Many musical groups that continue to play over multiple decade go through changes. Just look at two of the biggest doom metal bands to come out of the 90’s: My Dying Bride and Paradise Lost. Over time each have had several changes in line-up. My Dying Bride’s changes have been more drastic than Paradise Lost though considering My Dying Bride has had changes in drummers, guitarists, keyboards, and other minor instrumentalists while Paradise Lost has only gone through drummers although there have been seven. Surprisingly throughout these changes both bands have not changed their genre focus towards doom metal and offshoots. Another band from the 90’s resurgence of doom metal, Katatonia, have done just that. Along with having experienced more radical changes in line-ups they have also transformed from death-doom with records like Brave Murder Day, to gothic/dark rock like The Great Cold Distance, and now to progressive metal and rock on newer releases with other subtle excursions along the way.

I was not the biggest fan of their last record The Fall of Hearts, but it was still pretty damn good. It did fall into a few of the pitfalls that plague modern progressive metal though. Excessively clean production that eliminated instrumental depth and flavor and meandering on ideas for too long were the two that set it back the most for me. They still held their own with some creatively pleasant compositions and Jonas Renkse unique vocals that hypnotizes the listener. With their newest record, City Burials, such issues and qualities carry over once more. Each track is a fluent mixture of soothing atmospheres and hard pressed riffs. Unfortunately, a good chunk of the record is inconsistent and doesn’t offer much for new and engaging material.

Beginning City Burials is “Heart Set to Divide” which is has some great stuttery, pulsing bass that slaps off the drums. Like many of the tracks on here, the tension it tries to build is lackluster. The first minute and a half meanders for too long and uses spacious echoing guitars that feel bland to build into a crunchy guitar riff that feels reminiscent of countless other progressive metal acts like Haken. Following it though is one of the better tracks off of it, “Behind the Blood”. So much energy behind the walls of riffs and the solos that ride across the song. Plus the drums have major prominence for once keeping a punching pace behind it. It also features the immaculate vocal chemistry between lead vocalist Jonas Renkse and backing vocalist Anders Nyström who accents Renkse’s hypnotic vocals to give them layered power on the climax.

Then there’s “Lacquer” which is way too boring. Nevermind the squeaky clean production that eliminates the dimensions of the percussion and bass to a lifeless state. My major issue comes in the trip-hop pulsing and lingering static that try to build into Renkse’s vocal swell just for more meandering. Same thing for “Vanishers”, but at least Anni Bernhard’s guest vocals add something different to the track. Outside of this stylistic excursion, many of the songs have similar structures. Slow build-ups that often lead to explosive yet intricate riffs. As mentioned above, the cleaner production in progressive metal is something that I am not the biggest fan of especially when it makes the percussion sound hollow. Katatonia’s is not as bad as others, but leaves something to be desired.

Even though I think the fundamentals of each track begin tying together and lose diversity, most have something interesting hidden within that boost their quality. The final chorus of “Rein” doubles-down on its rumbling drums for a thunderous display of frustration. “Flicker” features smooth solos that ride the quieter segments elegantly. “Untrodden”‘s plucking guitars work wonderfully within the skittering basslines. The back end of the record also features two tracks I fully enjoy. “Neon Epitaph” has cohesive transitions between the hard-hitting segments and softer moments, and the latter does not linger too long and enhances the balance in dynamics. It also features some very vivid lyrics compared to the rest of the lyrical content off of City Burials which are fine and are clear why they appeal to many for their theatrical and somewhat cryptic imagery that fuses darker language into more melancholic subjects. The final track, “Fighters”, is another track that I love. Renkse’s emotive humming and his inflection add so much life to lyrics that normally would be cliché with its “we are fighters, we will not go down without a battle” motif. Also that breakdown in the middle where the solos are pushed to the forefront of the mix and charge along with the backing riffs and rolling drums is exceptional.

City Burials is still on the good end of modern prog metal. Sure it suffers from overproduction, but it is not nearly as bad as others within the genre today. Even though many songs tend to meander on ideas for too long there is still enough variation to give most tracks some redeeming qualities. I may have grown out of my love for every progressive metal album placed in front of me, but it is nice to hear an excellent group like Katatonia venture further into the genre. I wouldn’t say this is as good as The Fall of Hearts because of the slight increase of inconsistency. Like that record though, Katatonia’s exceptional vocalists make it difficult to not at least like the record. City Burials might not quite be my cup of tea, but I know prog fans who enjoy the aspects I may not like as much are going to love it.

Best Tracks: “Behind the Blood”; “Neon Epitaph”; “Fighters”

Worst Track: “Lacquer”

Rating: 6/10

Released: 04/24/2020

Label: Peaceville Records

Genres: Progressive Metal, Progressive Rock, Random Trip-Hop

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RATING SCALE

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