The first new release from katatonia in some time, bearing in mind that the glorious ‘dethroned and uncrowned’ was an acoustic reworking of 2012’s sumptuous ‘dead end Kings’, ‘the fall of hearts’ sees Katatonia moving forward with a new line up (Per Eriksson and Daniel Liljekvst both departed the band in 2014). Continuing the sonic explorations of ‘dead end kings’, Katatonia are following a similar path to Anathema, as their music pursues ever-purer forms of expression, drawing on a range of artists from Pink Floyd to tool and from King Crimson to Porcupine Tree. Unlike Anathema, however, Katatonia still operate within the sphere of heavy music, as the crunchy riffs of opening track ‘takeover’ highlight, and Katatonia stand, once again, peerless on an album that continues the upward artistic trajectory the band began with ‘the great cold distance’.
When your music is as wonderfully multi-faceted as that of Katatonia’s recent output, then it seems an obvious candidate for a 5.1 surround mix. Happily, Katatonia remain on a label that understand artistic vision and Peaceville have, once again, come up with a variety of album configurations that will satisfy fans ranging from the curious (single disc edition), and the exploratory (a 2 disc set with 5.1 DVD) all the way to the die-hards (a hard back book featuring the album on vinyl, as well as CD and DVD). The only minor irritation, which is by no means exclusive to Peaceville, is the seeming assumption that fans that buy the record on standard 12” vinyl won’t want the surround mix. As a fan of both vinyl and surround sound, it is a little tiring that the only way to get the two formats together is to shell out for the super-deluxe edition, although even here Peaceville have come up trumps by keeping the price within the realms of the sensible (unlike the oft-overpriced super deluxe offerings found on major labels.
Following on from the semi-acoustic ‘dethroned and uncrowned’ and the acoustic ‘sanctified’ concert film, fans would be forgiven for expecting ‘the fall of hearts’ to be a stripped down affair, shorn of the heavy guitars that characterised the band’s early releases. However, such an expectation is immediately scotched with the beautifully nuanced ‘takeover’. Opening on the star-crossed wonder that drove ‘dead end kings’, the band introduce a tool-esque riff that hotwires the song, sending it spinning off in an unexpected direction, even whilst increasingly impressive Jonas Renske continues to dig ever deeper into a well of emotions that few are capable of expressing with such naked honesty. A track that perfectly sits on the fault line between progressive metal and shimmering post rock, ‘takeover’ is a remarkable album opener and one that sets the tone for the rest of the album. In 5.1 (mixed by the ever capable Bruce Soord, who also worked on the recent reissue of Opeth’s masterly ‘deliverance’ album) the album lives and breathes, with the rear channels discretely used to bring in backing vocals and extra layers of guitar, whilst the front provides a solid, rhythmic backbone to the music. Once again Bruce Soord has worked his magic on an album perfectly suited to the surround treatment, and each song benefits from the approach. A fast paced track with plenty of meaty riffs, ‘Serein’ has a power and a punch that follows on nicely from the energetic opening of ‘takeover’. Unlike some bands, whose take on progressive seems to revolve solely around exhuming he ghost of early Genesis, Katatonia take advantage of a wide range of influences to inform their sound, whilst their expert exploration of dynamic, makes each song a mini-symphony, just begging to be explored by the listener. ‘Old heart falls’ sees Katatonia returning to the subtle electronic washes of ‘night is the new day’ for a track that builds beautifully over arpeggiated synths, the rear speakers capturing the atmospheric flourishes the band built into the music and spinning them around the listener like a web of the finest gossamer. The dreamy feel is carried over to ‘Decima’, a wonderfully melodic and progressive piece that sits close to the unutterably gorgeous music found on ‘Sanctified’. As a result of two such dreamy tracks, the listener is blindsided by the crushing riff of ‘Sanction’, which might be one of the heaviest openings the band have recorded in years. Very much possessed of the maxim that less is more, the band scale things back for a subtle, airy verse, but when the guitars do kick in, it’s like a thousand flaming axes all swinging down at once, and it’s remarkable just how vital Katatonia sound on this release. Things calm down once more for the echoing beauty of ‘residual’, a track that is awash with the haunting tones of the mellotron. An echoing gem of a track, ‘residual’ is Katatonia at their most restrained and, once again, Bruce’s impressive surround mix really brings the piece to life, as subtle percussive elements emerge from the rear speakers and ghostly guitar glides through the channels.
The Tool-esque feel that first appeared on ‘takeover’ returns on the immense, angular ‘serac’. With Daniel Moilenan indulging in some exceptionally potent percussive work, Katatonia once again embrace the metallic with unexpected fervour, the whole band turning in a tightly wound performance that is nothing short of immense. Sensibly, surround activity is minimised during the heavy passages in order to maintain intensity, but as the band drift away from the initial blazing template to explore grander pastures, so the rear channels open up to give a real sense of emerging into the light. Building from a lone piano figure to a track of blazing intensity, ‘last song before the fade’ is a grand epic that makes good use of surround channels to separate the orchestral elements from the full-bore riffs that power the track. ‘Shifts’ segues perfectly out of its predecessor and it’s a shimmering track that, with its eerie, howling air raid siren, recalls the dense, snow-strewn landscape of Silent Hill. An impressive progressive excursion, ‘the night subscriber’ sees katatonia revealing a love of early Genesis with the warm, quasi-orchestral tones of the Mellotron paired with taught, jazzy drumming and sudden bursts of crunchy guitar that recall Tool at their peak. Slowing the pace, ‘Pale flag’ recalls the haunted beauty of the ‘Sanctified’ release and captures Katatonia at their most elegiac. It’s an utterly beautiful song and quite breath taking. The album closer, ‘passer’ concludes the album on another surprisingly metallic note. A full-blooded beast, it incorporates the myriad elements that Katatonia bring so majestically to bear and it is the perfect final to an album that ebbs and flows beautifully. A single bonus track (rendered in stereo only) appears to round out the package. ‘Vakaren’ is an interesting piece, sung in the band’s native Swedish and augmented with a more overt electronic edge than the other tracks here (perhaps explaining why it was relegated to the bonus track position). It’s presentation in stereo only also helps to underscore just how integral to the album the immersive surround mix actually is, although the mix remains impressive and remarkably open.
Katatonia have long been on a progressive path and, ever since ‘the great cold distance’, they’ve explored textures and sounds with remarkable consistency. That said, there’s an energy present on’ the fall of hearts’ that is as unexpected as it is welcome, and there’s an argument that this is the most well-balanced album between the wide-reaching experimentation of prog and the more full-bodied approach of metal that the band have yet released. When your catalogue already contains a masterpiece like ‘night is the new day’, it can be hard to know where to turn, but ‘fall of hearts’ is arguably the band’s masterpiece. Emotionally charged, powerful and with a unique identity that is all the band’s own, this is a remarkable effort and in surround it truly immerses the listener. Turn off the lights, pump the volume as loud as the neighbours will allow and lose yourself in this near-perfect album, it is an absolute triumph.
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