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| Viva Emptiness | ||||
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| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | 29 April 2003 | |||
| Recorded | October–November 2002 | |||
| Studio |
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| Genre | ||||
| Length | 52:45 | |||
| Label | Peaceville | |||
| Producer | Anders Nyström, Jonas Renkse | |||
| Katatonia chronology | ||||
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| Review scores | |
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| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [2] |
Viva Emptiness is the sixth studio album by Swedish heavy metal band Katatonia, released in 2003 by Peaceville Records.
In October 2002, the band began recording Viva Emptiness at Studios 301 in Stockholm. In a departure from the band’s previous sessions, the album was entirely self-produced. In a 2013 interview, frontman Jonas Renkse described the album’s rushed recording process: “we just had a guy coming in there and sorting the mics and drums and stuff, and then we just started recording everything ourselves. And when it was time to mix it, we didn’t have the time to because the studio time was up. ” The short amount of time provided for the band posed various challenges for the various challenges, with the song “Into the City of Glass” having to be shortened and reworked into an instrumental. A total of 15 songs were recorded for the album, including the track “Wait Outside”, which was cut from the album and later released on the compilation album The Black Sessions . [3]
As the band was unable to complete the album on time, additional recording was carried out at Studio Kulin B in Örebro. The album was mixed by Jens Bogren, and was his first ever project. The band has since expressed their disappointment with the original mix, noting the snare sound. Though initial reports had indicated the album was to be mixed by Dan Swanö, he only made minor contributions. [4] The track "Ghost of the Sun" was released as a promotional single, also featuring the tracks "Criminals" and "Evidence".
In 2013, for its 10th anniversary, the album received a reissue. For this release, the band enlisted longtime producer David Castillo to remix the album. Speaking about the remix, Renkse noted: “since it was made in quite a rush back then, it’s always been something we’ve wanted to redo. It’s something we’ve talked about even since the album came out.” Along with this, Renkse heavily reworked the album’s keyboards; some songs simply had their sounds modified, while others had new arrangements created for them. The band also reworked the song “Into the City of Glass”, extending it and recording new vocals, restoring it to their original vision. Finally, the cut track “Wait Outside” was added back to the album, and had a lyric video released for it. [5] Leading up to the reissue’s release, the band performed a series of dates opening for Paradise Lost, who were themselves celebrating their 25th anniversary. To mark the occasion, the band performed Viva Emptiness in its entirety at each show. [6]
At the time of Viva Emptiness’s release, the band described it as “by far the most hard material [they’ve] ever written”. For the album, the band began tuning their guitars down to C Standard, and introduced several keyboard sections. [7] Renkse would later describe it as a transitional album between the more “pop-oriented” sound on the band’s past few albums, and their return to a more metal-influenced sound on their subsequent albums.
The album's artwork, designed by Travis Smith features the artist's daughter walking along a highway. For the 10th anniversary reissue, a new cover was designed once again featuring Smith’s daughter, now ten years older. Renkse described the band’s vision for the reissue cover: “Well, the concept is pretty much that ten years have passed and this girl that was walking towards something on the first version is now reaching the destination on the new one. You can see it in front of her, which is pretty much nothingness; emptiness.”
All lyrics are written by Jonas Renkse; all music is composed by Renkse and Anders Nyström, except where noted
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Ghost of the Sun" | 4:07 |
| 2. | "Sleeper" | 4:08 |
| 3. | "Criminals" | 3:47 |
| 4. | "A Premonition" (Fredrik Norrman, Nyström, Renkse) | 3:33 |
| 5. | "Will I Arrive" | 4:09 |
| 6. | "Burn the Remembrance" | 5:22 |
| 7. | "Wealth" | 4:22 |
| 8. | "One Year from Now" | 4:02 |
| 9. | "Walking by a Wire" | 3:32 |
| 10. | "Complicity" | 4:01 |
| 11. | "Evidence" | 4:36 |
| 12. | "Omerta" | 2:58 |
| 13. | "Inside the City of Glass" (instrumental) | 4:08 |
| Total length: | 52:45 | |
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 13. | "Wait Outside" | 3:39 |
| 14. | "Inside the City of Glass" | 5:35 |
| Total length: | 58:11 | |
| Chart (2003) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Finnish Albums (Suomen virallinen lista) [8] | 17 |
Nightmares Made Flesh is the second album by Swedish death metal band Bloodbath. It was released by Century Media Records on September 27, 2004. It was the band's only album to feature Peter Tägtgren on vocals, as well as the first to feature Opeth drummer Martin Axenrot to replace Dan Swanö as the drummer. This was Swanö's last album with Bloodbath.
Katatonia is 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 add more band members for live performances, though outside of the band's founders, the lineup was a constantly changing, revolving door of musicians throughout the 1990s, notably including Mikael Åkerfeldt of the band Opeth for a period. After two death/doom albums, Dance of December Souls (1993) and Brave Murder Day (1996), problems with Renkse's vocal cords coupled with new musical influences led the band away from the screamed vocals of death metal to a more traditional, melodic form of heavy metal music.
Brave Murder Day is the second studio album by Swedish heavy metal band Katatonia, released on 1 August 1996 by Avantgarde Music. The lead vocals on the album are provided by Mikael Åkerfeldt of Opeth, as Katatonia frontman Jonas Renkse was medically unable to perform screamed vocals anymore following health issues that arose from performing the band's debut. It was also the band's first album with second guitarist Fredrik Norrman.
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Saw You Drown is the fourth EP by Swedish heavy metal band Katatonia, released in 1998. The EP is limited to 1500 handnumbered copies. In 2005, it was re-issued on clear/blue wax 10" LP in 1000 hand-numbered copies.
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Live Consternation is the first live album and video by Swedish heavy metal band Katatonia, released in both CD and DVD format through Peaceville Records on 28 May 2007. The double album features a live performance recorded at Germany's Summer Breeze Open Air festival, on 17 August 2006. The artwork was designed by Travis Smith and is close to the visual concept for The Great Cold Distance.
October Tide is a Swedish death/doom metal band that was created in 1994 by Katatonia vocalist Jonas Renkse and then-Katatonia guitarist Fred Norrman. Norrman revived the band after leaving Katatonia in 2009.
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Kocytean is the ninth EP by Swedish heavy metal band Katatonia. The album was released on April 19, 2014, as part of the 2014 iteration of Record Store Day. The release consists of a collection of six B-side songs from their prior three albums at the time – The Great Cold Distance (2006), Night is the New Day (2009), and Dead End Kings (2012). While given a limited release, it was still generally praised by critics.
"Serein" is a song by Swedish heavy metal band Katatonia. It is the second single off of their tenth studio album The Fall of Hearts. The song title alludes to the concept of raining without clouds being visible.
"Old Heart Falls" is a song by Swedish heavy metal band Katatonia. It is the first single off of their tenth studio album The Fall of Hearts.
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