You never cease to amaze me Bryan! You really make vise use of your sensitive ears and sharp analytical brain! Not only do you manage to identify details that usually take me multiple listen to discover, but you find plausible thoughts that the band might have had behind choices/solutions and parallells between their past, vastly different style, and what they're doing today. It's easy for me as an old fan with the "feel" of "who this band is" to trace some of their unique imprint from first to last. But for you, coming from first listens and with so limited exposure to the band (none from their debute I believe). Phenomenal!😍 Ps! They're Swedish - just like I 😁. Their lead singer Jonast Renkse and Opeth main man Mikael Åkerfeldt are best friends Ds!
@@HateMich Some say it's because of subsidised teaching on playing instruments being available for all and also rehearsal spaces for bands. We get high taxes but it makes stuff like that (and all medical care, all levels of education, child care, care of the elderly etc) available for all.
We love your approach to the songs, way more deep than other emotional driven reactions. Keep on doing that which is a awesome analysis of the material! The new Katatonia album is fantastic, as is this song of course as well. Cheers, mate!
They were never a band to use simple progressions, and even on their earliest albums the melody would go into off the beaten path on ocasion. I mentioned Paradise Lost as a very important band for Katatonia's identity, and I'll guess I'll reiterate it here because I'm realising that not only are there paralels in the early sounds, but also in terms of how they progressed and embraced pop sensibilities as they evolved. Whenever a lonely melancholy, sometimes slightly dissonant guitar lead rears its head above the rhythm guitars, there's the Paradise Lost DNA, which Katatonia embraced and explore better than most. Main difference is Paradise Lost kind of went full circle and have reembraced their deathly past, although without losing sight of their experimentation with more Depeche Mode-y elements. Should be interesting for you to check out those similarities, and help understand why these two bands in particular can still retain a fanbase that is generally at ease with all their discography.
This latest album is a composer’s wet dream (I would assume). Seems to be really well composed and every component (including the engineering) is all top notch.
Haven't heard this album yet as it's at the end of my current rock/pop playlist that included all of Katatonia's discography. Very much looking forward to it. First thought was that I was NOT expecting to hear hand claps in a Katatonia track! As it continued playing I definitely recognize the trademark Katatonia mood, but it's definitely lighter here than is typical of them. In a way, it reminds me of the simpler songs from earlier in their alt/goth rock period. At the very least it's definitely lest complex/intricate than most of the material from their recent albums, though whether that's due to a definite change in direction or just for the sake of a single is hard to say. I also think the inclusion of electronics and that "triumphant" part of the bridge that leads back into the chorus are both quite nice, but I personally could've done with more of both, though I do think they brought it home well with the "bigger" vocal layers in the ending. Overall I enjoyed this even though it didn't love it. Part of that may just be my deep familiarity with the band by this point. They do what they do really well--arguably better than any band on the planet--but at the same time most of it feels like slight variations on the same theme (or maybe variations on the same tone is more appropriate). With Katatonia it's always been about the atmosphere/tone to me, and all I really ask of them is that they find just enough variation to keep things interesting. I think they do that here, but at the same time it doesn't strike me as memorable as their best tracks or even much of the material from my favorite album(s) (Last Fair Deal Gone Down especially). Still, it's always nice to hear new Katatonia; feels like coming home to an old friend.
Opaline is absolutely brilliant and one of the reasons I decided to purchase the album Another beautiful song is Atrium. Can't get enough of it... such a catchy and melancholic chorus. ruclips.net/video/BB24-hVZ88k/видео.html I couldn't connect with some of their earlier albums, but this one is great. Seems like Katatonia is going back to their best sound...
I didn't listen to the theme of the week, so initially skipped this on the basis I hated their first track. In discovering the first and last album reactions, I'm happy to give this my attention again. How amusing, they seem to have gone too far the other way for my liking. What a fickle fish I am. This just makes me think of cheese rock - Five finger death punch esq. I guess some riverside and leprous fall close to this, but I'd certainly give the other tracks on this album a chance, unlike the first album. Great Reaction!
Reason your stating Opaline is not really Rock is because its not Rock its Metal.... Katatonia is still a Dark Progressive Metal band its just not Extreme Metal... Metal is more diverse than a lot of people ACT like it is... Maybe its a Prejudice/Jealousy (not referring 2 u)... On your Without God video... You lost me for a moment in the beginning until you re-evaluated your assessment half way thru the video... which is cool... The song structure & the tempo/rhythmic shifts are progressive... as well as Unique/Creative I love both these Katatonia songs both have creative brilliant composition/musicianship
@@progperljungman8218 And were free to respond with another perception and free to point out false narratives usually based in some kind of discrimination... whats your point, seems redundant 🤘
@@kingIgor Well, to me Katatonia is mostly a metal band of course. They do, however, make music in non-metal styles and do it gorgeusly! Dethroned and Uncrowned is a great example where they really add something special in those mellow versions. So, because I'm curious: What exactly would make this song metal?
@@progperljungman8218 The genre integrations are the Progressive part (most Metal is Progressive at least it started out that way... not all is).... What makes it Metal at its core is the Heaviness/Darkness of the Groove/Feel (Bass/Drums) the attack... Heavy Metal Rhythm Guitar... Heavy as hell... Even Jonas vocal melody is Metallic (Traditional Metal)... Slow/Dynamic doesn't devoid the Metal...
@@kingIgor Thanks for replying and discribing. I'm sure many "gatekeepers" of metal don't agree but I'm not one of those. I'm an old prog nerd who expanded with metal some 20 years ago. I frankly couldn't care less whether something counts as "metal" or not (even if I think I hold some understanding of what counts). I just found Bryan's categorisation fair. Also, I don't find Renkse's current voice itself to be "metal" at all, which also makes it perfect for non metal songs like their own (semi)acoustic versions. I also love it with their really heavy metal songs. There's loads of voices in metal that aren't "metal" in themselves but fit well within. Just like e.g. electric (even distorted) guitar isn't exclusively metal but fits well within 😊
I love Viva Emptiness (my second favorite album after Last Fair Deal Gone Down), but I find it odd that anyone would love that album but not their other material. I do wish they had more balls-to-the-wall metal banger tracks like Ghost of the Sun. What an opener!
@@jthomashair I've always thought The Great Cold Distance was their most overrated album. Vastly prefer Last Fair Deal, Viva Emptiness, Fall of Hearts, and Night is the New Day.
I used to love Katatonia when I was in my teens/early twenties. Brave Murder Day and Discouraged Ones were some of my favorite albums. But man, this was a painful listen for me. Feels like they are (like A LOT of metal bands) creatively stuck in the same place as they were 10-15 years ago and it just gets more dull with every album.
![Katatonia - Atrium [Reaction/Review]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/Kik-XpZNFoQ/mqdefault.jpg)
You never cease to amaze me Bryan! You really make vise use of your sensitive ears and sharp analytical brain! Not only do you manage to identify details that usually take me multiple listen to discover, but you find plausible thoughts that the band might have had behind choices/solutions and parallells between their past, vastly different style, and what they're doing today. It's easy for me as an old fan with the "feel" of "who this band is" to trace some of their unique imprint from first to last. But for you, coming from first listens and with so limited exposure to the band (none from their debute I believe). Phenomenal!😍
Ps! They're Swedish - just like I 😁. Their lead singer Jonast Renkse and Opeth main man Mikael Åkerfeldt are best friends Ds!
Dude i don't know what you guys have in that blood, but swedish creativity playing metal always amused me 🇸🇪❤️🤘🏼
@@HateMich Some say it's because of subsidised teaching on playing instruments being available for all and also rehearsal spaces for bands. We get high taxes but it makes stuff like that (and all medical care, all levels of education, child care, care of the elderly etc) available for all.
We love your approach to the songs, way more deep than other emotional driven reactions. Keep on doing that which is a awesome analysis of the material! The new Katatonia album is fantastic, as is this song of course as well. Cheers, mate!
Thanks a ton! Glad to hear my approach is resonating with people. :)
They were never a band to use simple progressions, and even on their earliest albums the melody would go into off the beaten path on ocasion.
I mentioned Paradise Lost as a very important band for Katatonia's identity, and I'll guess I'll reiterate it here because I'm realising that not only are there paralels in the early sounds, but also in terms of how they progressed and embraced pop sensibilities as they evolved. Whenever a lonely melancholy, sometimes slightly dissonant guitar lead rears its head above the rhythm guitars, there's the Paradise Lost DNA, which Katatonia embraced and explore better than most. Main difference is Paradise Lost kind of went full circle and have reembraced their deathly past, although without losing sight of their experimentation with more Depeche Mode-y elements. Should be interesting for you to check out those similarities, and help understand why these two bands in particular can still retain a fanbase that is generally at ease with all their discography.
My dream is Katatonia reembrace their roots like Paradise Lost 🥺
This latest album is a composer’s wet dream (I would assume). Seems to be really well composed and every component (including the engineering) is all top notch.
Haven't heard this album yet as it's at the end of my current rock/pop playlist that included all of Katatonia's discography. Very much looking forward to it. First thought was that I was NOT expecting to hear hand claps in a Katatonia track! As it continued playing I definitely recognize the trademark Katatonia mood, but it's definitely lighter here than is typical of them. In a way, it reminds me of the simpler songs from earlier in their alt/goth rock period. At the very least it's definitely lest complex/intricate than most of the material from their recent albums, though whether that's due to a definite change in direction or just for the sake of a single is hard to say. I also think the inclusion of electronics and that "triumphant" part of the bridge that leads back into the chorus are both quite nice, but I personally could've done with more of both, though I do think they brought it home well with the "bigger" vocal layers in the ending.
Overall I enjoyed this even though it didn't love it. Part of that may just be my deep familiarity with the band by this point. They do what they do really well--arguably better than any band on the planet--but at the same time most of it feels like slight variations on the same theme (or maybe variations on the same tone is more appropriate). With Katatonia it's always been about the atmosphere/tone to me, and all I really ask of them is that they find just enough variation to keep things interesting. I think they do that here, but at the same time it doesn't strike me as memorable as their best tracks or even much of the material from my favorite album(s) (Last Fair Deal Gone Down especially). Still, it's always nice to hear new Katatonia; feels like coming home to an old friend.
They lost their old mood, a shame 🥺
Opaline is absolutely brilliant and one of the reasons I decided to purchase the album
Another beautiful song is Atrium. Can't get enough of it... such a catchy and melancholic chorus.
ruclips.net/video/BB24-hVZ88k/видео.html
I couldn't connect with some of their earlier albums, but this one is great.
Seems like Katatonia is going back to their best sound...
Atrium the first single is awesome
Please do a reaction on White Ward - Leviathan
I didn't listen to the theme of the week, so initially skipped this on the basis I hated their first track. In discovering the first and last album reactions, I'm happy to give this my attention again.
How amusing, they seem to have gone too far the other way for my liking. What a fickle fish I am. This just makes me think of cheese rock - Five finger death punch esq. I guess some riverside and leprous fall close to this, but I'd certainly give the other tracks on this album a chance, unlike the first album. Great Reaction!
Reason your stating Opaline is not really Rock is because its not Rock its Metal.... Katatonia is still a Dark Progressive Metal band its just not Extreme Metal... Metal is more diverse than a lot of people ACT like it is... Maybe its a Prejudice/Jealousy (not referring 2 u)...
On your Without God video... You lost me for a moment in the beginning until you re-evaluated your assessment half way thru the video... which is cool... The song structure & the tempo/rhythmic shifts are progressive... as well as Unique/Creative
I love both these Katatonia songs both have creative brilliant composition/musicianship
Yeah. Katatonia is still a metal band. With the guts to do some non metal stuff. But we're all free to percieve whatever and call it what we want 🙂
@@progperljungman8218 And were free to respond with another perception and free to point out false narratives usually based in some kind of discrimination... whats your point, seems redundant 🤘
@@kingIgor Well, to me Katatonia is mostly a metal band of course. They do, however, make music in non-metal styles and do it gorgeusly! Dethroned and Uncrowned is a great example where they really add something special in those mellow versions. So, because I'm curious: What exactly would make this song metal?
@@progperljungman8218 The genre integrations are the Progressive part (most Metal is Progressive at least it started out that way... not all is).... What makes it Metal at its core is the Heaviness/Darkness of the Groove/Feel (Bass/Drums) the attack... Heavy Metal Rhythm Guitar... Heavy as hell... Even Jonas vocal melody is Metallic (Traditional Metal)... Slow/Dynamic doesn't devoid the Metal...
@@kingIgor Thanks for replying and discribing. I'm sure many "gatekeepers" of metal don't agree but I'm not one of those. I'm an old prog nerd who expanded with metal some 20 years ago. I frankly couldn't care less whether something counts as "metal" or not (even if I think I hold some understanding of what counts). I just found Bryan's categorisation fair. Also, I don't find Renkse's current voice itself to be "metal" at all, which also makes it perfect for non metal songs like their own (semi)acoustic versions. I also love it with their really heavy metal songs. There's loads of voices in metal that aren't "metal" in themselves but fit well within. Just like e.g. electric (even distorted) guitar isn't exclusively metal but fits well within 😊
"Viva Emptiness"is the only album I like.
I love Viva Emptiness (my second favorite album after Last Fair Deal Gone Down), but I find it odd that anyone would love that album but not their other material. I do wish they had more balls-to-the-wall metal banger tracks like Ghost of the Sun. What an opener!
Evidence ❤️ There is much emotions in that song rather their last 3 albums.
That and the Great Cold Distance really stand apart from all of their other albums in terms of sheer quality throughout
@@jthomashair I've always thought The Great Cold Distance was their most overrated album. Vastly prefer Last Fair Deal, Viva Emptiness, Fall of Hearts, and Night is the New Day.
Really?? I can guarantee you mosh to the day and then the shade😂😂
I used to love Katatonia when I was in my teens/early twenties. Brave Murder Day and Discouraged Ones were some of my favorite albums. But man, this was a painful listen for me. Feels like they are (like A LOT of metal bands) creatively stuck in the same place as they were 10-15 years ago and it just gets more dull with every album.