Katatonia
For Funerals To Come

THE REVIEW

"For funerals to come" is the mini album precursor to the seminal "Brave murder day", which brought Katatonia fame and transformed them from a cult underground group to a leading act, later imitated throughout half of Europe.

The work in question contains four tracks, including two real songs, an acoustic piece, and a noise-styled outro, and it is a little gem by the then very young Nyström and Renkse. "Funeral Wedding" opens the album with a piercing riff immediately followed by Nyström’s singing (in this, Renkse only handles the clean vocals) truly anguished and surprisingly expressive. The sounds range from heavy-gothic à la Paradise Lost (the "Shades of god" period) to others reminiscent of the darker Black Sabbath, although all revisited through the melancholic notes of the previous "Dance of December souls". Very melodic solos and acoustic phrasing follow one another with brilliance, a true autumn piece. "Shades of emeral fields" follows closely with the oppressive bleak atmospheres of the first track but with an added touch of originality due to the insertion of Renkse's fragile and touching voice that drags us into a whirlwind of November tears. Excellent final riffing and the solo harmonies of Nyström’s weeping guitar. "For funerals to come" lives on acoustic notes announcing an apocalypse of rain and shattered dreams. Brief but tearful in the band’s best style, while "Epistel" is an outro of noises and screams, a minute of nightmares.

For those who want to appreciate the darker side of the two from Stockholm, this is a truly interesting chapter. New fans may not like it, but I recommend it anyway. In any case, I want to clarify that the dimension of today's Katatonia expresses itself with the same intensity as back then. Simply the sounds and harmonies have changed, in respect of a logical evolution.