Band Reviews:Katatonia/Opeth

Katatonia started out as a doom/death metal band from Sweden and was formed by singer Jonas Renkse and Anders Nystrom. They released one EP and the classic debut album, Dance of December Souls, before Renkse became unable to perform harsh vocals. On their sophomore album Brave Murder Day, Renkse enlisted his long time friend Mikael Akerfeldt of Opeth to do growls. This album continued the morose darkness of their debut album, but it smoothed out some of the more blatant black and death metal influences to become more focused on a contemplative sense of melancholy.

With this modification grew the seeds of what was to become the modern version of Katatonia, commonly described as a depressive rock/metal band. The 1998 release of Discouraged Ones saw Renkse adopting his haunting, monotone style of singing and showed a more personable, accessible side of the band. Gone were the esoteric lyrics of the debut and in their place were dirges of lost love, isolation, and other woes. Nystrom's guitar playing wallowed in a repetitive cold fuzz, a tone which Paradise Lost later admitted was one that they had always been searching for.

After this album the band started to develop their songwriting a little more and on follow-up Tonight's Decision you could hear tracks that were more fleshed-out and hookier. Nystrom further honed his mixture of distorted and clean guitar, creating an engaging sense of contrast. Singer Jonas Renkse also became more confident in his vocal lines.

The next release Last Fair Deal Gone Down was a big commercial success for the band, although there were some fans and critics who were starting to lament the gradual loss of heaviness that the band had since Discouraged Ones. Viva Emptiness was their answer to that, a sinister concept album about the mafia which incorporated more nu-metal elements and solos into their sound. Underneath it all was still that pervasive sense of gloom and repetition used for emotional effect.

Viva Emptiness was Katatonia's answer to all the dissenters who thought that they couldn't be heavy and have an accessible sound. They were particularly influenced by Tool at the time. Still, that accessibility was relatively limited in scope, since their main fanbase was mostly metal heads. They managed to walk the wire between mainstream and underground appeal, but most mainstream listeners would arguably say that they were "too depressing".

They continued to walk this line on the following two albums, The Great Cold Distance and the most recent release Night is the New Day. However, they toned down the hard rock/nu metal tendencies and instead focused on adding a wide array of other influences, including prog, alternative, and folk. Whether they were trying to expand their fanbase is unclear, but it was certain that they had become more commercial. The directness and clarity of production had greatly improved, reaching its peak on Night is the New Day, an album Mikael Akerfeldt hailed as "the best heavy record in 10 years".

Mikael Akerfeldt and Anders Nordin started Opeth in 1987 as a primitive death metal band named Eruption , merely rehearsing in a cellar located in Sorskogen, Sweden. After disbanding in 1990, the members of Eruption met a gentleman named David Isberg, who had a band named Opeth. Several lineup changes occurred before Mikael Akerfeldt settled in as vocalist and the band released their debut album Orchid.

Now the band's style had become more complex, incorporating death metal, black metal, and folk influences into an organic, intoxicating mixture. Akerfeldt switched back and forth from a smooth crooning, to a raspy shriek, to a guttural growl. The tunes were less like songs and more like compositions, with several distinct alternations of heavy riffing and acoustic strumming. The lyrics were quite intimate and dealt with issues of death, nature, loss, and depression.

At the time of Orchid's release, the 2nd wave Norwegian black metal scene was in full swing, which some have speculated was the inspiration for the album's murky production and harsh rasps. Nonetheless, sophomore album Morningrise noted a change to better production and a more direct approach, though "direct" is an adjective that should be used loosely here. Among the metallic influences of bands like Morbid Angel, Celtic Frost, and Emperor, Opeth were also highly influenced by the 70s prog scene, particularly the band Camel. Morningrise further expanded Opeth's progressive palate, culminating in the 20-minute epic Black Rose Immortal, the longest song of their career. The separate parts of the songs started to mesh a little better on Morningrise, although there was still that essence of a musical collage. Morningrise was also the first album to feature a song entirely performed in Akerfeldt's smooth clean voice, the ethereal "To Bid You Farewell".

The band continued to reach new heights of progression and creativity, resulting in what Akerfeldt calls Opeth's most complex album, Still Life. It was a concept album about a man who is banished from his village, only to return later in life to find his love is still there. Here the acoustic sections were more plentiful and intense, and there was more of a jazz influence. In addition the band further honed the alternation between Akerfeldt's clean and harsh vocals, which intensified the dramatic element. One interesting tidbit about this album is that when they were recording, Mikael continuously heard this loud sound which he thought to be a ghost, but later found out to be the sound engineer coughing!

Opeth's most commercially successful album, Blackwater Park followed, taking the grandiosity of Still Life and filtering it down a little to create something more accessible. The constantly shifting dynamics of Still Life gave way to more emphasis on catchiness. Perhaps the exemplar of this is the smoky acoustic track "Harvest", which is a fan favorite.

Steven Wilson of Porcupine Tree offered an interesting suggestion for Opeth's following two albums: he suggested that one be a 'soft' album and one be a 'heavy' album. Opeth named these Damnation and Deliverance, respectively. Based on the connotations of the two titles, many thought it was odd that Deliverance was the name of the heavy album and vice versa, but the band decided on the names in order to be thought-provoking and artistic. They were originally supposed to be part of a 2 CD set, but the band members later decided to split them up. Deliverance was arguably Opeth's heaviest record yet and its most personal, since Akerfeldt was suffering various personal hardships at the time. Tracks like Wreath and The Master's Apprentices really capitalized on their heavy Morbid Angel influences, much more than before. The somber instrumental "For Absent Friends" was their shortest song ever, but among the most powerful. Damnation was basically a modernized 70s prog rock album with all clean vocals and no distorted guitars. It alienated much of the band's fanbase, while also drawing the attention of prog and melodic rock aficionados.

In 2005 Opeth signed on to Road Runner Records and released Ghost Reveries, an album which drew heat from critics and fans alike for some of its more mainstream influences and the unsavory reputation of Road Runner, a label which has traditionally hosted simplistic nu-metal bands overly reliant on power chords. Still, being on Road Runner meant they could reach a wider audience, and they continued to maintain their signature sound more or less. However, now Opeth's 70s prog roots were beginning to show more prominently, especially in the track Beneath the Mire. This was the first track to use a MOOG synthesizer.

The next album Watershed used synthesizers even more liberally, as in the maniacal bridge to "The Lotus Eaters" and the scorching ballad "Burden". Perhaps a more notable change in this album was the juxtaposition of Akerfeldt's clean and harsh vocals. Whereas usually he would start with harsh growls and change to clean vocals, he reversed the process here to a disorienting effect, ie on "Heir Apparent". This was also the only album to feature a guest vocalist, Cristina Scabbia of Lacuna Coil on opening track "Coil".

The final entry into Opeth's massive catalog, though hopefully not the last, was Heritage. This album was aptly titled because Akerfeldt has been saying in interviews for many years that he prefers seventies prog to metal; on this album Opeth finally threw away all remnants of metal and create a retro-progressive album for the current century. There were more folk influences on this and even some world influences.

Akerfeldt revealed in an interview with Guitar World that he is not as good of a screamer as he used to be and his heart is not really in it anymore. It truly is ironic that he and his friend Jonas of Katatonia lost their extreme metal voices and boldly decided to continue their respective bands in a new light. Let us hope that new Opeth will be as successful as new Katatonia.