''Night Is the New Day'' is

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 ...

's eighth full-length album. It was released 2 November 2009, in Europe and 10 November 2009, in North America through

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 ...

. Thirteen tracks were recorded, eleven of which made it onto the record. The band describes the material as "Our most varied, diverse and possibly strongest shit all together on one and the same album". "Idle Blood" had the working title "Kozelek", named after

Mark Kozelek Mark Edward Kozelek (born January 24, 1967) is an American singer, songwriter, guitarist, record producer, and occasional actor. He is known as the vocalist and primary recording artist of the indie folk act Sun Kil Moon and founding member of ...

, a member of Red House Painters, which is one of Katatonia's influences. This is the last Katatonia release with the Norrman brothers.

Release and reception

''Night Is the New Day'' sold more than 2,000 copies in the United States in its first week of release. "Day and Then the Shade" was the first single, released in late 2009. The promotional video for this song was directed by

Lasse Hoile Lasse Hoile (born 1973 in Aarhus, Denmark) is a Danish artist, photographer and filmmaker. He has collaborated with musician Steven Wilson and his projects Porcupine Tree and Blackfield. He has also designed live visuals for US progressive me ...

Musical style

''Night Is the New Day'' shows Katatonia expanding their music palette. The album shows a slightly more progressive sound than ''The Great Cold Distance'', yet retains the heaviness and morose atmosphere, with electronics and synths playing an important role. The big, heavy parts are interspersed with quiet, somber electronics, and acoustic guitars. Each song transforms frequently, changing tempo, intensity and texture. "Forsaker" starts aggressively but soon the down-tuned metal chords shift to chiming darkwave strains. "The Longest Year" intertwines synth and metal passages, while the acoustic style of "Idle Blood" is comparable to

Opeth Opeth is a Swedish progressive metal/rock band from Stockholm, formed in 1990 by lead vocalist David Isberg. The group has been through several personnel changes, including the replacement of every original member; notably Isberg in 1992. Mikael ...

and

Porcupine Tree Porcupine Tree are an English rock band formed by musician Steven Wilson in 1987. During an initial career spanning more than twenty years, they earned critical acclaim from critics and fellow musicians, developed a cult following, and became ...

. "Nephilim" brings together a dissonant minor-chord chorus with a plodding beat and an oppressive atmosphere. The single "Day and Then the Shade" is both brooding and heavy, as well as atmospheric and progressive.

Critical reception

The album was generally well received by critics. The album was deemed the second best metal album of 2009 by

Popmatters ''PopMatters'' is an international online magazine of cultural criticism that covers aspects of popular culture. ''PopMatters'' publishes reviews, interviews, and essays on cultural products and expressions in areas such as music, television, fi ...

Track listing

All lyrics by

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 ...

except where noted, all music by Renkse, except where noted. Writing credits taken from

ASCAP The American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers (ASCAP) () is an American not-for-profit performance-rights organization (PRO) that collectively licenses the public performance rights of its members' musical works to venues, broadca ...

Chart positions

Credits

Katatonia

–

lead vocals The lead vocalist in popular music is typically the member of a group or band whose voice is the most prominent melody in a performance where multiple voices may be heard. The lead singer sets their voice against the accompaniment parts of t ...

;

production Production may refer to: Economics and business * Production (economics) * Production, the act of manufacturing goods * Production, in the outline of industrial organization, the act of making products (goods and services) * Production as a stati ...

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 songwrit ...

–

lead guitar Lead guitar (also known as solo guitar) is a musical part for a guitar in which the guitarist plays melody lines, instrumental fill passages, guitar solos, and occasionally, some riffs and chords within a song structure. The lead is the featur ...

; production *Fredrik Norrman –

rhythm guitar In music performances, rhythm guitar is a technique and role that performs a combination of two functions: to provide all or part of the rhythmic pulse in conjunction with other instruments from the rhythm section (e.g., drum kit, bass guitar ...

*Mattias Norrman –

bass guitar The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and ...

*Daniel Liljekvist –

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...

Additional personnel

Krister Linder Krister Linder is a Swedish electronic musician. Krister started his music career in 1987 as the vocalist of the Swedish band Grace. Under the name Chris Lancelot, he was the vocalist of the Swedish band Dive from 1990 to 1994. Linder went on t ...

– co-vocals on "Departer" *Frank Default –

keyboards Keyboard may refer to: Text input * Keyboard, part of a typewriter * Computer keyboard ** Keyboard layout, the software control of computer keyboards and their mapping ** Keyboard technology, computer keyboard hardware and firmware Music * Musi ...

, additional

strings String or strings may refer to: *String (structure), a long flexible structure made from threads twisted together, which is used to tie, bind, or hang other objects Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Strings'' (1991 film), a Canadian anim ...

and additional

percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Exc ...

*David Castillo – production *Travis Smith – artwork, design *Linda Åkerberg – photography

References

External links

*
Frank Default website
{{Authority control 2009 albums Katatonia albums Albums with cover art by Travis Smith (artist) Peaceville Records albums