One of the core "Gothenberg" bands, from the same book that spawned Opeth, At the Gates and Edge of Sanity. Their death/doom metal style gradually evolved into a more traditional gothic sound.

"Jhva Elohim Meth...The Revival"

1. "Midwinter Gates (Prologue)"--instrumental (0:43)
2. "Without God" (6:52)
3. "Palace of Frost" (3:39)
4. "The Northern Silence" (4:00)
5. "Crimson Tears (Epilogue)"--instrumental (1:55)

Got this rare debut EP in a killer trade. Very murky sound, almost demo-like in quality, but in a way that just adds to the appeal of this highly dark, embryonic doom-death metal. The vocals are harsh but not nearly as agonizing as on December Souls, which makes this version of "Without God" more preferable to the rerecorded one.

"Dance of December Souls"

1. "Seven Dreaming Souls (Intro)"--instrumental (0:45)
2. "Gateways of Bereavement" (8:16)
3. "In Silence Enshrined" (6:31)
4. "Without God" (6:52)
5. "Elohim Meth"--instrumental (1:42)
6. "Velvet Thorns (of Drynwhyl)" (13:57)
7. "Tomb of Insomnia" (13:10)
8. "Dancing December"--instrumental (2:18)

The vocals here are particularly excruciating to listen to, not that the singer's all that bad, but it horrifies me to think of the damage being done to his VOICE!! The musical style is slow, cavernous, and DARK DARK DARK--if you're contemplating suicide but need that one last push over the edge, this album will do the trick. Some long-ass songs on here, too.

"Brave Murder Day/For Funerals to Come"

1. "Brave" (10:16)
2. "Murder" (4:54)
3. "Day" (4:28)
4. "Rainroom" (6:31)
5. "12" (8:18)
6. "Endtime" (6:45)
7. "Funeral Wedding" (8:40)
8. "Shades of Emerald Fields" (5:24)
9. "For Funerals to Come" (2:50)
10. "Epistel" (1:13)

Vocals on Brave Murder Day (tracks 1-6) had to be handled by Mikael Åkerfeldt of Opeth, since the main Katatonia vocalist had blown out his voice (surprise, surprise!) It's here that the music takes on a greater sense of rhythm and atmosphere, more gothic than doomdeath -- in fact, the moody & acoustic "Day" wouldn't sound out of place on a Depeche Mode album! The appropriately titled "Endtime" is a brilliant, wrist-slitting dirge; in fact, it was an mp3 of that song that convinced me to buy this band's music. (How many bands does that make, now? A million?)

Tracks 7-10, from the EP For Funerals to Come, are more in the style of old Katatonia, with chaotic guitar licks and painful vocals. Both CDs are available separately (in fact, the FFTC EP goes for VERY cheap on eBay) but why bother with that, when you can get both of them on one disc??

"Discouraged Ones"

1. "I Break" (4:21)
2. "Stalemate" (4:18)
3. "Deadhouse" (4:35)
4. "Relention" (3:36)
5. "Cold Ways" (5:20)
6. "Gone" (2:47)
7. "Last Resort" (4:35)
8. "Nerve" (4:30)
9. "Saw You Drown" (5:02)
10. "Instrumental"--instrumental (2:50)
11. "Distrust" (4:55)

BIG change in style. Gone are the death vocals (can't blame the poor guy, really) and while the metal riffage is still there, each song is more or less the same mid-paced tempo, same gothic tone, more like an amp'ed up version of The Cure than any doom/death band I've heard. Good songs, fairly catchy, but the monotone nature of the songs do get boring after awhile...

"Tonight's Decision"

1. "For My Demons" (5:47)
2. "I Am Nothing" (4:37)
3. "In Death, A Song" (4:51)
4. "Had To (Leave)" (6:03)
5. "This Punishment" (2:46)
6. "Right into the Bliss" (5:04)
7. "No Good Can Come of This" (4:24)
8. "Strained" (4:15)
9. "A Darkness Coming" (5:01)
10. "Nightmares by the Sea" (4:15)
11. "Black Session" (7:01)
12. "No Devotion" (4:48)
13. "Fractured" (3:30)
14. "Secret Instrumental"--end of track #13 (1:52)

This album completes the band's transformation from suicidal doomdeath metal to suicidal gothic rock. There's a number of catchy hooks, in particular the songs "I Am Nothing" and "Right Into the Bliss"...however, the music overall sounds kinda same-ish, and fails to grab me like I thought it would. Does get better with each listen, though.

"Last Fair Deal Gone Down" (digipack)

1. "Dispossession" (5:36)
2. "Chrome" (5:14)
3. "We Must Bury You" (2:50)
4. "Teargas" (3:23)
5. "I Transpire" (5:56)
6. "Tonight's Music" (4:20)
7. "Clean Today" (4:23)
8. "The Future of Speech" (5:40)
9. "Passing Bird" (3:38)
10. "Sweet Nurse" (3:57)
11. "Don't Tell a Soul" (5:42)

Ehh...I'm starting to lose patience, waiting for Katatonia's new sound to come into its own. This album's another step up from Tonight's Decision, with some MONSTER riffs and bone-chilling chords in the first few songs, but the transitions from heavy to soft are still too abrupt. "Chrome" and "Teargas" are great songs, but after that, I kinda lose focus...

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