August 2021 Feature Release – The Fallen Edition

So just like that we find that a new month is upon us which of course means that we’ll be nominating a brand new monthly feature release for each clan. This essentially means that we’re asking you to rate, review & discuss our chosen features for no other reason than because we enjoy the process & banter. We’re really looking forward to hearing your thoughts on our chosen releases so don’t be shy.

This month’s feature release for The Fallen has been nominated by shadowdoom9 (Andi). It's 1996's classic  "Brave Murder Day" sophomore album from Swedish death doom metallers Katatonia, an album that holds enormous emotional value for me personally.

https://metal.academy/releases/899

Thanks Daniel for accepting my feature release submission! Here's my review summary:

I've tried listening to a few Katatonia songs in my happy melodic past a few years ago, but it was too dark and extreme for me at the time. Their early material is black-doom and their later albums are just depressing gothic rock/metal. I'm glad Brave Murder Day got recommended to me last year because this was in their in-between era of death-doom, which was common in the mid-90s for the Peaceville Three; Anathema, My Dying Bride, Paradise Lost. Yeah, since I already enjoy those 3 bands, how am I not interested in Katatonia? However, something different about Katatonia at that time is, while the Peaceville Three played a romantic kind of atmospheric doom metal, this band has a raw hard-to-classify soundscape. And what makes it hard to classify is their change of style in each of their few albums. Like I said, Dance of December Souls is depressive black-doom, Brave Murder Day (this album) is death-doom, Discouraged Ones is gothic doom, and since Tonight's Decision, they play dark rock/alt-metal. Normally, genre labels aren't totally necessary but I was making a point there. However, Brave Murder Day is so diverse than anyone can interpret the sound to be anything else, not just death-doom. The diverse music is distorted and dark, sometimes mellow, sometimes aggressive. Opeth's Mikael Åkerfeldt does most of the lead vocals, growling in abrasive despair to tone down some melody. Jonas Renkse could no longer do any growls because of vocal issues, but he can still do clean singing, which occurs in only one soft song. Yes, there are acoustic passages instead of symphonic gothic metal keyboards and violins. Another uncommon element is the varying rhythms, some a little faster, some slow. All in all, Katatonia had stirred up a death-doom classic!

5/5

Recommended songs: "Brave", "Murder", "12" (you didn't think I would say "Day", would you?)

For fans of: October Tide, early 90s Paradise Lost, Swallow the Sun

Sorry everyone, but I need to be a voice to the contrary on this one...

One of the great things about Death Doom/Gothic Metal is how it incorporates atmosphere and texture into the music; not to overshadow the songwriting, but to compliment it. This is what allows for the stellar albums by artists such as My Dying Bride, Paradise Lost, Swallow the Sun, etc. to resonate with such frequency for me. Meanwhile, the earliest Katatonia records that incorporated this sound may have some nice texture and the songs lure the listener into a trance, but nothing about the individual songs stand out. In fact, I find Brave Murder Day to be a monotonous album.

The album kicks off with a ten minute opener, "Brave" that sees the group embark on a ten minute dirge that is devoid of structure or form. The use of one riff unaltered and unedited throughout the duration is mind numbing. And while it sounds nice from a production point of view, there is no good reason for me to traverse further into the song. This songwriting technique persists into the next song "Murder" as well as "Rainroom" and for the life of me, I couldn't tell you the distinguishing features between these two tracks. These two songs are broken up by the slower and cleaner "Day", which is a good change of pace, but it follows in step with the others with its songwriting technique. It feels too much like Katatonia took composition lessons from Drone Metal.

"12" actually has a form to it and does not sound like it is just borrowing the same riff from the previous four tracks, making it a standout. The closer "Endtime" starts with promise, but eventually just modulates back into same tempo/riff/melody that I've already heard far too much of for a relatively brief forty minute album.

In the end, I liken Brave Murder Day to a modern day Harakari for the Sky album. These albums are loaded with texture and atmosphere and they sound beautiful, but the songwriting is so painfully lacking in any development or structure that my attempts to latch on to any melody or groove is gutted when the artist refuse to do anything with them. I found that, following this album and the band began ditching the Death Metal adjacent tones for more Alternative rock, while still maintaining their Doom/Gothic aura, it opened up many more opportunities for them as songwriters. I for one am glad, alongside Within Temptation, that they dropped this sound as quickly as they did.

5/10

Let's get something out of the way right away, "Brave Murder Day" was a hugely important record for me in the late 1990's &, despite not having heard it in a good three years or so, I don't need to give it a revisit in order to provide this synopsis. You see, it was one of a few much beloved albums that got me through the hardest part of my life. It was a time that saw me recovering from a toxic three-year relationship which involved prolific drug use, the death of multiple associates & persistent long-term emotional manipulation, the final scene seeing me discovering that my de facto partner was three months pregnant with another man's baby who she was living with in China whilst on a one-year work trip that I was paying for. To say that I was in a dark place is a massive understatement & it was at this time that I completely left metal behind as it was simply too painful a place for me to stay. "Brave Murder Day" would one of the rare exceptions to the rule though. 

I first became acquainted with Katatonia through their "Jhva Elohim Meth... the Revival" E.P. back in 1993 & religiously checked out each subsequent release however I'd be lying if I told you that I thought of them as anything terribly special up until "Brave Murder Day". Their 1993 debut album "Dance Of December Souls" has always left me feeling underwhelmed & it wasn't until 1995's "For Funerals to Come..." E.P. that I started to see my interest reaching the next level. But "Brave Murder Day" would smash all of those releases out of the park with a much more mature & well-defined sound that was further highlighted by the brilliant vocals of Opeth front man Mikael Åkerfeldt. It was the amazing guitar melodies that really floated my boat with tracks like "Brave", "Rainroom" & "Endtime" sporting some of the most melancholic & angelic examples you're ever likely to hear. I'd find myself able to immerse myself in their beauty with their impact only increasing with each repeat listen. In fact, I'd go so far as to suggest that these might be the most distinctive melodies in the entire doom/death subgenre.

If I had of given "Brave Murder Day" a rating back in the 1990's it would unquestionably have gained full marks. It's interesting though that my most recent revisit has seen time taking a small toll &, despite maintaining its ability to tear at my emotions, I decided that it's not quite the perfect record I thought it was. Most tracks have moments of sheer genius however there are noticeable blemishes in the song structures & the gothic elements haven't aged as well as they might have. Don't get me wrong, there are no weak tracks included here however I don't find "Day" & "12" to be much more than mildly enjoyable & so it's really an album that's driven by its highlights, the superlative opener "Brave" being the most breath-taking of the six tracks included.

"Brave Murder Day" should be essential listening for anyone with even a mild interest in the doom/death metal subgenre.

For fans of October Tide & early Anathema/Paradise Lost.

4.5/5

I'm honestly really disappointed with my final opinion on this album. Thanks to my adept recognition skills, it only took me two full listens to realize that Mikael Akerfeldt was a session vocalist for all the harsh vocals, all the while wondering why it reminded me of Opeth so much. I've found that I really enjoy Katatonia's material in general, whether it be their more classic albums like The Great Cold Distance or their newer stuff like Fall of Hearts. Given their consistency if you told me they never released a poor album, I'd absolutely believe you without getting around to checking out even half of their discography yet. But to say that I was underwhelmed by Brave Murder Day is a bit of an understatement. 

The dreary melancholy that Katatonia are able to convey through their style is very much the highlight of the band for me, but I don't really get that too much with Brave Murder Day thanks to Akerfeldt's Death Metal vocals bringing some serious confusion into the atmosphere. The riffs are good, but I don't think they reach the level of heft and aggression to warrant the vocal style. "Brave" is especially good though, and I have to slightly disagree with Saxy about it since I think the way they reincorporate the main riff at the end from all of the other shifts in melody is pretty great. From then on, though, Brave Murder Day kind of just goes about its business being somewhat doomy, somewhat gothic, somewhat death-y, and overall kind of uninteresting to me after a while. 

Even though this album has reached somewhat classic status, I can't help but think that Katatonia are stuck between two or three styles that don't really fit together on this one. The fact that I really enjoy The Great Cold Distance and not this one has to come down to Katatonia honing down their sound with more haunting, subtle vocals that go with their style of songwriting much better than Akerfeldt's death growls. It pains me to be so harsh on an Opeth side project, but I can't see myself going back to this one that much. It definitely makes me want to check out Katatonia's other, earlier records to see where the shift exactly happened. 

3/5

Here's my review. It was written many years ago, but I doubt I'd feel very different about it today.

It’s always difficult to write a review for a favourite album. Expressing how much music means to you in words can be a daunting prospect, as the thought of not doing an album justice weighs heavily on the mind whenever attempting it. Brave Murder Day is such an album for me and I hope that I manage to convey my adoration for it over the next few paragraphs. These Swedes had already impressed me greatly by the time I came across this treasure, with their debut full length album Dance of December Souls and the following For Funerals to Come EP both containing hauntingly atmospheric death doom metal, with fantastic melodies and passion-filled vocals. However, as much as I found their music to be moving and entertaining, there’s no doubt that it displayed some signs of immaturity, with less than tight musicianship on occasion and room for improvement in the way their tracks were structured. Taking all this into account, I figured Katatonia would be all the better for the experience, and that their next album would in all likelihood overcome these awkward moments and deliver something very special indeed. Little did I know that this next album would come very close to never eventuating at all, and how dramatically different it would be once it finally did.

After the success of Dance of December Souls, Renkse and Blackheim were not only struggling to find a stable line-up, but they were also finding it difficult to decide exactly where to take their sound. They had toyed with the idea of performing gothic rock with the Scarlet Heavens recording (eventually appearing on a split vinyl with Primordial) before ditching the idea and reverting back to their original sound. This indecision appears to have come to a head after the For Funerals to Come session in 1994, which led to these long term friends putting Katatonia on hold for an indefinite period of time. Blackheim used the sabbatical to explore other genres of metal, putting his energy into the black metal carnival that is Diabolical Masquerade (creating the amazing Ravendusk in My Heart in the process), and also taking part in a thrash metal band called Bewitched. Renkse on the other hand combined with Fredrik Norrman to form October Tide, recording Rain Without End before the end of 1995. It has to be said that October Tide’s debut album, which wouldn’t be officially released until 1997, is where the Brave Murder Day sound was really established, and one has to wonder whether Katatonia would have gone down this path at all had this short hiatus not taken place.

In early 1996, the duo reformed Katatonia and significantly brought Norrman into the fold. There was however one more issue they needed to deal with before getting down to business. Jonas could no longer perform the harsh vocals he was known for due to the extensive damage it was doing to his throat. They’d have to find a replacement vocalist and what better place to look than amongst your own country mates. In steps Mikael Åkerfeldt from Opeth fame. While the man may receive criticism from a growing number of Opeth bashers (as is the case with anything popular it seems), there’s just no doubt in my mind that Mikael is one of the finest vocalists in metal. His performance on Brave Murder Day may not demonstrate the extent of his capabilities, but the controlled anger and melancholy he brings suits the musical themes perfectly. Blackheim and Fredrik produce multitudes of sumptuous melodies throughout, but the other technique that they utilise to achieve their goal is repetition. These tracks have such a calming, hypnotic effect on the listener, despite the extreme despondency that this sound conveys. The album has influenced so many other bands (not least of all Finnish band Rapture) and changed the perception of what doom death metal is capable of. After all, there’s nothing romantic or gothic about Brave Murder Day. It’s mid paced, droning and raw!

Brave Murder Day’s title is taken directly from the first three tracks on the album, but there are six tracks in all totalling just over forty minutes. The first of these (Brave obviously) is the best of the lot in my opinion, being a ten minute classic built around constant rhythmic riffs and Mikael’s grief-stricken vocals. Murder, Rainroom and closer Endtime come awfully close to matching Brave and are all brilliant, but their lesser running times don’t quite allow them the room to outshine it. 12 stands out as having a slightly different structure to the rest, which isn’t surprising considering it’s actually a reworking of an earlier Katatonia track called Black Erotica, originally recorded for the W.A.R. Compilation Volume 1 for Wrong Again Records in 1995. There’s no question that it’s third track Day that causes the most controversy amongst fans of the band. This depressing little “ballad” was the first track to contain entirely clean vocals from Renkse and many consider his performance here to be a bit weak, despite the fact that he would take over full time clean vocals on all albums from this point onwards. While I agree that he would go from strength to strength with each subsequent album, I still think this track gives the album a much needed shift in intensity and his emotional, vulnerable style only adds to the melancholy.

One of the other things of note when discussing Brave Murder Day is that the album was originally released completely un-mastered. Why this happened is anyone’s guess (perhaps the band felt no need to tinker with the result) but it wasn’t until 2006 that Peaceville would re-release the album in mastered form for the very first time. I haven’t heard this updated version, but to be honest, I see no need to. The production on the original has nothing of note that needs adjusting and the organic sound of the instruments works in its favour rather than against it. The thing that does make the Peaceville release appealing is that it also includes the fantastic EP Sounds of Decay. This three track EP contains the only other material recorded with this line-up and therefore sits perfectly alongside Brave Murder Day, unlike the For Funerals to Come EP which is included on the Century Media version. That being said, both of these EPs can be found on the Brave Yester Days compilation (along with stacks of other rare and unreleased material), so there’s no real reason in my mind to upgrade from the original pressing of this classic album. In the end, Brave Murder Day is an album that all fans of depressive metal should own, regardless of which version you choose. It’s an album I can never get sick of and is thoroughly deserving of five stars.

5/5