatonia has ever done, it also has an excellent bridge, with a clean guitar arpeggio, I only wish it was a little bit longer. "This Punishment" is fortunately the shortest track here, it's just a filler and the softest track, it's just pointless, but slightly relaxing and has an emotional approach. It also has the Jeff Buckley cover "Nightmares by the Sea" which is a good song, very catchy and dark, but I think it doesn't go along the album's flow.
PROS
-It flows easily (that could also be a negative thing)
-The melodies are kind and deep
-Catchy, but not annoyingly
-Different from traditional Swedish bands
CONS
-It only has 1 "solo" in "A Darkness Coming"
-It may sound repetitive
-The vocals are not very powerful
-Fans of heavy metal witll think this is boring.
OK there it is, I must say this isn't one of the best katatonia has ever done, but it's still a pretty interesting listen, it didn't hook me up the first time I listened to it, but it grew on me I guess that happens with every Katatonia album, since they have an atmospheric approach, they grow on you.
Listen to:
"I am Nothing"
"(Had To) Leave"
"For My Demons"
"Strained"
