''Viva Emptiness'' is the sixth album by

Katatonia Katatonia are a Swedish heavy metal band formed in Stockholm in 1991 by Jonas Renkse and Anders Nyström. The band started as a studio-only project for the duo, as an outlet for the band's love of death metal. Increasing popularity led them to ...

, released in 2003 by

Peaceville Records Peaceville Records is a British independent heavy metal record label. The label was founded by Paul "Hammy" Halmshaw (of the bands Instigators and Civilised Society) in Dewsbury, England in 1987, who was also a one-time drummer of Sore Throat ...

. On the album's tenth anniversary in 2013, it was re-released, featuring a new mix, mastering and additional keyboard arrangements.

Background

The album marked the first time that the band chose to self-produce their next record, which Jonas Renkse later described as a "weird decision" and said that the experience was "a little bit difficult."

Musical style

Its main subjects are loneliness, social relations, crime, lying and depression. According to

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

, ''Viva Emptiness'' incorporates a mix of "dark gothic pop, crushing heavy rock, textured keyboards, lithe pop melodies, beautifully crafted songs with unique dynamics and sculpted sonic environments to surround them, and bleak, even morose subject matter."

Release

''Viva Emptiness'' was released on 29 April 2003. The album was re-released in 2013. The re-release features new keyboard arrangements and was completely remixed and remastered by David Castillo, as the band wasn't satisfied with the overall sound and production of the original release. In an interview concerning the album's 10th anniversary re-release, Renkse also said that the drum mix "wasn’t good at all," citing the snare sound in particular as being "just horrible," and thus the drum mix was modified in the re-release. The track "Inside the City of Glass" features vocals and lyrics on this edition, compared to the

instrumental An instrumental is a recording normally without any vocals, although it might include some inarticulate vocals, such as shouted backup vocals in a big band setting. Through semantic widening, a broader sense of the word song may refer to instru ...

version included in the original release. The song "Wait Outside" was also included as a bonus track, originally recorded during the album sessions, but was not released until 2005 on ''

The Black Sessions ''The Black Sessions'' is the second compilation album by Swedish heavy metal band Katatonia, released on February 21, 2005, through Peaceville. The compilation includes hit songs, B-sides and rarities recorded on the band's previous studio albu ...

''.

Track listing

Personnel

;Band *

Jonas Renkse Jonas may refer to: Geography * Jonas, Netherlands, Netherlands * Jonas, Pennsylvania, United States * Jonas Ridge, North Carolina, United States People with the name * Jonas (name), people with the given name or surname Jonas * Jonas, one of ...

– vocals, guitar, programming *

Anders Nyström Anders Nyström (born 22 April 1975), also known as Blakkheim (or formerly Blackheim), is a Swedish musician. Biography Nyström founded the Swedish metal band Katatonia with singer Jonas Renkse in 1991. Nyström is involved in the songwriti ...

– guitar, keyboards, programming * Fredrik Norrman – guitar * Mattias Norrman – bass,

slide guitar Slide guitar is a technique for playing the guitar that is often used in blues music. It involves playing a guitar while holding a hard object (a slide) against the strings, creating the opportunity for glissando effects and deep vibratos tha ...

on "One Year from Now" * Daniel Liljekvist – drums, percussion, backing vocals on "Ghost of the Sun" ;Production * Travis Smith – art direction, design *

Dan Swanö Dan-Erland Swanö (born 10 March 1973), also known as Dan "The Man" Swanö, is a Swedish musician and record producer who is currently the vocalist, guitarist, ex-bassist and ex-drummer for the band Nightingale, lately vocalist, keyboardist and ...

– additional editing * Jens Bogren – mixing * Peter In De Betou – mastering

Charts

References

{{Authority control Katatonia albums 2003 albums Albums with cover art by Travis Smith (artist)