THE GREAT COLD DISTANCE

'The Great Cold Distance' is Katatonia's seventh studio album, released in 2006 and following what is perhaps the band's two strongest consecutive albums to date, 'Last Fair Deal Gone Down' and 'Viva Emptiness', not just chronologically but also stylistically as it consolidated the Swedes' transition from doom and death metal to a more alternative style of heavy music with many intricate and interesting moments, certainly inspired by their comrades Opeth and Porcupine Tree, among other bands, and what they were doing at the time [talking about the early and mid-2000s], experimenting with the progressive side of rock and metal. This release, however, completes in a glorious manner what could be considered a very successful trinity of classic albums for this band, as it is entirely on par with the two aforementioned ones and stands on its own as a very important pillar in Katatonia's catalogue.

This album, while necessarily heavy and vibrant, as the firepower-loaded riffs pierce the album, remains very consistent all throughout, it displays a very intelligent album architecture that does not compromise the experience of hearing the album and enjoying every single minute of it. As usual, the duo of Jonas Renkse and Anders Nyström is responsible for the writing of the album, also assisting Jens Bogren in the production about which one could not point out to any flaws. The entire thing sounds quite good, absolutely menacing and emotive, all instruments are able to impact the songs just the right way, and the vocals are impeccable, yet hauntingly beautiful in every single number on here.

Needless to say, this record gives us some of the band's absolute classics, like 'My Twin', 'Deliberation' or 'Soil's Song' as well as several lesser known but not a single bit less explosive tracks like the throbbing 'Rusted' or the more melancholic 'July', but pointing out to any highlight on here would be an injustice to all the other songs, as the whole album is really consistent, with no weak entries. This record is a very fine mixture of the things Katatonia does best in this period of theirs - delivering these dark and occasionally depressing anthems that always have this menacing heaviness to them as well as the intricacy and appeal of modern prog metal.