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Rating: I don't think I can write a completely unbiased or entirely impartial review. I've loved Katatonia since their early beginnings, from their demo Jhva Elohim Meth. But no one, like them, has been able to shift towards accessible sounds without being easy-listening or commercial, absolutely not (even though they were prompted —as admitted by Renkse— by his vocal cords, but they have borne excellent fruits!) without falling into the decline as has —unfortunately— happened to Amorphis.
This chapter closes the decidedly dark trilogy that began with the unsettling and very sad Discouraged Ones and continued with the soft Tonight’s Decision. Of the three, it's certainly the most varied and mature, a true masterpiece. Perhaps I haven't introduced it with "a fanfare," but the CD speaks for itself and needs no words. The lyrics are more than enough to penetrate; rather, it should be listened to repeatedly until all its angles are grasped, with each listen providing always new, different, and sublime sensations. That's the goal of a great album. How often do we witness technically prepared bands, nearly perfect, with an infinite budget that allows them to spend immensely on image and production (Stratovarius, for example) but that lack "soul"?
Let yourself be accompanied into the solitude and anguish of LFDGD, enter the world sung and suffered by Jonas Renkse (one of the most extraordinary voices in metal, I believe, along with the singer of Opeth). Apart from the first track (not bad, but less engaging), the album is a succession of emotions, a crescendo of thoughts and reflections.
Let yourself be taken by Tonight’s Music (surely the most catchy track of the CD), let yourself be carried away by the dark breeze of Clean Today, I Transpire, Sweet Nurse, Don’t Tell a Soul, Chrome, Teargas. Beautiful. A stab to the liver has never been so sweet…
Kudos not only to the musicians but also to the usual Travis Smith who took care of the artwork. The one in my possession is the digipak version with the cross-shaped opening. All the images, blurred, evoke the same sensations as the CD. Thank you Smith, thank you Katatonia. Again. Perhaps, I will never stop...
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 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."
By velvetunderground
This album has all the credentials to become a future masterpiece.
You wouldn’t want to leave this strange sensation… you’d be tempted to press Play again.
