Deliberation

Deliberation is Sweedish depressive rock band Katatonia's latest single off The Great Cold Distance. With that album, Katatonia are on the verge of what could quite possibly be a mainstream breakthrough, with catchy, accessable, yet depressive songs. So, perhaps in another attempt at a hit, we have the Deliberation EP. Deliberation, the first track off the EP starts off with a wash of keyboards and Jonas's emotive, monotone vocals. This track, as many tracks off their recent albums can almost be described as nu-metal done right. Deliberation is similar in structure to many Linkin Park songs, with the soft verses, slightly heavier pre-chorus, then a heavy chorus, all the while backed up with accessable melodies and vocals. However, Katatonia far outclasses such bands in terms of composition and talent, crafting each song into its own depressive masterpiece. And Deliberation is no different, with keyboards casting a gloomy mood and guitars whining and echoing. The riffing on Deliberation during the chorus is a bit Tool-inspired, owing itself to their recent works. All together Deliberation is a very strong track, many of my non-metalhead friends love this song.

The next track off the EP is the 'Urban Dub' mix of In the White, also off The Great Cold Distance. This track has a bit of a 'precious' feel that wouldn't be expected judging from the title. The vocal tracks are thankfully kept intact from the original track, no rapping Jonas here. The beat is accentuated with some soft mellotron keys, a scarce string arrangement, and some acoustic strumming. Not a bad remix at all, but then again, the original song is far superiour. And next, we have the only unreleased track on this EP, Code Against the Code. This track is a bit more reminicant of Tonight's Decision with it's repetitive song structure, with the same main riff repeating itself throughout (almost) the whole song. Once again, it's a good track, but it's easy to see why it was left off The Great Cold Distance, it's just an average song. This EP also includes the video for Deliberation, which is easily accessable online. It's a typical Katatonia video, with abstract visuals very fitting to the song.

Unlike the My Twin EP, this offering is lackluster at best. Deliberation is still an outstanding song, but the remix and unreleased track are nothing remarkable. For completists only.