It’s hard to believe that the elegant Dead City Burials, Katatonia’s eleventh album, was only issued this year; but then, so much has passed in a tumultuous ten-month period, that it’s inevitable time would take on an elastic quality. With the band unable to tour, Katatonia headed to Studio Grondahl in Stocklholm on May 9th to do a special, livestream show from the heart of the lockdown. Featuring a track-listing voted for by the band’s fans, Dead Air captures Katatonia in vigorous form, their performance given greater weight by the involvement of long-time collaborator David Castillo behind the mixing desk, and the set professionally filmed by Blackbox Video.
Now available as a special, three-disc set via Peaceville, Dead Air is a wonderful souvenir of a special event. With typically enigmatic artwork from Travis Smith, the set is housed in a fold-out digipack, with all discs securely held in trays and a well-designed booklet slipped into the cover. The first two discs offer the entire concert, spread over two compact discs, whilst the DVD offers up the livestream footage as well as a high-resolution audio version of the album.
The first thing you’ll note (whether on DVD or CD) is that this set sounds fantastic. Seriously, David Castillo has done an utterly phenomenal job of capturing both the raw metallic power of the band in full flight, and the progressive nuances that make them such a unique proposition. From the crystal-clear vocals to the multifaceted percussion, everything has its place in the mix, and the results are truly astonishing. The visuals fare less well. Although Blackbox have done a fine job in terms of filming and editing, the relatively low resolution footage (compared to the crispness we’ve come to expect from modern live films) makes it feel like you’re watching a live stream with connection drop outs and, although it does not really detract from the performance, it does make the visual side that much less appealing. This, combined with the fact that the band themselves have never really been much prone to movement, means that this is more of a feast for the ears than the eyes, which makes the inclusion of the album in high-resolution (complete with an animated version of the album artwork) all the more welcome. Nevertheless, the production (with stage lighting and smoke) looks as good as is possible in a rehearsal complex.
With whichever format you engage, Dead Air is a stunning achievement from all concerned. From the moment the ambient intro gives way to a storming Lethean, there’s a feeling that Katatonia placed all their pent-up frustration at not being able to tour into this one single performance. Always a powerful band, the added advantage of studio control means that their deft juxtaposition of clean vocals and towering riffs is rendered with blistering weight. An additional benefit of the crystalline mix is the ability to fully appreciate the dexterity of Daniel Moilanen, whose inventive work behind the kit is as musical as it is metronomic. A superlative drummer, he brings a musicality to his work that is very much to the benefit of the band, and there are moments throughout the set where you can only sit back and admire the way he drives each piece. Enigmatic vocalist Jonas Renske also seems to be enjoying himself, and he peppers his vocals with adlibs as he gets caught up in the moment – as he does on a muscular take on the evergreen Teargas.
As might be expected from a setlist chosen by the fans, the performance leans heavily on the classics, with songs like Soil’s Song, July, Forsaker, My Twin and Leaders all represented here. Although it is understandable that the band’s earlier albums are not represented, it is certainly a shame that nothing appears from 1999’s underrated Tonight’s Decision, the album that cemented the band’s shift towards more progressive pastures. Nevertheless, there is still considerable breadth in this twenty-song set and deeper cuts, like Evidence, with its carefully woven vocal effects, are most welcome. Space is also made for three tracks from City Burials, which slot neatly into the setlist as if they’ve always been there – especially the surging Behind The Blood with which the band close the set. As such, the album as a whole serves as a summation of the band’s superlative output over the last two decades.
A typically generous package, both from Katatonia and from Peaceville, Dead Air celebrates the career of a band who have only gotten better as each year and each album has passed. This twenty-song set, voted for the fans and captured during lockdown, sounds utterly amazing, is beautifully packaged and offers up a flawless document of the band live in studio. For fans it is essential, for newcomers it is the perfect primer… in short, buy it! 9/10
