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Rating: I really don't feel like starting for the second time a half-critique (not even a half really) with nostalgic musings about a great band's glorious past; it would seem almost hypocritical. After all, we're talking about Katatonia, and I certainly don't need to remind fans, or anyone who has followed the band up to now, of the great things our Swedish friends have given the metal audience (and beyond) in their eighteen years of career, practically free of setbacks.
This was at least until today...
... November 2009: Katatonia returns, returns with "Night is the New Day", the successor to the immense (in the humble opinion of yours truly) "The Great Cold Distance"; they return riding the crest of the wave alongside other well-known bands that have populated the year with good or less successful releases; Mister Akerfeldt, a compatriot and great friend of Katatonia, teases our ears with some advance, defining the album in question as <<... The greatest "heavy" record I've heard in the last 10 years... Truly a masterpiece>> and many other nice things that indeed, rather than arouse curiosity, instill skepticism; if we also consider that the exquisite single-appetizer "Forsaker" did nothing but keep every good fan on their toes, it's easy to see that "Night is the New Day" had all the right cards and the red carpet already laid out to be welcomed at the top of the album of the year ranking (at least as far as the metal scene is concerned).
Well.
Or rather, no, it's not good at all, because this album is, to put it bluntly, extremely boring, a work that largely offers a string of tracks that are neither fish nor fowl and have neither head nor tail. Wait a moment... Am I really talking about Katatonia? It seems so. Yet who would suspect anything when listening to the aforementioned opening big single, "Forsaker", with its majestic and expansive chorus, with that nocturnal and even slightly serene atmosphere? Not even "The Longest Year" leaves one dissatisfied, as it roughly follows the twilight trail of the previous track, making a good impression; however, like a bolt from the blue, comes the first real misstep, which is the flattering, baroque, and sugary ballad "Idle Blood", where Katatonia seems to want to mimic the mannerism of the latest Opeth.
From this point on, unfortunately, one will have to endure a disheartening rollercoaster of boredom, confusion, and bewilderment: while a bit puzzled by ethereal but fundamentally tasteless refrains ("Onward Into Battle"), going on with the listens we'll have to put up with insignificant whines supported by equally empty riffing ("New Light"), disordered attempts to break through with mighty but monotone chugga-chugga guitar work ("Liberation") and, as if that wasn't enough, further doses of diabetes after the already nauseating "Idle Blood" ("Inheritance", complete with violins and cellos as icing). And what about "Nephilim"? It almost seems to come out of "Viva Emptiness," too bad it's excruciatingly slow, not to mention incredibly tedious and annoying. An agony, and not the kind of agony one expects from Katatonia.
The rest of the album, alas, hovers at these levels, with few exceptions: everything flows slow, slow, slow [...], slow like molasses without anything surprising happening; everything drags on without much dynamism between inconsistent/non-existent "heavy" passages and lengthy more relaxed and autumnal moments that, while initially seeming intriguing, will soon end up boring holes within tracks, thus becoming flat and exhausting. Of the inquietude, anguish, resignation, and other peculiar atmospheres of any other album by the Swedish combo, there's no longer a trace except in the concluding "Departer,” a desolated journey that fades into a thick fog; it's certainly an inspired and rarefied closure that, however, doesn't alleviate the overwhelming sense of emptiness that afflicts "Night".
I'll stop here.
Probably those who have read the review up to this point have remained a bit skeptical in front of such a sharp and negative judgment, still debatable and, I hope, alleviable. Surely no one expected a "The Great Cold Distance – Part 2", it would have been too easy and in any case, it's not the Kata's nature to repeat themselves over the years; it's just a pity that this new footprint left by the band is far from being indelible (especially compared to previous ones), although remaining unique and unmistakable compared to today’s standards, as only Katatonia's brand has always sounded and still knows how to sound. Let's console ourselves.
[Rating 5/10]
Tracklist Lyrics and Videos
01 Forsaker (04:04)
Rage from a distant
The name unfamiliar
Spikes reach the heart
Time set for rewind
The dark will rise
Abandon your freedom
Give up the right to find your true self
Forsake your own reasons
Forsaker, forsaker
Hand of a leader
Bleached by snowfall
Opposition is drugged
The great end is sweeping in
The dark will rise
Abandon your freedom
Give up the right to find your true self
Forsake your own reasons
Forsaker, forsaker, forsaker
02 The Longest Year (04:37)
In the nights of old I always wished
In the longest year that had me down
And I would freeze if you ever asked me
That was my way
Confront the guilt and try to overcome
Do not go away, I'm not there yet
Confront the guilt and try to overcome
Do not go away, I'm not there yet
I can see fire when I fall behind
When I give up my thoughts redefined
How cold is the flame of our uncompromising future?
How cold is the sun?
The city lights fading still
The coming sky so white
And I'm the dark of this our new day
This is my way
Find the one
This weight will hold me down
How cold is the sun?
I can see fire when I fall behind
When I give up my thoughts redefined
How cold is the flame of our uncompromising future?
How cold is the sun?
03 Idle Blood (04:21)
You there, the bringer of my despair
You are stagnation of hope and will
Oh, you personify loss and remorse
And you hide until my fear reappear
The love for life once bright
A burning fuse the only flame I have
Fate's spiral down this curve
The seed's growing my misery
These wounds kill time
My struggle sublime
Idle the blood, black state of mind
All dreams left behind
You claim to be my long, absent friend
You are the cancer that just moved in
You come with the dark night of the soul
But I'm turning my back on you, you know I do
The love for life once bright
A burning fuse, the only flame I have
Fate's spiral down this curve
The seed's growing my misery
These wounds kill time
My struggle sublime
Idle the blood, black state of mind
All dreams left behind
Idle the blood
The black state of mind
All my dreams left behind
Idle the blood
Ooh, the black state of mind
All my dreams left behind
04 Onward Into Battle (03:49)
In the still eclipse
Every light is a heartbeat
In the spring where I watch
The sudden change
I find this so hard
Onward into battle
Time is growing so dark around me
I, shallow one, burn us out
Day by idle day
Days at the sea
My words are incomplete
In the blind spot where I saw you
On the fourth at night
I find this so hard
Onward into battle
Time is growing so dark around me
I, shallow one, burn us out
Day by idle day
05 Liberation (04:16)
Sold are the eyes I have
And cold is the wait for nothing
In dark I write my name in a long line
How is it possible for you to try?
It's coming true
I've changed my name but I will pass it on to you
Journey, no present thoughts
Coming day, darkest will
It's coming true
I've changed my name but I will pass it on to you
Our thoughts entwine
You speak and I hear other words behind
I wave from the edge of the pier
And fade into dreams of sleepers
Marked, I have had this stain for a long time
We called on the bird long before
It's coming true
I've changed my name but I will pass it on to you
Our thoughts entwine
You speak and I hear other words behind
06 The Promise of Deceit (04:15)
Evening
Coming through the crowd
I hold my head high
Straining
Out here
Dissonance surrounds
I hold my head high
I see the wings behind your back
Burned all the maps to reach you
Watching distant lands
I saw danger
Then I felt the pressure
Downfall
This is our time
The setting sun over
All I ever had
So when did you come to think
That you would tell me that I have no one?
When do you think that you
Will give back the things that you owe me?
Burned all the maps to reach you
Watching distant lands
I saw danger, then I felt the pressure
(weak)
The setting sun over
All I ever had
So when did you come to think
That you would tell me that I have no one?
When do you think that you
Will give back the things that you owe me?
So when did you come to think
That you would tell me that I have no one?
When do you think that you
Will give back the things that you owe me?
07 Nephilim (04:25)
Loving mother
He has come
To take your son
Listen how he strides the earth
When only animals are awake
When the shattering of ideals begin
God of ruin will come to you
Loving mother
He has come
To take your son
Loving mother
He has come
To take your son
Fallen from the faded sky
Nephilim comes, foul air
And when morals will decline
God of ruin will come to you
Loving mother
He has come
To take your son
Loving mother
He has come
To take your son
08 New Night (04:25)
Pledge
I've forgotten this time
I am so uncertain
That my heart will go on
Oh, my beloved one
If you were here you'd find
That I'm not feeling well
That I will have to go on
Though summer unwinds now
I have no reason to follow
I have only you
My sun is pale
My heart's old
Why so quiet this new night
There's a white cloud
Under my eyelid
Oh, my beloved one
There is swirling dark
Shrouding my freedom
Cold is the undertow
Hold
My hand
I'm in the waiting line
Mute I stand, barren ground
Though summer unwinds now
I have no reason to follow
I have only you
My sun is pale
My heart's old
09 Inheritance (04:28)
Our inconvenient burden
It could be lifted off of us
If we gave up to finally let go of the free
Will that we were given
Our graves above the timberline
Our names chalked
Treasure or wealth no longer found
The unforgiving void
The forge in which our values burn
The resting leech our thinning minds
In my abstinence I turn to nothing
Our graves above the timberline
Our names chalked
Treasure or wealth no longer found
Let them inherit this fire now
Lest they will forget that we were ever here
Let them inherit this fire now
Lest they will forget that we were ever here
12 Departer (05:22)
The blinding white so far behind I am
And running over idle ground
This evening I kept my word, did you?
I'm turning around wait for your sound
So far according to who
Departer
The journey of our lives
I'm so slow compared to you
Departer
It's the month of July
Brother in your eyes I was the stronger
So how am I to cover you now
Without shadowing your path
This time I watch from the sidelines
Your ghost in the limelight
Face your fears and pierce the night
I'm so close if only you knew
Defender
The story of our lives
I'm so rash compared to you
Surrender it's the path of our lives
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Other reviews
By Raiden7.0
"The Longest Year" has one of the most moving choruses ever conceived by the band!
"The Promise Of Deceit" and "Nephilim" dig into your heart, making you forget previous regrets.
By ElectricOne
Once you get in sync and slow down your heartbeat to better synchronize with the mood of the album, a new facet of Katatonia’s multifaceted personality opens up: and it is truly splendidly dramatic and touching.
Ultimately, a controversial but ultimately pleasant album, after all the above-mentioned listening preparation preambles, which does not hit the big target but opens new scenarios for the Swedish combo.
By Taurus
"Night is the new day" is a softer record compared to the previous one, painting desolate and decadent environments veiled by melancholy and bewilderment.
Their music manages to be very evocative when listened to in the right conditions, revealing new details with each listen.
By Hellring
"Dead end kings turns out to be, all in all, the musically flattest and 'weakest' CD from the Swedes."
"'Lethean,' in the writer's opinion the only true highlight of the record, could very well have appeared in 'The Great Cold Distance.'"
