I bought the new Katatonia release and the new Slayer release as well.
The new Katatonia is certainly their most advanced sounding release yet, the most varied and takes the most chances. Normally I would be really excited but after spending a little bit of time with it it still hasn’t hooked me the way I had wanted it to. Sure, it sounds great in the car, especially since it has been raining here almost non stop for a week or so but sometimes you don’t want to be reminded musically of being a little depressed so that could be the main reason why “Night is The New Day” hasn’t quite done it for me yet. The other reason is that it seems like the further away from “Last Good Deal Gone Down” they get, the more of a different direction they seem to be going in. Hey, it is still really good stuff but that release was great, a perfect blend of pound and melancholy that seemed to be all of their own. It doesn’t surprise me to see the leader of Opeth raving about this because in places they finally sound like Opeth. I am not sure I like that too much to be honest, but hey to each their own. Katatonia should finally be able to break out worldwide with this but I think that they are still too smart, too cerebral for dumbass mass consumption. I don’t think the kids who watch the fuse network are going to get this. Most metal people won’t either.
Speaking of metal, Slayer’s newest one “World Painted Blood” proved to be far more enjoyable. I don’t know what it is, but I hope to always be able to appreciate Slayer even when I am sixty years old. As long as people get angry and pissed off, Slayer will always have a future. Plus, most of this new one is really very high quality, perhaps the best they have done since “South Of Heaven”. Everyone sounds lethal and pissed off, Tom Araya’s bark is still highly appealing, and Dave Lombardo plays as well as he ever has. The real plus side is that Jeff Hannemen is the dominant force songwriting wise, and he has always been the better of the two guitar players in this band. So that also means a better Slayer record.
The topics are the usual pissed off and shocking in a high school kind of way type of thing. The cover is stupid, the lyrics are stupid and the playing is angry and vicious. It is Slayer. They even have tried a few tricky time signature things in some of these songs, making this the most “advanced” sounding Slayer record yet. When I listen to this in my car I naturally squinch up my eyebrows and purse my lips in an evil way. It is Slayer, and they are as brilliant and stupid as ever.
I give Slayer the crown for this one. Katatonia would benefit from putting away the goth records for a little while and maybe try to rip off Scott Walker’s “Tilt” instead.
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