Dreamy, Gloomy and Melancholic Alternative Rock at Its Best - A Review of Katatonia's Sky Void of Stars

Evolving from death metal over doom metal to gothic metal, Swedish quintet Katatonia has been cementing its very own contemporary style for more than a decade by now. The group plays dreamy, gloomy and melancholic alternative rock with a hypnotizing atmosphere and psychedelic soundscapes. The band's most recent output Sky Void of Stars might be the group's strongest release in this genre thus far. The regular edition offers ten brand-new tracks with a total running time of forty-six minutes while the limited edition includes eleven songs for a total length of fifty-one minutes. Let me tell you right from the start that the limited edition is certainly worth its price.

The record starts dynamically with rhythmic and catchy opener "Austerity" that gets right to the point in three and a half minutes and represents all of the group's contemporary trademarks. Precise and tight drum play meets concise and gloomy bass guitar sounds. The guitar play is eerie, melodic and sluggish despite a mid-paced song structure. The emotional and melodic vocals evoke sadness and warmth all at once. This song right here is easy to digest and should give you an appropriate idea whether you are going to appreciate this record or not.

Another recommendable tune is "Birds" that is rather dynamic by Katatonia's standards with an engaging rhythm section, passionate vocals and a catchy chorus. The melodic guitar play recalls commercially and critically successful gothic rock bands from the late nineties and early years of the new millennium such as HIM. People who have grown up back in those days might certainly find an intriguing nostalgic appeal here.

Another noteworthy track is "Impermanence" that is much slower, has a hypnotizingly sluggish atmosphere and could be described as a sad ballad that invites to dream yourself far away on a rainy autumn night.

The record's most epic song is the closer of the regular edition entitled "No Beacon to Illuminate Our Fall" that starts with simple but melodic guitar sound effects as well as fragile and smooth vocals. The song picks up some energy when rhythmic bass guitar sounds and drum loops kick in to give the song a slightly industrial tone. This structure is broken up time and again with psychedelic transitions with haunting vocals and dreamily meandering guitar sounds. These transitions from psychedelic dream-like sequences to energetic industrial passages make for a creative ride that entertains through six fascinating minutes. This song might need a few spins to grow but ends up unfolding the highest amount of magic on the new record. This is a true hidden gem and my favourite tune on the album.

One should certainly also mention bonus track "Absconder" that justifies the purchase of the limited edition as it's stronger than several of the regular cuts. Katatonia's bonus tracks are of a particularly high quality in general as you can hear on excellent compilation Mnemosynean. This bonus track here impresses with epic symphonic undertones and danceable patterns in the background. The bass guitar and drum play are particularly versatile within their genre boundaries. The guitar riffs are a little bit heavier than usual and lead towards a memorable, energetic and catchy chorus. The vocals meander fluidly between clean passages and somewhat distorted vocal effects making once again for a slightly psychedelic note. This song is one of the best on the entire record and deserves attention and acclaim.

As you can read, Katatonia has kept its dreamy, gloomy and melancholic alternative rock style with a hypnotizing atmosphere and psychedelic soundscapes and refined it on Sky Void of Stars. Fans of old date who are hoping for the band to return to its death, doom and gothic metal roots might be disappointed but anyone who has been appreciating anything the band has been releasing in the past dozen years or so might consider this new album as the band's greatest accomplishment in this vein thus far. It doesn't come as a surprise then that this album was featured on quite a few personal and professional lists of greatest records of the past year.

Final Rating: 90%