"Serein" is a song by Swedish heavy metal band

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 ...

. It is the second single off of their tenth studio album ''

The Fall of Hearts ''The Fall of Hearts'' is the tenth studio album by Swedish heavy metal band Katatonia. It was released on 20 May 2016. The album, mostly written and produced by founding members Jonas Renkse and Anders Nyström, was the first to also feature new ...

''. The song title alludes to the concept of raining without clouds being visible.

Background

The song was first released as the second single off of

's tenth studio album ''

'' on 3 May 2016. The song's official

music video A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a m ...

was debuted a week later exclusively through ''

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s website. The video features a man writing the song's lyrics in pen and

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video.

Themes and composition

The word "Serein" was described by guitarist Anders Nystrom to mean "when rain falls but you can’t see any cloud". (Alternatively defined to mean "fine rain falling after sunset from a sky in which no clouds are visible".) Nystrom says that the song title is meant to be a cryptic

metaphor A metaphor is a figure of speech that, for rhetorical effect, directly refers to one thing by mentioning another. It may provide (or obscure) clarity or identify hidden similarities between two different ideas. Metaphors are often compared wit ...

, and refused to describe what is truly being described in the context of the song. Frontman and lead vocalist

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 ...

described the song as "one of the more straight-forward songs on the album, very guitar-driven, quite upbeat but still packed with emotion."

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noted the similarity to 1980's new wave music such as

The Cure The Cure are an English Rock music, rock band formed in 1978 in Crawley, Crawley, West Sussex. Throughout numerous lineup changes since the band's formation, guitarist, lead vocalist, and songwriter Robert Smith (musician), Robert Smith has re ...

and The Mission, due to its "gentle strumming and a soft lead... Jonas Renkse’s soothing, multi-tracked voice... a slightly uptempo rhythm ..uplifting and pop-inflected ..gorgeous, understated lead work textures" A number of publications noted the song as sounding less depressing than most Katatonia songs.

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 ...

described the track as being "uptempo, prog pop/rocker with ringing, wrangling guitars, fat kick drums and snare, and an anthemic

bridge A bridge is a structure built to span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or rail) without blocking the way underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, which is usually somethi ...

. Metal Injection described it as "

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-meets- doom etal

Reception

The song was generally well-received by critics.

praised the song for its "gorgeous"

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 ...

work and "larger focus on atmosphere and melody" than prior music from the band.

MetalSucks MetalSucks is a heavy metal music-themed news website. The site features reviews, interviews, information on latest metal releases and blog-like posts from the writers, most notably Vince Neilstein and Axl Rosenberg. History The site was foun ...

praised the track for "melancholic melody, the vocal harmonies" and " a cool synth interlude in the middle that gave me the shivers", and concluding that it was a "solid entry into the Katatonia canon all around." The artistic style of the song's music video was also praised.

Personnel

;Band *

– lead vocals, keyboards *

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 ...

– guitars, keyboards, backing vocals *Roger Öjersson – guitars *Niklas Sandin – bass *Daniel Moilanen – drums ;Production *Jonas Renkse –

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 Nystrom – production * Jens Bogren – mixing, mastering

References

{{Katatonia 2016 singles 2016 songs Katatonia songs