SKY VOID OF STARS

Katatonia's last is an absolute monster of dark music. That's right, any label goes just well with Katatonia, prog, goth rock, metal, doom metal (not now though), electro-goth, whatever you want really, but encompassing every one of these genres we have total and utter darkness. That is the essence: Cold, autumn music, charged atmospheras and profound lyrics, and that is something Katatonia never failed to acomplish. With this record, they've perfected the craft, and managed to, in some way, represent the same exact feelings within a million different sounds, constructing even well sounding, almost poppy hooks without really getting rid of any of those chilling elements that make katatonia the band it is.

+ The production of this record is just marvelous, different. Entering the world of "Sky Void of Stars" is entering to a crisp, dark yet clear environment, with layered guitars and huge sounding drums. It is not a normal sounding production, and I love that (some may hate it).

+ If well Jonas is known for not experimenting much with his vocal timbre, and use to stay low register, sounding like a lord of darkness, in this record he drops some glimpses of a new Jonas with the capacity to break dynamics through high notes, having as a result some beautiful sounding choruses and vocal lines.

+ Joel's participation is amazing, "Impermanence" is the more emotional song in the record. Oh, and the fills in this album, awesome, very 80's sounding drums.

January 20, 2023 was a big day for metalheads within the prog community, between this and Riversides'. Maybe I still consumed by the hype of the release, but I don't really care at this point, this just sounds great and I'll come back to it.

Best track: Author (that hook omfg), Austerity (that bridge, god), Opaline (it's just that good).

Weaker track: Probably Birds, there is just something weird about those guitars.