Teargas

I'm a deep admirer of Katatonia's scattered EPs and I think they really help to piece the band's career together through its many, many changes. 'Teargas' is not the highlight of those EPs, but works more like a single in this case, with a shorter running time, just three songs, and a cohesive feel, rather than including a couple of experimental songs. I do have a small issue with the cover for the EP, which would appear to be of an emo girl. It doesn't really reflect the songs, nor Katatonia's aesthetic, but perhaps there was a time when the band were on the verge of crossing over into that scene - after all, they wrote low-key rock songs with heartfelt vocals.

The quality of the album track can be crucial to the reception of this kind of release, and I'm in two minds about whether the song 'Teargas' is the best pick from 'Last Fair Deal Gone Down'. It certainly is the most concise and radio-friendly song from that album, but I think there were better songs ('Sweet Nurse', maybe an edited 'Don't Tell a Soul') that were more representative of the band's direction at this time. 'Teargas' plays like a mildly tricky melancholic rock song, with the chorus hiding for a little while before becoming the prominent feature. The melodies are bright and sparkly, while the guitars do a soft/loud thing, with only the drums presenting any real difficulty in the form of an oddly battling beat across the chorus and instrumental sections.

The other two songs have not appeared on any album, though they aren't bad by any means. 'Sulfur' is the biggest surprise: it's a pretty long song that starts off with a mellow acoustic picked part and very dreamy vocals from Jonas Renkse before it bursts out with a typical upbeat melody (it actually sounds oddly similar to the one from 'Teargas') and from there on sounds much like the album material from this period, if with a more obvious quiet/loud dynamic shift from verse to chorus. 'March 4' (I want it to be called 'March 4th' but, you know, the curses of being English) would have happily fitted on 'Last Fair Deal Gone Down' and, while nothing outstanding marks its length, it is a very accomplished and catchy song with a great vocal performance.

The 'Teargas' EP, while sounding like typical Katatonia - of which the band are capable of nothing less - presents an aspect of the band without contrast and lets us imagine a possible direction that they could have followed. Perhaps they could have aimed for the emo or radio rock audience, but that would have compromised their unique sound and robbed the metal world of one of their undervalued gems. It is notable that after this EP and the following 'Tonight's Decision', the band have only released one EP (the markedly different 'The Longest Year' was a single with two remixes). It seems that as the band's sound solidified, the need to display their many facets became unnecessary.

Not all the bands have strong EP's like Katatonia, and this one is a great example of this, these songs could easily be included on the album Last Fair Deal Gone Down (Teargas is already in it, track 4) for its power, catchiness, amazing melody and lyrics and to me, one of them is among the best Katatonia songs to date and one of the songs, also, was already played alive, so.. this is no joke.

To the tracks:

1) Teargas: Well, this is a well-known song to Katatonia followers, it's beautiful and flawless, it has that Katatonia atmosphere, sad and melancholy.
However, this song has an unusual leading, it is Verse, Chorus and Chorus. Don't worry, the song is not bad AT ALL cause of this, it is just a minor observation.

2) Sulphur: This song is goddamn AMAZING!!! Most of people usually don't take a look at EP's, usually the songs in it are just shitty versions or studio left-overs.. but this is no left-over allright, if this song was included on the album, it would be a PLUS to it, the melody is beautiful with, again, that Katatonia vibe and it has a unexpected ending after the chorus with more melody to you.. needless to say, a masterpiece!!

3) March 4: Oh, another fucking good song, hidden in the EP, this song has been played in concerts, if the song was crap, they wouldn't add to their set-list, right ? The song is catchy as hell and, of course, is Katatonia as hell!! You that this is a good thing.

This EP perhaps is not the easiest thing to buy, but if you get the chance, BUY IT!!!! You won't regret it, it'll just add more Katatonia to your brain!