Katatonia
Kocytean (EP)

Today undisputed masters of "dark metal," twenty years ago authors of some of the most successful and seminal examples of death doom. Katatonia and their stylistic evolution, are one of the few certainties in the ever-changing and increasingly inflated world of hard rock.

Their stylistic path is set at "Dead End Kings" (an album that I've reassessed over time) and its twin "Dethroned & Uncrowned," an acoustic and "experimental" remake of the previous CD. An interesting album, a nice find, but perhaps not deeply felt and certainly not indispensable. One year after that release comes "Kocytean," an EP with no room for new material. This effort revisits some past tracks that were somewhat sidelined: "Unfurl" featured in the "July" single and "Code Against The Code" in the "Deliberation" single. "Second" and "The Act Of Darkening" are instead cries from the past that did not make it onto "Dead End Kings".

Kocytean is a collection of some probably "secondary" tracks by Katatonia that resurface from the depths of a few years ago. A product that doesn't change anything in their extraordinary career but still serves to refresh certain tracks and maintain continuity in the band's discography. And then Katatonia is always a great listen...
 
Side A
1. "Unfurl" (4:52)
2. "Sold Heart" (4:32)
3. "Ashen" (4:09)

Side B
1. "Second" (3:32)
2. "Code Against The Code" (3:34)
3. "The Act Of Darkening" (5:55)