Katatonia
The Fall of Hearts

I had written them off. The vague impression that something was going wrong with Katatonia became more and more a certainty in the years following the release of Dead End Kings (2012), which to me was yet another marvel from the Renkse/Nyström award-winning company. However, for the first time in their twenty-year career, it marked a consolidation rather than a true stylistic evolution. Apart from a further reduction in the metal component, compared to Night Is the New Day, those subtle but significant changes that have characterized every stage of their musical journey, especially post-Brave Murder Day, could not be found. And I believe they were somehow aware of it, hence the title, that 'dead end' in which they might have felt trapped.

What followed left a trail of perplexity and skepticism. In 2013 they released Dethroned & Uncrowned, an acoustic remake of Dead End Kings: executed without much attention to detail, a largely sloppy and inconclusive operation that would have only made sense as a bonus CD for some special edition of the original album. Around the same period, they released the double live Last Fair Day Gone Night, recorded two years earlier to celebrate the tenth anniversary of Last Fair Deal Gone Down (2001), and a new edition of Viva Emptiness (2003) with retouched mixing and added keyboards. Meh? Not satisfied, in 2014 they returned with Kocytean: fans are well aware of how great Katatonia's B-sides are, and in fact, the purpose of collecting only a handful in this mini-compilation, which is neither exhaustive nor representative, was unclear.

To make matters worse came the defections, first of guitarist Per Eriksson, then of session keyboardist Frank Default (who had played a very important role in the texture of the songs on the recent albums), and most significantly of drummer Daniel Liljekvist, friend and companion since 2001. Finally, with the excellent DVD/acoustic live Sanctitude (2015), they made amends with a succulent setlist, as well as a reinterpretation of much greater depth.

But with the arrival of the fateful tenth album, The Fall of Hearts (cover as usual by the indomitable Travis Smith), everything went back in place as if by magic: it is clear that Renkse and Nyström were simply buying time to regroup, reassess the situation, and deliver what is, to date, their most massive and complete album, the result of an artistic maturity achieved over twenty-five years in their career. After all, the two of them have always been and will always remain the creative core of the band, and perhaps not all that happened is for the worse: on one hand, the recruitment of Daniel Moilanen on drums has given a decidedly more technical imprint to the writing phase, and on the other hand, without the digital (and burdensome) touch of Frank Default, they've been able to reinvigorate the repertoire of riffs and guitar interweavings, which had been gradually thinning out.

It goes without saying that this is not an (unlikely!) return to their doom beginnings, but rather an expansion of the spectrum of ideas: in The Fall of Hearts, Katatonia molds and breaks down their matter with versatility unusual for them, placing acoustic ballads, more catchy and rocking tracks, the usual gut punches, and especially those (neo)progressive influences that recently seemed to just peek through without fully exploding. A sort of recap, but also a measured step forward, resulting in almost 90 minutes of new music (67 minutes + 4 B-sides scattered across various editions). All this without sacrificing even a bit of their invincible decay, that Nordic pride that, even in emotionally devastating moments (and there are many, so many), still manages to uplift your spirit.

The first innovations can already be perceived in the opening track Takeover: the imposing runtime (at least by their 4-minute standard!), the sudden pauses and restarts, the impetuous instrumental digressions... but is it really them? Yes, on the mic is Renkse’s unmistakable voice, aging like fine wine, continuing to sing to us about endless waits, distances, promises, freedom, fire, and ice, drawing from his somewhat cryptic but evocative vocabulary. Then there’s the chorus: Katatonia is not exactly the band that chases a winning chorus at all costs, but in The Fall of Hearts we find lots of them. Shortly after, Serein presents itself as the punchiest track of the batch, gently taking off only to crash into a chorus that mows everything down. For years now, Jonas has been fully aware of his strengths, able to enhance the emotion, elegance, and nuances of his voice, at the expense of technique and range. This is also evident in the subsequent Old Heart Falls, where Katatonia as a whole reconfirm themselves as more of a studio band than a live one, with an angular approach to songwriting and a meticulous attention to detail as always; dynamics and interpretations that maybe lose little of their effectiveness on stage.

In the poignant ballad of Decima, with mellotron strokes, a desolate acoustic guitar, and especially Jonas’ fallen angel voice, the usual Opeth influences become apparent, with the only difference being that today’s Opeth can only glimpse with binoculars the poetry and personality of Katatonia. Predictably enough, Sanction contrasts with its heavy riffs, among the darkest the band has written in at least a decade, and a kick-ass chorus reminiscently of Viva Emptiness, only to drag on into a long instrumental bridge. Come to think of it, it has rarely happened to hear the instruments breathe freely without Jonas' accompaniment, and in The Fall of Hearts things have changed even in this respect.

The heart of the album, however, is reached with the monumental Residual, Serac, and The Night Subscriber; powerful slaps in the face to the detractors who continue to claim that Katatonia "always do the same thing". I say that a prog-like track like Residual can't be found in their repertoire: a skeletal, angular, cold creature; a slow climax that struggles to erupt in the subdued chorus. And then there's Serac. Shall we talk about the rocky, bone-crushing intro? The demonic guitars that sound as if pulled from Ghost Reveries? Jonas towering over it all at times and then surrendering to one of his most heartfelt performances? And how do Katatonia manage to keep these 7+ minutes together without indulging themselves? Let's face it: these damn Swedes have just ventured into the realm of prog-metal, and they sound much better than the likes of Opeth or Dream Theater.

And if it's true that Last Song Before The Fade is linked to recent Dead End Kings and Night Is the New Day (though the lively chorus and prog temptations highlight its identity), Shifts and Pale Flag stand alone a bit: the first kaleidoscopic and ethereal (albeit betrayed by the uneasiness of the lyrics), the second is the closest they've come to Nordic folk, a solemn tombstone wisely placed before the final shot. With the final Passer, Katatonia condense all the album's ideas, juggling electrifying outbursts, moments of spectral void, declamations, emotional ups and downs, culminating in an epic ride to seal it all. A real devastation. But for those like me who bought the digipak edition with the bonus track, there's also room for Vakaren: maybe its dark yet relaxed textures remind me of Unfurl, or maybe it's the immense emotion of hearing Jonas sing in his native language for the first time, but I think it serves as the perfect post-closure, like end credits.

Katatonia dispel any doubts that had crept in of late and close a circle probably fueling all the class they had in the tank; nothing better could have been asked for. But will this new course see a follow-up? Who can say? In my heart remains the fear that, after ten albums and twenty-five years, it has become too difficult for them to surpass themselves each time, and that the end of my favorite band is approaching: I love to read between the lines, and the message I grasp from the lyrics of The Fall of Hearts is not the most reassuring. Mental drifts? I hope so. For now, I'm enjoying this masterpiece and hope to catch them in Milan on October 10th.