Audio CD review:
Katatonia - Black Sessions

Katatonia - Black Sessions

Band: Katatonia Title: Black Sessions Rating: Release Date: 29 March, 2005 Media: Audio CD Tracks: 1: Teargas 2: Right into the Bliss 3: Criminals 4: Help Me Disappear 5: Nerve 6: Future of Speech 7: Ghost of the Sun 8: I Am Nothing 9: Deadhouse 10: Passing Bird 11: Sleeper 12: Sulfur 13: No Devotion 14: Chrome 15: Premonition 16: Dispossession 17: Cold Ways 18: Nightmares by the Sea 19: O How I Enjoy the Night 20: Evidence 21: March 4 22: I Break 23: For My Demons 24: Omerta 25: Tonight's Music 26: Stalemate 27: Wait Outside [#] 28: Fractured 29: Sweet Nurse 30: Black Session 31: Ghost of the Sun [DVD][Live] 32: Criminals [DVD][Live] 33: Teargas [DVD][Live] 34: I Break [DVD][Live] 35: I Am Nothing [DVD][Live] 36: Sweet Nurse [DVD][Live] 37: Tonight's Music [DVD][Live] 38: For My Demons [DVD][Live] 39: Chrome [DVD][Live] 40: Future of Speech [DVD][Live] 41: Complicity [DVD][Live] 42: Burn the Rememberance [DVD][Live] 43: Evidence [DVD][Live] 44: Deadhouse [DVD][Live] 45: Murder [DVD][Live]

Customer Reviews my Favorite boxset granted jonas does not look terribly happy to be there, but he sounded great. first off, to all the people who wrote in and said the dvd is not good WHAT DID YOU EXPECT? THE HOLY GRAIL IN THE FORM OF A DVD? THIS IS ONE OF THE BEST PERFORMANCES I'VE SEEN & HEARD. while i, too, got all the studio albums the day they came out i had to get this collection (mainly for the dvd. . . which does not dissapoint)but also for the unreleased songs. . . nothing about this set let me down (although i would like to have seen an interview or video on the dvd). FOR ANY FAN OF KATATONIA-DON'T MISS OUT. a lot of it is redundant, but the rest is fantastic. Black Sessions: Bad Concert!!! First of all I started listening to them by the Viva Emptiness(saw them on a festival) so we can say that this box is my type. . No! because when I listen old albums I liked them better. If you want to learn something about this band and if you are not a really hard stuff person go and buy this box I can tell you this box can really make you love the band. About DVD: IT IS AWFUL. I am a concert guy and I get so bored during this concert thing and MURDER(from their old, old, old. . . album Brave Murder Day) is being MURDERed in the concert. A massive collection of the modern Katatonia, but not enough rare material to be essential. While the "Brave Yester Days" compilation covered the bands earlier period (from 1992 through 1998), "The Black Sessions" covers the bands output from 1998 through to 2003. "The Black Sessions" is the second of the two Katatonia compilations (the first being "Brave Yester Days" to be released in consecutive years. So there's no death / doom material here, it's all in the depressive rock vein that they evolved towards through the mid nineties. The other striking difference is that this compilation contains not only two CDs worth of material, but also a bonus live DVD recorded in Krakow, Poland. Basically, the 2 CDs contain tracks from "Discouraged Ones", "Tonight's Decision", "Last Fair Deal Gone Down" and "Viva Emptiness". These are all great releases and so the level of quality amongst the tracks is very high as expected. But what most fans will be interested in is what rare and unreleased tracks are on here as well as what the quality of the live DVD is. As for rare material, there is only one previously unreleased track which is "Wait Outside". This track was recorded in the "Viva Emptiness" sessions and is a fairly decent one too, although nothing to get too excited about. There are also two tracks that were released as bonus tracks on the slip-case reissue of "Tonight's Decision". These tracks are titled "No Devotion" and "Fractured". These tracks are of less value and I think it was correct to leave them off the original release of that album. Finally, they have included both the "Teargas" and "Tonight's Music" EPs in there entirety, which are difficult to get your hands on these days. The two original tracks on the "Teargas" EP are excellent, with "Sulfur" being a particular highlight. The two original tracks on the "Tonight's Music" EP are not really very good, which is a shame since the title track is one of Katatonia's greatest moments. So, in general, there are only a few bits and pieces on here to get excited about, and for those (like myself) who already own the albums and EPs, there's almost nothing. Which brings me to the DVD. Now don't get me wrong, Katatonia are a wonderful band. One of my favourites in fact! But they just don't seem to be able to recreate the atmosphere of the studio albums when performing live. Jonas in particular doesn't have any energy on stage and his vocals are a little lacking. The sound in general is decent enough and the tracklisting is also ok. There isn't much here for fans of their early material which is expected since they've left that sound far behind. I don't have too many complaints about the DVD, but can't say I found it tremendously exciting. I doubt I will watch it very often at all. Overall, I'd recommend "The Black Sessions" only to the completists out there that have to have everything the band releases, or the casual fan that wants a blueprint of Katatonia's output without collecting all of their albums. Then again, if you don't have the "Teargas" EP, try tracking it down or purchase this compilation for that alone. There's still an awesome array of quality tracks on here, but in my opinion, it just doesn't contain enough unreleased and rare material as the "Brave Yester Days" compilation, which is a tad disappointing. . You can see a complete list of all Katatonia discography, or go back to the Katatonia tabs