2006

The CD Reviews section has been pretty dead lately, so I thought I'd add to it a couple of my crappy reviews...

Anyway, this album is everything you'd expect from a followup to Viva Emptiness... the riffs are heavier, the songs sound even more similar to one another and the lyrics touch new heights in cheesiness. I mean, Katatonia always have tread that fine line between the doomy and the emo but this is the kind of stuff linkin park could have come up with in one of their more inspired moments...

Come here, I split my heart in two
But you don't have it in you, Do you?

Wtf? And follow up that with a slipknotesque aaaarrrgh and you have your perfect nu-metal single. Thankfully they've have stopped using 'fuck' in their lyrics.
Every song is structured exactly the same; starts mellow with a verse - heavy riff with chorus - verse - chorus and so on. All the songs are between 3:30 and 5 mins.

And yet I can't stop listeing to it. Why? The riffs and the playing. There are some huge riffs on it - stuff like they had in Diabolical Masquerade or even Bloodbath... and that too in every song... Blackheim or whoever the songwriter is has written some of the best stuff in his career. After about the 4th listen or so, you end up ignoring the lyrics and listening to the song as a whole and then the album really kicks ass.

At first listen it sounds like nu-metal and so that is what I'll categorise it as. The best nu-metal album ever.

Standout Tracks: Increase, Follower, July, Deliberation
Score: 8/10

I can't stop laughing. For some crazy reason, you have me wanting to hear what can get a review like that, but still get an 8/10.

Can't say I'm all that excited to listen to this album, but I am curious as to what its like.

I have my doubts, but I suppose that I enjoy the majority of their work. Why am I so goddamned negative?

Well... the latter half of the album esp. is pretty good. The cringeworthy moments are mostly limited to the first 5 tracks.

I'll be picking it up in 2006...sooner if some promo comes around my way via Soulseek. I like what little I have heard now

That was indeed a pretty interesting review to get an 8/10 though

It is a fantastic album. I'd easily give it 10/10, but that's just because I'm very biast towards Katatonia. It is, however, everything Viva Emptiness lacked whilst keeping all the right elements - the songs are still very catchy, but as already mentioned, everything seems heavier. There is also a lot of sombre passages that are now used, as opposed to a constant heavy sound. It also has an opening riff that'll blow you away.

Best tracks:

My Twin
Leaders
Increase
Deliberation