Katatonia "Brave Yester Days" 2xCD
[Avantegarde]
This massive double-CD collection includes assorted rare tracks from Katatonia's back catalog - namely all of their EP's and a smattering of tracks from earlier works like "Dance of December Souls" and "Brave Murder Day". I fought with myself over whether or not to buy this set since I have the vast majority of the material already, but 1992's out of print "Jhva Elohim Meth... The Revival" EP and a few of the otherwise unreleased tracks from the "Saw You Drown" and "Sounds of Decay" EP's sold me on it, because Katatonia really has grown to become one of my favorite bands over the years. Everything appears in chronological order, so the "Jhva Elohim Meth..." tracks open disc 1 with the band's rawer style, complete with snarled vocals and a doomier sort of atmospheric approach to their slow paced melodic bleakness. Interestingly enough, only "Without God" runs around seven minutes, while the other tracks don't reach four, so the longer running times hadn't really come into play back then. The keyboards accenting these tracks are okay, but not for me, so I'm glad that aspect took more of a back seat later. Both "Palace of Frost" and "The Northern Silence" have some atypical rhythms that I'm not used to hearing from the band, but the latter's mix of acoustic and electric guitars as well as some singing background vocals makes it more of a standout. Next are two long tracks from debut full-length "Dance of December Souls" (more than 20 minutes total), where the vocals get a bit more aggressive and the music a bit more consistent in pace and general stylistic tone. The uses of keyboards are more subtle, the rhythms and melodies are persistent and droning, etc. "Black Erotica" (later revisited as "12" on "Brave Murder Day") and "Love of the Swan" are up next - two quite rare pieces from the "War Compilation Vol. One". The "For Funerals to Come" EP closes out the first disc - four solid tracks that would've been a real score for me had they not been tacked onto the end of the "Brave Murder Day" CD as a bonus at one point in time. Some of the borderline upbeat riffing in the awesome "Funeral Wedding" still catches me by surprise to this day. Disc 2 opens with a few true gems from the awesome "Brave Murder Day" (with vocals from Opeth's Mikael Åkerfeldt), which is when Katatonia really started coming into their own in my opinion. The songs are more lively and powerful, the writing a bit more diverse without losing its direction... a true fucking masterpiece. "Murder" remains one of their finest songs to date. "Sounds of Decay" is next (also featuring Åkerfeldt on vocals), and these four tracks (including the previously unreleased "Untrue") are the rarest herein. Stylistically very similar to "Brave Murder Day", these are four tracks that I'm certainly glad to finally have in my collection now. Finally things end off with "Saw You Drown", including "Nerve" and the track of the same title from the mighty "Discouraged Ones" full-length, among a couple of others. These are the only four songs herein that represent the band's sudden shift in style to a more polished, stripped down approach, complete with monotone singing vocals, driving rhythms based around a lush, dark sort of rock style, etc. Many scorn the band for this move, but I absolutely love this record and everything they've done since, so I have no quarrels with it. "Nerve" isn't one of their finer moments, but "Saw You Drown" is a great track, as is "Quiet World" (the other rarity, "Scarlet Heavens", is an older track that tops 10 minute and uses some very forced vocals... really not a very good selection). All of the recordings vary, but are tolerable despite a few faults. "Jhva Elohim Meth..." uses a very defined bass tone, which is unusual, but is otherwise well mixed and sounds good for its rugged edge. "Dance of December Souls" was a bit clearer, but the vocals are mixed too loud and there's not enough force to the guitars or drums (which are flimsy). It still sounds alright, but this was their worst sounding recording in my opinion. "For Funerals to Come" is basically a more rugged "Brave Murder Day"/"Sounds of Decay", and despite feeling like the latter two sounded weak when originally hearing them many years ago, I'm now quite fond of the sounds. A bit unpolished of course, but aptly clear and atmospheric, with just the right amount of depth. And, of course, the recording on "Saw You Drown" is awesome - far smoother and cleaner across the board, not to mention immensely thicker in bass and drum tones. The discs come in a large digipack that folds out to reveal additional artwork and a large booklet containing all of the lyrics and recording credits for each prior release. I really like the photography/artwork here, especially on the front cover. The images often reference some of the earlier releases as well, which is a nice touch. Of course, as any fan of the band should know to expect, the lyrics are all masterfully bleak, with the older material being slightly less straightforward, but all conveying the same general tone/emotions. A great collection from a great band. Had they been able to dig up a few more unreleased tracks rather than including a few songs each from some of the relatively easy to find early sessions I'd have been even more pleased, but this was worth every penny - because even though I had the majority of the material already, I still got a full-length's worth of songs that I didn't. Superb. I fucking love this band. (8/10)
Running time - 2:10:16, Tracks: 23
[Notable tracks: The Northern Silence, Gateways of Bereavement, Love of the Swan, Funeral Wedding, Murder, At Last, Saw You Drown, Quiet World]
Katatonia - http://www.katatonia.com

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