Katatonia
The Great Cold Distance

THE REVIEW

Nothing to say: Katatonia is one of the best, if not the best, gothic-metal band ever. Years have passed since the composition of tracks like "The Black Session" or "No Devotion", some members have changed, but the 5 Swedes manage to maintain very high levels, indeed, they add to their repertoire that touch of innovation and originality that is so lacking in the current music world.

"The Great Cold Distance" is a great album, characterized by the usual Katatonia's "mild" rhythms, but at the same time powerful and melodic, with Jonas P. Renkse's distinctive voice featured prominently and that mesmerizing guitar sound.
It starts right away with "Leaders" which immediately sets the tone of the album, with riffs in full gothic-style, and guitars that have nothing to envy from the sound of a keyboard. It continues with the new single extracted from the album, "Deliberation", with its verse full of ecstasy, almost as if it wants to make the listener anxious, exploding into a chorus that feels like a liberation. "Soils Song" is one of my favorites, characterized by the monotonous psychedelia of a guitar's notes that accompanies the whole song, and it all concludes with a melodic emphasis and decadent voice.
"Consternation" is one of the nastiest, and this is clear from the start with the very hard drums, but the atmosphere tends to change, as if there's a transition from the fury of the storm to divine calm, but only briefly, as the storm returns and remains until the last moment. "Rusted" is beautiful, it starts with an arpeggio accompanied by a chilling melody, then shifts to an almost crossover rhythm, while maintaining the gothic-metal characteristics. The initial riff of "July" is one of those that stick in your head from the first listen, and I would like to highlight the great work on the drums by Daniel Liljekvist, who excels in finding the right rhythms that add that extra touch to the track. "The Itch" is a piece that's arpeggiated throughout most of its duration, and in this act, bassist Mattias Norrman also participates in a "substantial" way in the melodic phase... but, in full Katatonia style, the fury will take over.

These are 7 of the 12 tracks present on the album, but the others are no less... Tight album, with no weak points, in short: a great album!

What can I say, Katatonia is among the best metal bands around, and they don't miss a beat! The five are masters at finding those gothic-hypnotic atmospheres, and they manage not to be predictable and monotonous, quite the contrary. An album recommended not only for fans of the genre, because there are few bands like Katatonia.