Release date: 24th April 2020
Ever since Katatonia announced their return from hiatus, I’ve been counting down the days to hearing new music from them. After being so impressed by their previous release The Fall Of Hearts, my expectations for City Burials were high – and I was not disappointed.
Katatonia’s music is always so beautifully emotive. The instrumentation is stunningly breathtaking, and the vocals are full of emotion and colour – everything comes together to create the perfect blend, and City Burials is one of their finest pieces of work.
Lacquer, which was our first taste of new music from the band, is a softer, more stripped-back version of the band, yet still undeniably Katatonia. The song is a fairly simplistic one but it hits you really hard because of how moving it is and the vocals in particular are stunning. Meanwhile The Winter Of Our Passing, which was the last preview given ahead of the album’s release, is a more ‘standard’ sounding Katatonia track, with heavy-yet-melodic instrumentation paired with the trademark emotive vocals.
Indeed, there are plenty of fantastic inclusions on the album to sink your teeth into, right from the gripping opener Heart Set To Divide setting the scene with lush almost-acapella vocals to the dark-sounding City Glaciers and fast-paced closer Fighters that really hits you hard. Each track brings something different to the table whilst simultaneously blending exquisitely together.
City Burials is a beautiful collection of songs; Katatonia are at the top of their game right now, and the attention to detail from start to finish is sublime. I’ve really missed them whilst they were on hiatus, so for them to come back with something so strong is a real treat.
10/10
(And whilst I wasn’t able to see the new material at Dark Easter Metal Meeting, I was at least able to bear witness to a livestream which can be purchased here until June 15!)
