City Burials
Studio album by
Katatonia
Released24 April 2020
RecordedOctober–November 2019
StudioSoundtrade Studios, Tri-Lamb Studios, The City of Glass (Stockholm, Sweden)
GenreProgressive metal,[1] doom metal,[2] heavy metal[3]
Length48:32
LabelPeaceville
ProducerJonas Renkse, Anders Nyström
Katatonia chronology
The Fall of Hearts
(2016)		 City Burials
(2020)		 Sky Void of Stars
(2023)
Singles from City Burials
  1. "Lacquer"
    Released: 30 January 2020
  2. "Behind the Blood"
    Released: 19 March 2020
  3. "The Winter of Our Passing"
    Released: 22 April 2020

City Burials is the eleventh studio album by Swedish heavy metal band Katatonia. The album continues the progressive rock direction used in recent albums while returning to some of their earlier metal instrumentation. Three singles were released in promotion of the album; "Lacquer", "Behind the Blood", and "The Winter of Our Passing".

Background

The album is their first in four years, since their 2016 album The Fall of Hearts, after entering a one-year hiatus in 2018.[4] The band cited guitarist Roger Öjersson being hospitalized by a serious back injury at the end of 2017, and a number of other undisclosed issues, for the band needing to take some time off and "re-evaluate what the future holds for the band."[5] In February 2019, the band announced their return,[6] and a year later, they announced City Burials and released its first single "Lacquer".[7]

Talking about the hiatus in an interview, vocalist Jonas Renkse explained: "We felt that we needed to recharge and get some perspective. Basically we did a lot of touring from previous albums and by the end of that, the last few gigs, I think we all felt that we were pretty sick of being away from home for such a long time. There were a lot of different reasons for doing this, but in the end, taking a few steps back to evaluate what you want to do next and have some time off is very healthy."[8]

Release and promotion

The album was released on 24 April 2020. The release date announcement came with the release of its first single "Lacquer" on 30 January[9] Two more singles have been released, along with music videos, for the tracks "Behind the Blood" on 19 March,[10] and "The Winter of Our Passing" on 22 April.[11] "The Winter of Our Passing" music video was animated by Costin Chiroeanu. Jonas Renkse states: "The letting go of what once was of great importance, now reduced to just another loss. Let's bow before the flame we've all deserted. But thank you for listening."[12]

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[3]
Blabbermouth.net8/10[1]
Distorted Sound6/10[13]
Metal Injection9/10[14]
Metal Storm8.0/10[15]

City Burials was met with positive reviews from music critics. AllMusic reviewer Thom Jurek stated, "City Burials is not a reinvention, but it does contain periodic re-engagement with the steely dynamics of heavy metal. Along with excellent songwriting, and Renkse's greatest career-high album-length vocal performance, energize Katatonia, who remain vital and creative in their third decade."[3]

Johnny Sharp of Louder Sound (Metal Hammer) wrote an unrated track-by-track review detailing many of its songs. For example: "'Heart Set To Divide' delivers the kind of slow-building, emotionally charged pomp-prog that Katatonia have increasingly perfected over the course of their evolution from the swamps of early 90s doom metal. But we're also soon reminded that they've lost no teeth in their old age, as 'Behind The Blood' roars in with visceral force, wrapped in crackling, kinetic fretwork from (relatively) new boy Roger Öjersson. That track's intensity is then lifted further with a windswept tragic hero of a chorus, ending with the dramatic admission, 'I can feel you pierce my heart'."[16]

Accolades

Publications' year-end list appearances for City Burials
Critic/Publication List Rank Ref.
Consequence of Sound Top 30 Metal/Hard Rock Albums of 2020 22 [17]
Louder Sound Top 50 best albums of 2020 40 [18]
Loudwire Top 70 Rock/Metal Albums of 2020 N/A [19]
Metal Hammer The 50 best metal albums of 2020 35 [20]

Track listing

All songs written by Jonas Renkse.

No.TitleLength
1."Heart Set to Divide"5:29
2."Behind the Blood"4:37
3."Lacquer"4:42
4."Rein"4:20
5."The Winter of Our Passing"3:18
6."Vanishers"4:56
7."City Glaciers"5:30
8."Flicker"4:45
9."Lachesis"1:54
10."Neon Epitaph"4:32
11."Untrodden"4:29
Total length:48:32
Japanese edition bonus track[21]
No.TitleLength
12."Fighters" (Enter the Hunt cover)3:37
Total length:52:12
Limited mediabook edition bonus tracks
No.TitleLength
12."Closing of the Sky"5:26
13."Fighters" (Enter the Hunt cover)3:37
Total length:57:31

Personnel

Katatonia
  • Jonas Renkse – lead vocals, production, art direction
  • Anders Nyström – guitars, production, art direction
  • Roger Öjersson – guitars
  • Niklas Sandin – bass
  • Daniel Moilanen – drums
Other musicians
  • Anders Eriksson – co-production of keyboards, programming, editing
  • Joakim Karlsson – additional drum programming (track 3)
  • Anni Bernhard – additional vocals (track 6)
Additional personnel
  • Jacob Hansen – mixing, mastering
  • Daniel Liden– engineering
  • Beech – artwork

Charts

Chart performance for City Burials
Chart (2020) Peak
position
Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[22] 10
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[23] 41
Finnish Albums (Suomen virallinen lista)[24] 5
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[25] 6
Hungarian Albums (MAHASZ)[26] 8
Polish Albums (ZPAV)[27] 3
Portuguese Albums (AFP)[28] 3
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[29] 12

References

  1. 1 2 Gorania, Jay H. "CD Reviews - City Burials Katatonia". Blabbermouth.net. Retrieved 26 April 2010.
  2. ↑ Cordova, Daniel (24 April 2020). "THE WEEKLY INJECTION: New Releases From TRIVIUM, KATATONIA, and More Out Today - 4/24". Metal Injection. Retrieved 3 May 2020.
  3. 1 2 3 Jurek, Thom. "City Burials - Katatonia". AllMusic. Retrieved 26 April 2020.
  4. ↑ "Katatonia Announce 'Short-Term Hiatus' While They 'Re-Evaluate' the Band - MetalSucks". Metal Sucks. 15 December 2017. Retrieved 11 May 2018.
  5. ↑ "Katatonia Re-Evaluating Future, Announce 'Short-Term Hiatus'". Loudwire. Retrieved 11 May 2018.
  6. ↑ "Katatonia End Hiatus, Announce Night Is the New Day Anniversary Tour". MetalSucks. 20 February 2019. Retrieved 20 February 2019.
  7. ↑ "KATATONIA Streams New Song 'Lacquer,' New Album In April". Metal Injection. 30 January 2020.
  8. ↑ "Interview: Inside Katatonia's Hiatus, Comeback Album 'City Burials' + Jonas Renkse's Quarantine Projects". Loudwire. Retrieved 23 March 2020.
  9. ↑ "Katatonia Return From Hiatus With New Song 'Lacquer' + 'City Burials' Album". Loudwire.com. Retrieved 30 January 2020.
  10. ↑ Sacher, Andrew (19 March 2020). "Katatonia Share 'Behind The Blood' From Upcoming Album 'City Burials'". Invisible Oranges. Archived from the original on 19 March 2020. Retrieved 26 April 2020.
  11. ↑ Sacher, Andrew (22 April 2020). "Katatonia Share New Song; New Album Out This Week". Invisible Oranges. Archived from the original on 23 April 2020. Retrieved 26 April 2020.
  12. ↑ "KATATONIA Releases Animated Music Video For 'The Winter Of Our Passing'". Blabbermouth.net. 24 April 2020. Retrieved 26 April 2020.
  13. ↑ Moar, Jack (23 April 2010). "ALBUM REVIEW: City Burials - Katatonia". Distorted Sound. Retrieved 26 April 2020.
  14. ↑ "Album Review: KATATONIA City Burials". Metal Injection. 26 April 2020. Retrieved 26 April 2020.
  15. ↑ "Katatonia - City Burials review". Metal Storm. Retrieved 3 May 2020.
  16. ↑ Sharp, Johnny (23 April 2020). "Katatonia - City Burials review". Metal Hammer. Retrieved 26 April 2020.
  17. ↑ "Top 30 Metal + Hard Rock Albums of 2020". Consequence of Sound. 9 December 2020. Retrieved 19 December 2020.
  18. ↑ "The 50 Best Albums of 2020". Louder Sound. 17 December 2020. Retrieved 19 December 2020.
  19. ↑ Divita, Joe (30 November 2020). "The 70 Best Rock and Metal Albums of 2020". Loudwire. Retrieved 19 December 2020.
  20. ↑ "The 50 best metal albums of 2020". Metal Hammer. Future plc. 8 January 2020. Retrieved 12 March 2021.
  21. ↑ "City Burials Katatonia CD Album". CDJapan. Retrieved 12 January 2021.
  22. ↑ "Austriancharts.at – Katatonia – City Burials" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved 7 May 2020.
  23. ↑ "Dutchcharts.nl – Katatonia – City Burials" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 1 May 2020.
  24. ↑ "Albumit 18/2020". IFPI Finland. Retrieved 3 May 2020.
  25. ↑ "Offiziellecharts.de – Katatonia – City Burials" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved 1 May 2020.
  26. ↑ "Album Top 40 slágerlista – 2020. 18. hét" (in Hungarian). MAHASZ. Retrieved 7 May 2020.
  27. ↑ "Oficjalna lista sprzedaży :: OLiS - Official Retail Sales Chart". OLiS. Polish Society of the Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 7 May 2020.
  28. ↑ "Portuguesecharts.com – Katatonia – City Burials". Hung Medien. Retrieved 7 June 2020.
  29. ↑ "Swisscharts.com – Katatonia – City Burials". Hung Medien. Retrieved 6 May 2020.
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