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Rating: Gray, sick, gloomy, desperate, violent, tall, too tall... that is Last Fair Deal Gone Down. I notice that Jonas Renkse matured, and not just a little in the singing. Obviously, Katatonia won't go unnoticed with this album, very rich in notes, filtered voices, always surprising melodies, guitars alternating between absolute clarity and the deepest gloom, just like the voice, sometimes calm, sometimes tormented and pleading. This album has all the credentials to become a future masterpiece. Absolutely yes! Katatonia with this album have left behind important works like "Discouraged Ones" and "Tonight's Decision," both albums of extraordinary beauty, with a much gloomier sound compared to LFDGD which shifts towards a more post sound but without betraying the Katatonia brand. In a few words this album is airier, richer in notes, as I've already said, but not for this less gloomy... on the contrary!
Now I'll try to describe with words the notes enclosed within this fabulous digipack. "Dispossession" opens the record. You can notice a rising guitar, a dark, suffocating beginning, extraordinarily very beautiful indeed, then comes the entry of the heavy drum as usual, and the piece begins, the guitar traces a solo, alternated with another distorted guitar enriching the sounds making them strong, hard, and quite gloomy. Then begins the splendid singing, gentle, sweet, melancholic, the voice is very clean and fragile. Let's move to "Chrome," a bass and two guitars: one rhythmic, the other solo. Filtered, faded effects, loaded with adrenaline, and the usual soft singing, gradually the piece finds itself on high thanks to a formidable solo, a giant solo that elevates the piece, which then restarts from the beginning, and fades away. "We Must Bury You": grabs you and doesn't let go, a song about two and a half minutes long, obsessive, invoking, dragging, with a two-voice chorus. In this piece, the guitar rhythm shines the most, present in almost the whole song, with hypnotic percussion, the guitars turn on and off suddenly, letting you fall into a swirling finale. "Tear Gas," also liked by those who don’t listen to this genre of music, I know because I've had proof. "I Transpire" leaves no room to breathe, it takes all the breath on its own, if you are claustrophobic, be careful. Notes increasingly dark, voices increasingly filtered, arpeggios, a sickly, very thin, velvety bass, the guitars run wild with ups and downs, technically absolutely elaborate arpeggios, a jewel of a song. But finally, you can breathe with "Tonight's Music." A piece tending toward the romantic, the initial arpeggio says a lot, over elegant and stylish singing. The piece flows and passes as smooth as oil.
"Clean Today": this time it's the cymbals that open the piece. Here the voice begins to warm up, it's wider, open, the guitar bursts with aggressive riffs, the drum is hammering, obsessive, petrified, all this to then fill the soul with the initial "Passing Bird," impossible to remain indifferent in front of this masterpiece of a song. Here the violins take their place, tenderly softened, like little birds in spring, along with a clean guitar... and the orgasm begins. As the piece progresses you will realize how the voice can change from cheerfulness to sickness. A break interrupts the piece and gives way to a gray, gloomy, and violent guitar, a double-edged blade. But we are at the tail end of this masterpiece, and it's time to move on to "The Future Of Speech," also engaging and passionate, the drum is calm, the guitar limits itself to some arpeggios, but after two minutes a hint of guitar seems to have gotten agitated, then falls into nothingness with a hiccuping drum. "Sweet Nurse" welcomes us with a melodic guitar effect, here the voice becomes sad, the drum slippery but always impassive, hard, cynical. This piece flows great, up to a final solo similar to the initial one, flowing like a waterfall that fills us with notes and shivers. And we've reached the end, now it's "Don't Tell A Soul," first of all, the drum replaces sticks with brushes (this only at the beginning), the melody is graceful, inviting, with a keyboard that seems to imitate some wind instrument, a small orchestra... and then the guitar wipes everything out with riffs that cut the throat, for a surprising finale, that afterward you’d be tempted to press another time the button (Play) because it will leave you with a strange sensation, that you wouldn’t want to leave anymore.
Great credit goes to the artwork of maestro Travis Smith, who once again has hit the mark... too bad I can't enter inside it... but if I open my ears well maybe...
Tracklist Lyrics and Videos
01 Dispossession (05:36)
It is to see a traitor go free
It is to feel a filter in me
It is to leave the lights that I saw
It is to ask: is it easy to go
In this dead hour
Here with you
Seconds are worthless
In this dead hour
When all is blank
Minutes are worthless
How long will it take until
There will be room enough for hope
It is so sad to see
Dispossession
It has become my obsession
It is to have a knife in my back
It is to say my soul got a crack
In this dead hour
Here with you
Seconds are worthless
In this dead hour
When all is blank
Minutes are worthless
How long will it take until
There will be room enough for hope
It is so sad to see
Dispossession
It has become my obsession
In this dead hour
Here with you
Seconds are worthless
In this dead hour
When all is blank
Minutes are worthless
02 Chrome (05:14)
The walls are painted
Different every second
My eyes are of chrome
It is television
Can't let go of my leg
It's itching so and bleeding
Layer by layer
I'm peeling away
Burn down my house
And make something happen
Stab me in the heart
And make something stop
'Cause I am so distracted
I am slightly shocked
By how things can keep going
Like a dead man's clock
A mirror is hanging
Kinda loose on my wall
I'm passing it sideways
I'm saying hello
My brother is halfways
Through a book I've left him
Called me today
To see what I'd say
Burn down my house
And make something happen
Stab me in the heart
And make something stop
'Cause I am so distracted
I am slightly shocked
By how things can keep going
Like a dead man's clock
03 We Must Bury You (02:50)
We had you down on your knees
We were kicking you in the head
We tried to hang you from the trees
We didn't stop until you were dead
We must bury you
We must bury you
We must bury you so deep
That no one should find you
Forgive me for covering my eyes
Forgive me for not saving you
Forgive me for being so unwise
Forgive me for letting this be true
We must bury you
We must bury you
We must bury you so deep
That no one should find you
04 Teargas (03:23)
Why have you put so many things into my eyes
That I can't see clear
Who's paid you for telling me what I'm worth
And run in fear
It has been for me a strain to see already
What have you done
The rising noise
The sharpened smells
The deadened sight
What is it in my eyes
A piece of broken glass
Is this the time I should be on my knees for you
Is this your way of telling
Another has been found
Now I know,
It's teargas in my eyes
What is it in my eyes
A piece of broken glass
Is this the time I should be on my knees for you
Is this your way of telling
Another has been found
Now I know,
It's teargas in my eyes
05 I Transpire (05:56)
I can't say that I am free
As long as they return
If I had a way out of here
Would I then return?
They seldom will speak, no
They only breathe, slow
Do they know that I'm afraid, so afraid
They depend on my worries, so I know
I'm awake, I'm right in the circle now
I am with them
There is no way I am going to be free
Because their hearts, they are similar to mine
There is no way they are going to release me
From this chain of rows unto our own hearts
I can't say that I regret my promises
I can't say that I regret behaving like enemies
I seldom will speak, no
I only breathe, ghost
Do they know that I'm afraid, so afraid
They depend on my worries, so I know
I'm awake, I'm right in the circle now
I am with them
There is no way I am going to be free
Because their hearts, they are similar to mine
There is no way they are going to release me
From this chain of rows unto our own hearts
06 Tonight's Music (04:20)
who could call my name without regretting
who could see beyond this my darkness
and for once save their own prayers
who could mirror down just a little
of their sun
how could this go so very wrong
that I must depend on darkness
would anyone follow me further down
how could this go so very far
that I need someone to say
what is wrong
not with the world but me
who could call my name without regretting
who could promise to never destroy me
tonight my head is full of wishes
and everything I drink is full of her
how could this go so very wrong
that I must depend on darkness
would anyone follow me further down
how could this go so very far
that I need someone to say
what is wrong
not with the world but me
what is wrong
not with the world but me
what is wrong
not with the world but me
07 Clean Today (04:23)
all the white lights falling
the blue lights are falling
night is warm
came down with a promise
I have my best shirt on
I lower myself now
it is a way to forgot
of last year's failure
will the streetlight reflect me well enough
am I transparent when I am clean
will the darkness around me be so strong
that there is no way be seen
boys will we become
heroes of this night
or am I just happy
whenever not sober
I cleaned myself well
clean today
and when I pause for a breath
I see millions like me
08 The Future of Speech (05:40)
My prospects have become less promising
I find it hard to believe in anything
Seems I lost my world and so I lost my faith
And I can't go back to where I've been
Brand new day
Can't get worse
I have no lies or truth in what I say
(There) is no meaning
The words are numb but I'm so afraid
(There) Is no meaning
This is another chance or so I'm told
By these who can push themselves at any cost
They bless me with their fingers crossed
My youth is stolen, transformed and sold
Myself say
Can't get worse
I have no lies or truth in what I say
(There) is no meaning
The words are numb but I am so afraid
(There) is no meaning
I have no lies or truth in what I say
(There) is no meaning
The words are numb but I am so afraid
(There) is no meaning
A brand new day
It can't get worse
Hear myself say
It can't get worse
A brand new day
It can't get worse
Hear myself say
It can't get worse
I have no lies or truth in what I say
(There) is no meaning
The words are numb but I am so afraid
(There) is no meaning
I have no lies or truth in what I say
(There) is no meaning
The words are numb but I am so afraid
(There) is no meaning
09 Passing Bird (03:38)
She's got black hair
And she has got a black dress
She's pretending
That her life is a mess
But I cannot rest
With so many worries
I can't lie down
And say I am done
I live because I need more light
I hope I can change today
She would never think of changing
Too much fucking emo, its false (I know)
She's got black hair
And she has got a black dress
She's pretending
That her life is a mess
She stops me in the street
And asks me to follow
I would if I could
If I wouldn't mind breaking her
And I cannot rest
With so many worries
I can't lie down
And say I am done
I live because I need more light
I hope I can change today
She would never think of changing
Too much fucking emo, its false (I know)
10 Sweet Nurse (03:57)
Oh my sweet nurse
Pull the curtain aside for a while
So that I can for once have
The sun in my eye
You smile and say
It's a fine day
Oh my sweet nurse
Pull the curtain aside for a while
Then like a ghost at night
You come around all dressed in white
Talking to me
And so I have to drink
The water with your poison spilled
For no more will
Oh my sweet nurse
Seems you have so little time
That you rather put
Me to sleep than sit by my side
Then like a ghost at night
You come around all dressed in white
Talking to me
And so I have to drink
The water with your poison spilled
For no more will
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Other reviews
By dying_sun
The CD speaks for itself and needs no words.
A stab to the liver has never been so sweet…
By StefanoHab
"Katatonia have lost a bit of that charisma that distinguished them in the past, producing significant compositions but also others that are less refined and, shall we say, simplistic."
"Not the band’s best album, but a chapter nothing short of fundamental in their discography."
