Saw You Drown

'Saw You Drown' is always connected for me to the 'The Same Deep Water as You' from The Cure's 1989 masterpiece Disintegration. In interviews, Jonas Renkse and Anders Nyström (who were basically the whole band at the time) have said that the transition from doom death towards this floating kind of shoegaze grunge was massively influenced by The Cure and Slowdive. There's something about the slightly mumbly, totally medicated way that Renkse sings on the album tracks that is strongly related to Robert Smith's vocal on 'Same Deep Water', where the words seem to spill from a dribbling bottom lip, while the guitars appear to stare in catatonic horror at the truth unfolding around. The predominant emotion isn't exactly depression, but much more complicated than that - it's defeat, it's abandonment, it's numbness.

The legacy of the first 2 tracks, which are both taken from Discouraged Ones, is a mute horror, a kind of seeping, dislocated worry that registers somewhere far in the background, deep in the patient's eyes, yet they continue to behave as if everything were normal. It would be silly to say that the drums are utterly simplistic and that the guitar riffs don't do anything interesting, because Katatonia have never been about heaviness or technical ability - even on the debut, the guitars sound soft - but about effect, about creating a scenario. As such, the music and the vocals don't overpower: they nag and work under the skin of the listener to leave a much more subtle and lasting effect. The title track is the more accessible of the two, though both are catchy, haunting, and concerning.

'Quiet World' is the frailest song I think I have ever heard. The delicacy of this number is not just a result of the first half barely rising above a whisper, but the treading-on-eggshells care with which everything is executed. The riff is just a couple of notes picked over and over, yet the bend is a caught breath in a silent room or the audacious play of dust in sunlight. The song really has an extraordinary power of shrinking the listener's world the moment it begins, as if the world has stopped around them.

'Scarlet Heavens' is its own thing and, while it's a great curiosity, it's thankful that Katatonia didn't pursue this direction, which they toyed with after the recording of Dance of December Souls. At over 10 minutes, it's epic new wave goth with jangly rolling guitars and New Romantic lyrics, which is pretty silly, though interesting in light of the distinctive Katatonia touches found therein.

This is the kind of EP that makes me sad that EPs aren't popular anymore, at least in the way that Katatonia used them. They could be stepping stones between sounds, like the preceding EPs Sounds of Decay and For Funerals to Come..., or they could be curious addenda to a band's recording catalogue, which is how I would classify Saw You Drown. There are some strong songs that give a taste of the band's usual sound, plus a couple of delightful tracks that didn't make it to the albums because they were possible paths that were never taken.

Katatonia is a band that never ceases to impress me. Each album grows in quality and skill, and adds a new progressive twist which no other band can possibly compare to. With this release they brilliantly enhance that feature of their music. For the first time in their career, they have created an album with all clean vocals. I must say, Jonas Renske has an extraordinarily powerful, but depressing voice that compels you to keep listening. And with a new logo, things begin to take new shape as they transform and redefine the genre of Doom Metal.

The opening track, “Saw You Drown” has become my favorite Katatonia song of all time. This track has such a strong atmosphere and such masterful simplicity; there is no reason that it should ever be overlooked as a fan of Katatonia or Doom Metal. It begins with a more doom rock influenced riff in the beginning and slows to almost a complete halt. It stops you dead in your tracks, forcing you into listening to this misery symphony of excellence. The vocals, sung in such pain, agony, and sorrow, can almost bring a tear to the eye. It’s a song you would never wish an end to.

The second song of this masterpiece, entitled “Nerve” is perhaps my least favorite song on the album. This is possibly because it follows what I consider their best constructed track in their history? However, it is still an amazing song that once again has tons of feeling in the vocals. The music, ever genius, ever simplistic, but always captivating keeps you invigorated. The songwriting of Anders Nystrom and Jonas Renske is so consistently excellent, it makes me wonder if there has ever been a better duo.

“Quiet World,” the third song, done in epic brilliance, is another of my favorite songs they have done. Extremely depressing, but yet it instills some unconscious hold over you. Some first time listeners may not feel it, but on repeated listens, it just sinks into you. This is a song which doesn’t hold as much ‘power,’ per say, as their older material, but it certainly holds its own in their long, stunning career.

Last, but certainly not least, we have “Scarlet Heavens”, the ten minute, hypnotic cornerstone of the album. This track was recorded back in 1994, but never released until this album (at least if you don’t count the split with Primordial). The reason behind keeping this gem stored up for four long years is beyond me, this is genius on a silver disc people. It’s such an enormously important track in their career, it really is. This shows a completely different style of Renske’s voice, which appeared on that song, and only that song. This was quite a ‘one of a kind’ song in their complete discography. Very enjoyable and very stunning, a must listen. It drowns the listener in a dizzying vortex of oddly distorted guitars, and unique vocals, but not in a heavy way. They do it in a more atmospheric, and not to mention original way than any other Doom act can conceive, excluding My Dying Bride. Even then, rarely do they conceive the brilliance that Katatonia put forth in this song, and this album.

All in all, this is Katatonia’s best release since their switch out of Death Doom. Even throwing in the older album’s as well, “Brave Murder Day”, “Jhva Elohim Meth”, or any other album; this is way up there in their best albums. Also, this is just as good, if not better than their LP later in the year, “Discouraged Ones”. “Saw You Drown” is a depressive, beautifully captured album in all of its majesty. This is a must have for any Katatonia fan, or anyone who loves Doom Metal. Their changed style was in essence a formula for success, and one that continues to grow even today. This album was limited to merely 1,500 copies, however, so finding one difficult, but worth it. It’s bleak, it’s foreboding, it’s essential. (Jason Carnage)

*Origionally done for Hyperblast Metal Webzne*