My Dying Bride - Katatonia - Paradise Lost new works 2020 review.
Strange times with my strange bands
Two circumstances not planned have converged at the same moment of time. We have been locked at home worldwide the main part of this spring due to the horrific COVID-19 pandemic. A lot of emotions have risen, including fear, rage, solitude, sadness, despair, filthy…and you could probably agree with me that my beloved bands, My Dying Bride, Katatonia and Paradise Lost are masters creating those emotions in their music.
Oh, Alas! Their new albums have appeared in this surrealistic period:
The Ghost of Orion – My Dying Bride, March 6th 2020
City Burials – Katatonia, April 24th 2020
Obsidian – Paradise Lost, May 15th 2020
They have been part of my life since my teens with highs and lows and their music has been truly important for me in this horrible period, lightening it (with their dark light of course). My approach to their art has been different this year, not only for the special situation. I returned to Facebook last January, after 10 years out of it. That has allowed me to share passion, opinions, reviews and information with people all around the world interested in this incredible music. So I have had a richest environment concerning the appearance of the albums. It reminds me when at a very young age I spent hours talking with my friends about Metal with absolute dedication. I feel very grateful with this community of Facebook fans group of those bands; they are far in physical distance but very near in terms of music sensitiveness.
Talking about the albums, I’m going to make an alternative review, trying to explain the emotions they create in my soul.
The Ghost of Orion – My Dying Bride
It starts with the melancholic Doom of “Your Broken Shore”. In the best tradition of the band, it comes with a video clip that plays with fire light in a hypnotic manner
“The doom of your, your broken shore,
It washes over me, hair woven of the sun and the sea”
Ahhh! I feel like at home, they are part of my music family.
“To Outlive the Gods” is more positive, with a nice and let’s say “happy” guitar riff and a great violin together. Like in old MDB times in the last century, with violin as a distinctive of the band features.
“Tired of tears” was the first single, plenty of emotion and a little bit different from the rest. It has a magnificent guitar solo.
“The Solace” is a fantastic interlude with a female voice (Lindy-Fay Hella of Wardruna) that reminds me Anathema first EP, for the grandiloquence, ethereal mystery and sadness of the sound.
“The Long Black Land”, maybe the weakest of the album, in my humble opinion, sounds like other old songs yet well known. I will give it an opportunity of touching my heart in more deep future listening.
“The Ghost of Orion”, another interlude, instrumental pause and good bridge to
“The Old Earth”, a delicious Doom song that honors what MDB means. Slow, dark and heavy.
To finish, another little pearl, heaven chorus with “Your Woven Shore”.
Summarizing, although in the first listening the felling was quite flat after deeper and quiet ones I can say it is a good My Dying Bride album with some great moments. And I felt grateful for their music in these special moments. I would rate 7/10.
City Burials - Katatonia
https://www.youtube.com/playli
I’m a fanatic of the first years of the band and the following ones until Viva Emptiness. I saw them in that 2003 tour (wow, how far!) totally engaged to their magic.
I’ve invest thousands of hours enjoying those great albums. The new period, it is not the best for me, although I respect the great number of new fans that joined them with this new style more dark/rock oriented. And yes, they continue creating incredible songs with memorable moments, they continue being masters of dark music that touches your soul…with different sounds but creating the same web where you remain trapped. So…City Burials has arrived and…I like it! It has a good range of different songs with certain style mixing that makes it interesting.
“Heart set to divide” starts with Jonas voice fulfilling everything (it is fantastic in all the songs) creating the right touch in your heart to continue with the absolute amazing
“Behind the blood”. The speed guitar riffs (sometimes remind me Yngwie Malsteem, yes, incredible!) creates pushing melodies until the return to mid-tempo to end this rare history. https://youtu.be/nQaN2elJ-dQ
And we arrive to the first single of the album,
“Lacquer”. Slow, beautiful, with a strange air that involves it, maybe near last Radiohead works, that I call “modern mystery”. In this pandemic time they had the excellent idea of performing a live show in streaming from the studio. It was really amazing and Lacquer was one of the best songs performed, for sure it will be part of their future live set.
“Rein” continues in the depressive mode as a bridge to other of the anticipated singles,
“The Winter of our Passing” that comes as a reference of the nowadays Katatonia’s sound together with a “different” video clip.
“Vanishers” is another slow exercise of miserable feelings with a great female chorus in the middle.
“City glaciers”: Why this obsession with the Cities, the buildings, is it related to the loneliness among the crowd? There you’ll find exquisite guitar riffs and more magic lyrics.
“Flicker”: “this is how I disappear” and “I’m waiting for no one”, superb…another master class of music composition. At this moment you feel totally involved in the Universe created in City Burials.
“Lachesis” is a very short piece of acoustic sadness. And then you arrive to the last three songs,
“Neon Epitaph” for me it is the only avoidable song of this piece.
“Untrodden” is a precious song. Jonas sings plenty of emotion there.
And to finish, “Fighters”, returning to the energy with a guitar solo that remind us Katatonia still has a Metal Spirit inside.
As with My Dying Bride, I feel really grateful for their music, more in this rare circumstances, so 7/10 rating as well. And last but not least:
Obsidian – Paradise Lost
“Darker thoughts” grows each time do you approach it. Starts slow and the intensity increases steadily until the chorus with “God asks not to kill” that penetrates as a stab in your brain. It is one of the singles (the 3rd one) with a video clip that shows the band in a really good shape. I love from “Gothic” times the lead guitar of Mr. Mackintosh, and in this song it is superb, really near “Icon” and “Draconian times” period.
“Fall from Grace” is a classic only two weeks after the album appearance, in the most doomer tradition of the British crews. Heavy riffs, Nick singing from six feet under and dark lyrics create the accurate cocktail, enjoyable for the most extreme doom followers. My only complaint in the entire Obsidian launch is the video clip for this song. I think it is very flat. The piece is great enough to have a video that can honor it. In my opinion the video has “Fall from Grace”….
“Ghosts”. Another surprise. It follows the dark electronic face of the band. They show how they can create excellent material in a great range of styles.
“The Devil Embraced” with initial riffs very “Draconian” is another PL very recognizable song, in a mid-tempo that combines Nick’s clean voice and growls. And then we change the side of Vinyl to enjoy
“Forsaker” that continues in the same path initiated by “The Devil Embraced”.
“Serenity” changes the mood, returning to a more doom/death style, with the guttural voice of Nick evoking “Shades of God” era.
“Ending days” slows your heart with a kind of soft ballad.
“Hope dies Young” shows more mid-tempo dark style (it matches quite well with “Ghosts”.
“Ravenghast”, another superb old fashioned times song to close with emotion this diverse work.
As the last albums, different styles with really good songs and some more flat. They are Paradise Lost, one of my favorite bands of all times and I will give the album a 7/10 too. I was thinking in a low rate but after some deep listening I give 7 with no doubt.
Anyway, thanks to these three marvelous artists for creating music that puts an amazing original soundtrack to our life, mainly in these difficult times, and thanks to you unknown brother or sister that likes those bands for reading this post.
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