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Rating: Preamble: FANTASTIC MASTERPIECE BUY IT WHILE THERE ARE COPIES AROUND!!!
An album, a turning point. The Swedish Katatonia change their skin again, after the elusive death debut Jhva Elohim Meth, the first full-length Dance of December Souls with a clear doom matrix, etc.
First turning point: Discouraged Ones (from which the new logo comes), a desperate, hopeless album. Conceptually we are very close to the previous album with this one, but musically the similarity is less obvious. There's the embryo of metal still hovering over this record, although it's the despair of having to leave at all costs (Had To Leave) or the fight with one's anxieties and fears (For My Demons) that prevails.
Between the bewilderment (In Death, A Song) and the feeling that life is pointless (I Am Nothing), between rarefied atmospheres and subliminal melodies, these are the new Katatonia.
Far from the passionate sentiments of their beginnings, even further from what is offered by other bands playing "Katatonia style," even more hidden in their bewilderment. There are few albums capable of conveying emotions; this is one of them, this puts you face to face with terror, but not the kind of terror that makes people tremble, the terror of being fragile, replaceable, useless...
Here there are no technical virtuosos, no complex riffs, just great emotions and fantastic songs.
Recommended for EVERYONE who loves true music, for those who want to break down any barrier (no one has ever understood if this is a metal record or not).
Note the 2003 digipack reissue with two bonus tracks, also very beautiful although not as engaging as the previous ones. It's pointless to single out a favorite track... the album itself is the favorite! Unmissable...
P.S. For info contact me, and even if you want samples (or mp3s:) of this album, I will be happy to accommodate you as much as possible!)
once discouraged, discouraged one...
Tracklist Lyrics and Videos
01 For My Demons (05:43)
Well I'm here
And summer is gone I hear
So pray for me
As I now leave your town
When did I say this
I will never leave
I can't recall this
Moment in my life
You would never sleep at night
If you knew what I've been through
And this thought is all I have
To trust upon when light is gone
My problem was
That you kept me here too long
And today is when
We'll regret that I came by
When did I say this
I will never leave
I can't recall this
Moment in my life
You would never sleep at night
If you knew what I've been through
And this thought is all I have
To trust upon when light is gone
Life is full of darkness
And murderers come my way
Someday you will join them
And I will let you in
You would never sleep at night
If you knew what I've been through
And this thought is all I have
To trust upon when light is gone
02 I Am Nothing (04:37)
Tonight I'm nothing
It doesn't matter where I've been
Delay of reaction is
The unseen movie of this life
I remember one of my friends
Telling me to go ahead
Water on every side
There's a dead spot in my eye
If I listen close at night
There's something coming my way
Like someone called my name
But I didn't care to look that way
I just fixed my eyes into the crowd
It would have been strange to turn around
If you would tell me that I was someone
Then for a second I would think
Just like I would try to consider
How it would feel to know
I have to get on with this
It's a decision for tonight
Out to look for chances
It is murder of my mind
Once I was someone new
I was chosen for a while
Then with time I am changing
At least that is what they say
If you would tell me that I was someone
Then for a second I would think
Just like I would try to consider
How it would feel to know
What is worth with being here
I pray so often for a change
If you would tell me that I was someone
Then for a second I would think
Just like I would try to consider
How it would feel to know
04 Had To (Leave) (06:03)
So you were with us until the last minute
And then you were gone from here
And I watched and I just figured out
That I will never see you again
I had a choice
You had to leave
Into the night
This was my choice
It's so hard to explain what I meant
When I said that I wanted you dead
But I saw you fuck up and I just can't get back
The feeling I had for you
I had a choice
You had to leave
Into the night
This was my choice
So I put all my strength into my only will
It was the only thing to do
And now I only regret that I cried
'Cause you would never do that for me
I had a choice
You had to leave
Into the night
This was my choice
05 This Punishment (02:46)
Will I be strong
No friends by my side
In a black room
No spirits abide
Who is judge now
When I wait for this
Punishment
When I come in
From where I've been
They raise their voices
On a given signal
06 Right Into the Bliss (05:04)
by a black road
giving a brief smile
something's on the way
forgotten for a while
and you try to speak this
without a voice down by a black road
we try to forget and try to make it through
someday we'll go
further from this right into the bliss
some night we'll try
to leave this place for another
they keep pushing me
so far from every chance
makes it so much harder
for me to carry on
so I try to speak this
without a thought down by a black road
we try to forget and try to make it through
08 Strained (04:14)
end
sometimes a start for others
end
I don't know the word beginning
sometimes fear is power
like when I lost control
this time it has to come to an end
I'd like to try to live my life again
I'd like to see where I was going wrong
09 A Darkness Coming (05:02)
So near
So close
Something bad is seen
But I
Seem to be
The only one that can see
There is a darkness coming
And they
The others
They don't know a thing of what's next
But I'm not here to say
What should be done about this
I just lift my eyes to watch
I saw it coming
Something bad
So near
So close
Something bad is seen
But I
Seem to be
The only one that can see
There is a darkness coming
10 Nightmares by the Sea (04:16)
Beware the bottled thoughts of angry young men
Secret compartments hide all of the skeletons
Little girl wants to make her home with him
In the middle of the shore she wonders
"Don't know what you asked for"
"Don't know what you asked for"
All young lovers know why
Nightmares blind their mind's eyes
Your rube is young and handsome
So new to your bedroom floor
You know damn well where you'll go
I've loved so many times and I've drowned they all
From their coral graves they rise up when darkness falls
With their bones they'll scratch the window
I hear them call
"Don't know what you asked for"
"Don't know what you asked for"
Stay with me under these ways tonight
Be free for once in your life tonight
11 Black Session (09:14)
I sense infliction in the air
It's only me
I'm fucking up old times
It's a remembrance
Oh this
Black session in my mind
Oh the black
I was too weak to fight
Once more I let go
It is a black session
An invitation of sorts
Oh this
Black session in my mind
Oh the black
I keep on living in this my only wish
That life will be good someday
I keep on losing my sleep because of this
Seems so hard just to stay
So if you come by just this last time
I'll be here
And I will talk to you like
If this had never been
Oh this
Black session in my mind
Oh the black
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Other reviews
By Taxirider
Katatonia decided to explore new sonic universes inspired by the melancholy of Cure, Slowdive, and Radiohead.
The cover art created by Travis Smith is both beautiful and extremely expressive. But, as old as the hills, artwork alone isn’t enough to make records great!
