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Viva Emptiness

Katatonia - Viva Emptiness Audio CD

A fair review of the Katatonia "Viva Emptiness" Audio CD. Please note that the below review is the views of the authors, and authors only. You can get a complete list of all Katatonia reviews here, or go back to the Katatonia tabs.

Band: Katatonia
Title: Viva Emptiness
Rating:

Release Date: 2003-04-29
Media: Audio CD

Tracks: 1: Ghost of the Sun 2: Sleeper 3: Criminals 4: Premonition 5: Will I Arrive 6: Burn the Remembrance 7: Wealth 8: One Year from Now 9: Walking by a Wire 10: Complicity 11: Evidence 12: Omerta 13: Inside the City of Glass

Breathtaking... Fans of Misery Loves Co. Rejoice!
Katatonia has all the mellow sadness-inspired music that made MLC such a good band. Since MLC disbanded in '99 there has been a void in the metal scene, and little did I know that the void had already been filled. . . and they go so much farther.

I have yet to hear another band that sounds like Katatonia. For this specific album, the only thing close is A Perfect Circle's "Thirteenth Step," and that only in clean guitar tone. If you doubt how "hard" this album actually is, go google the lyrics for the song "Criminals," and think of the associated imagery. This band knows how to play with visuals in their lyrics and it shows. Every song on here stands on its own, and this album should go down as one of the best metal/rock albums ever written. It's intensely melodic, and the lyrics are so incredibly intense, in fact lyrically they'd get a 5-star rating.

This album is dark, and not in a cheesy black/death/goth way. It's a very real dark, it weighs on you. For whatever reason this album reminds me heavily of fall and rain, they craft a mood that hits "dark" on the head without once having to invoke the supernatural. .

um
this cd was just plain awful i just threw it away after hearing it twice.

Another solid album from Katatonia that continues their evolution.
Considering how much I love that album, this is a good thing in my book. "Viva Emptiness", Katatonia's sixth full length album, is really a continuation of its predecessor "Last Fair Deal Gone Down", with a few slight adjustments. They took a lot of the elements that worked on the previous album and have spiced things up a little to give "Viva Emptiness" its own identity. At this stage of their career, the Swedes can be labelled as a heavy rock band with elements of metal rather than a metal band with rock influences. Long gone are the death metal influences of yesteryear to be replaced with a much more commercially viable, yet still suffocatingly dreary (in a good way) atmosphere.

So what are these little adjustments I mentioned above? For starters, there's almost a nu-metal feel to some of these tracks. Now don't get me wrong, I'd be pretty upset if Katatonia started sounding like Slipknot and they are a long way from doing so. Yet I can't deny that tracks such as "Wealth" and "Will I Arrive", with there shredding riffs and friendly clean verses bring that thought into my head. But then "Viva Emptiness" is filled with so many variations that I can't really apply that label to much else on the album. It's also noticeable that they have included far more swear words for impact than on previous releases and in general, I feel more anger in these tracks than the normal desolation and loss that pervades most of their material. But this is without a doubt a Katatonia album from start to finish. The vulnerable, almost awkward lyrics remain while Jonas' vocals once again improving. The gorgeous guitar melodies, while used far more sparingly, are still here and the newfound percussion addition of the last album continues in full force. Many bands have copied Katatonia's sound over the years, but none have been able to keep up with their evolution.

So while I have a lot of good things to say about "Viva Emptiness", I must admit that a couple of tracks are just not quite up to their normally consistently high quality. "One Year From Now" and "Omerta" in particular are throw away tracks in my opinion and drop this album slightly below "Last Fair Deal Gone Down". The highlights for me would have to be "Criminals, "Wealth" and "Complicity" along with opener "Ghost of the Sun", but there's over 50 minutes of material to dig into here.

"Viva Emptiness" is another solid album from Katatonia that further evolves their sound towards the mainstream, while never letting go of the intense nature of its content. They are a truly unique band that has miraculously kept the majority of their fan-base while completely, yet gradually, changing their sound over the years to something almost completely unrelated to its humble foundation. The reason they've been able to do this, is due to the natural progression that has occurred. The members have a real understanding of the core themes and components that the fans love and have the integrity to never alienate them while consistently challenging themselves. I thank them for it with every album!.

Katatonia
They also really have me going on the Gothic and Doom Metal which i had been only minimally exposed too. I recently went through the Katatonia discography and i must say this is probably my favorite album by them that is in circulation. The lyrics are really well written and the musicians play there instruments incrediably well. My favorite track is probably the instrumental "Inside the City of Glass. " I hate to make comparisons but this track sounds very much like Opeth, however most of there other stuff is only somewhat reminiscent of them, and they do definetly have there a sound to there own. What really drew me in was that the band Sybreed [one of my favorites], lists these guys as an influence and i can definetly see why. "Viva Emptiness" is an outstanding record and id definetly recommend it to anyone who listens too Type O Negative, Paradise Lost, Opeth, Sybreed, or even Lacuna Coil.

A dark, depressing, romantic album.
I was not sure what to expect, I heard they were similar to Opeth and Anathema. My first experience with Katatonia was with Viva Emptiness. Let me say that this is nothing like either band. I cannot really compare Katatonia to any other band, as they have a sound of their own. They are one of the most unique bands I have ever heard. Criminals is such a powerful song. The lyrics to Evidence almost made me cry when I first heard. This is a really emotional album.

Ghost of the Sun: 10/10
Sleeper: 9/10
Criminals: 10/10 (My favorite Katatonia song ever)
A Premonition: 10/10
Will I Arrive: 9/10
Burn the Resembrance: 10/10
Wealth: 7/10
One Year From Now: 10/10
Walking By A Wire: 9/10
Complicity: 10/10
Evidence: 10/10
Omerta: 10/10
Inside The City Of Glass: 7/10

Total: 121/130 = 9. 3/10
Grade: A

Don't hesitate to buy Viva Emptiness if you like Opeth, Anathema or Dark Tranquillity. They have their similarities, but Katatonia is a totally unique band. Recommended.

You can see a complete list of all Katatonia discography, or go back to the Katatonia tabs. There is also a good guide on how to read guitar tabs here.