Review by Ben for Katatonia - Tonight's Music (2001)

This is the second EP Katatonia released in the same year as the "Last Fair Deal Gone Down" studio album. Whereas "Teargas" was released a few months prior to the full length, "Tonight's Music" came out a few months afterwards. Once again it contains only 3 tracks, with one also appearing on the album, and once again the whole EP runs for less than 15 minutes.

The first track is "Tonight's Music", which is my favourite track off "Last Fair Deal Gone Down". It has the most incredible emotional impact from the very first notes. It's a perfect example of the way Katatonia utilize mellow moments and heavier metal sections to create such a sense of loss and despair. When the chorus kicks in, you will totally be convinced of the authenticity of the emotions involved. "What is wrong, not with the world, but me?" It's simply a beautiful song and one of my very favourite Katatonia pieces.

Up next is "Help Me Disappear" which unfortunately is of a far lesser quality. In my opinion it doesn't match up to the standard of any of the tracks on the full-length album and so I assume that it's a discard from those sessions. It contains all the typical Katatonia ingredients with quite a bit of melody and melancholy, but just doesn't manage to move me the way the band normally does with ease.

Finally, "O How I Enjoy the Light" is a cover by a band called Palace which I've never heard before. While it's clearly not written by the band, it does contain the darker, desolate tone that is the norm. But there's nothing interesting here either. The same tinny guitars, simple drumbeat and weepy vocals continue for just under 3 minutes. It's not a terrible choice for a cover but I don't find myself wanting to track down the original nor replay this version, which I guess suggests it doesn't do a lot for me.

While I highly recommended the "Teargas" EP, due to all three songs being great, I find it much harder to recommend "Tonight's Music". Diehard fans of the band will probably want to track it down for completions sake alone, but the remaining fans need only purchase "The Black Sessions" compilation, which contains all three tracks along with a whole bunch of other more essential Katatonia material.