Dead End Kings

Dead End Kings
Studio album by Katatonia
Released 27 August 2012
Recorded February - May 2012
Studio Ghost Ward & The City of Glass Studios[1]
Genre Progressive metal[2]
Length 48:47
Label Peaceville
Producer Jonas Renkse
Anders Nyström
Katatonia chronology
Night Is the New Day
(2009)		 Dead End Kings
(2012)		 The Fall of Hearts
(2016)

Dead End Kings is Katatonia's ninth full-length album. It was released on 27 August 2012 in Europe and 28 August in the U.S. through Peaceville Records. Like all Katatonia releases, the album was written primarily by founding members Jonas Renkse and Anders Nyström. The band went through a number of lineup changes, making the album the first to feature bassist Niklas Sandin, the only album to feature second guitarist Per Ericksson, and the last to feature drummer Daniel Liljekvist.

Themes and composition

The song "The One You Are Looking For Is Not Here" is not literally about not being able to find a person, but about telling a person their preconceived notions about themselves were incorrect - that such a person does not exist.[3] Multiple tracks, including "Buildings", allude to abandoned city scenes, which were inspired by Renkse's and Nystrom's visiting of abandoned train tunnels and hospitals in abandoned villages in Sweden.[3] The album is not politically-themed in the conventional sense of promoting ideologies or presenting solutions, but rather contemplates and laments the poor state of the world due to modern politics in general.[3]

Journalists have noted a similarity in sound to the work of American progressive metal band Tool, a comparison Renkse refers to as accidental but flattering.[3]

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
About.com[4]
Allmusic[5]
Drowned in Sound[6]
The Guardian[7]
Sputnikmusic[8]

The album was generally well received by critics. AllMusic praised the diverse and layered sound production on the album, concluding that "With its various parts, ever-shifting dynamics, and blazing instrumental interludes, it sends the set off with a nearly majestic bang. Dead End Kings is uncompromising in its musical excellence, bleak vision, and dark, hunted beauty; it extends Katatonia's reach exponentially.[5] Kyle Ward, staff reviewer from Sputnik Music, strongly praised the album for being the perfect culmination of everything the band had strived to become after moving away from their original death metal sound in the late 1990s, citing the albums high production values, layered sound and "emotional sincerity" for the album being a "massive success".[8]

Track listing

All lyrics written by Jonas Renkse, except "Undo You" and "The Act of Darkening" by Anders Nyström.

No.TitleMusicLength
1."The Parting"Renkse4:52
2."The One You Are Looking For Is Not Here" (feat. Silje Wergeland)Renkse3:52
3."Hypnone"Renkse4:07
4."The Racing Heart"Renkse4:06
5."Buildings"Nyström3:28
6."Leech"Renkse4:23
7."Ambitions"Renkse5:07
8."Undo You"Nyström4:56
9."Lethean"Per Eriksson, Renkse4:39
10."First Prayer"Nyström, Renkse4:28
11."Dead Letters"Nyström4:49
Total length:48:47
Limited Deluxe Book Edition Bonus Tracks
No.TitleMusicLength
12."Second"Renkse, Nyström3:34
13."The Act of Darkening"Nyström5:55
Total length:57:47

Credits

References

  1. ↑ Katatonia - Dead End Kings on metal-archives.com Retrieved on 23 May 2016
  2. ↑ Lawson, Dom (23 August 2012). "Katatonia: Dead End Kings – review" – via The Guardian.
  3. 1 2 3 4 http://www.cvltnation.com/reaping-the-storm-an-in-depth-interview-with-jonas-renkse-of-katatonia/
  4. ↑ Bowar, Chad. "Katatonia - Dead End Kings Review". About.com. Retrieved 10 January 2014.
  5. 1 2 Thom Jurek. "Katatonia: Dead End Kings". Allmusic. Retrieved September 27, 2012.
  6. ↑ Falcone, Jon (August 19, 2012). "Katatonia Dead End Kings". Drowned in Sound. Retrieved 10 January 2014.
  7. ↑ Lawson, Dom (August 23, 2012). "Katatonia: Dead End Kings – review". The Guardian. Retrieved 10 January 2014.
  8. 1 2 Ward, Kyle (August 27, 2012). "Katatonia Dead End Kings". Sputnik Music. Retrieved 10 January 2014.
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