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KATATONIA - The Black Sessions
Label: Peaceville
Anno: 2005
Tipologia: Compilation
Contenuto: 2 CD + 1 DVD
Genere: Dark Rock/Metal
“Who could see beyond this my darkness?”
Ho sempre detestato i Greatest Hits, le antologie e tutte le varietà di compilation.
Rappresentano quasi sempre una forma subdola di capitalizzazione discografica, il cui mendace intento promozionale spesso e volentieri ignora, o addirittura banalizza, il percorso formativo ed artistico di un gruppo o di un’artista.
L’esigenza compulsiva di un’efficace vendibilità impone alle case discografiche la scelta delle canzoni formalmente più famose e popolari, violentando così un repertorio dove accanto ai classici si nascondono spesso piccole gemme nascoste, e disgraziatamente ignorate, di album idealmente concepiti come opere unitarie ed esclusive.
Lo stesso artwork, che in teoria dovrebbe veicolare l’immaginario estetico-concettuale di un gruppo, viene spesso trascurato e banalizzato, riducendo di fatto l’intera operazione ad un’avvilente raccolta di immagini fotografiche insignificanti, con le solite informazioni contestuali (le canoniche note di produzione e sviluppo).
Qualche volta però esistono gruppi, come i Katatonia, che trasgrediscono questa misera consuetudine, caratterizzando le proprie raccolte con una grande cura per i particolari, ma soprattutto con una classe tale che investe ogni singolo aspetto del prodotto, che solo in questi rarissimi casi riesce concretamente a rappresentare il necessario compendio alla primitiva conoscenza del gruppo stesso.
I Katatonia sono un gruppo straordinario che da anni esplora gli oscuri meandri dell’animo umano, raccontando con suoni e liriche di estrema sensibilità le paranoie occulte della mente (“Dance Of December Souls” - 1993), le angosce dell’esistenza (“Brave Murder Day” - 1996), lo sconforto della solitudine (“Discouraged Ones” - 1998), la desolazione della sconfitta (“Tonight’s Decision” - 1999), la consapevolezza di un’insicurezza indissolubile (“Last Fair Deal Gone Down” - 2001), la caduca fragilità della vita (“Viva Emptiness” - 2003), l’alienazione da un mondo sempre più freddo e distante (“The Great Cold Distance” - 2006).
La presente compilation segue di un anno la pubblicazione della precedente raccolta, “Brave Yester Days” (2004), dedicata al cosiddetto periodo “classico” della band, dove il linguaggio adottato per raccontare l’oscurità era una personalissima interpretazione del Gothic-Doom-Death Metal allora imperante (con tanto di growling vocals), in un contesto temporale che andava dal demo “Jhva Elohim Meth” (1992) fino all’ultimo EP prima di “Discouraged Ones” (“Saw You Drown” - 1997), passando ovviamente per i primi due album (“Dance…” e “Brave…”) e gli altri mini pubblicati nel frattempo (“For Funerals To Come” - 1995, e “Sounds Of Decay” - 1997).
Una doverosa premessa che ci permette di comprendere meglio la natura di questa nostra seconda raccolta, devota invece a rapprensentare il periodo “moderno” dei Katatonia (con vocals pulite), da “Discouraged Ones” (1998) fino a “Viva Emptiness” (2003), dove le sonorità s’impregnano di un Dark Rock/Metal a volte minimalista ed ermetico (“Discouraged Ones”), notturno ed appassionato (“Tonight’s Decision”), poetico ed intimista (“Last Fair Deal Gone Down”), viscerale e profondo (“Viva Emptiness”).
Due cd contemplano con intelligenza e sensibilità un percorso di suoni e canzoni indimenticabili e sincere, fra molti classici importanti, brani meno noti ma ugualmente splendidi, e numerose perle nascoste (tutte le bonus tracks e le b-sides pubblicate in questo periodo, di cui segnalerei l’incredibile “Sulfur” e la stupenda “Wait Outside”), affiancati da un Dvd di un concerto tenuto l’anno prima in Polonia, oltremodo significativo ed emozionante.
Parlare delle singole canzoni è, a mio avviso, impossibile (vista la quantità, ben 30 brani + 15 pezzi live) oltre che inutile, ma mi preme invece elogiare l’immenso splendore di un artwork (ad opera del geniale artista Travis Smith) e di un booklet semplicemente meravigliosi ed esaurienti, l’ideale sintesi della poetica colta e raffinata dell’oscuro universo “katatonico”.
L’unico rammarico rimane chiaramente l’assenza dell’ultimo bellissimo album, “The Great Cold Distance” (2006), uscito purtroppo dopo la pubblicazione della presente compilation, ma per chi avesse avuto la sfortuna di conoscere i Katatonia solo con quest’ultimo disco, o peggio ancora per chi non li conoscesse affatto, consiglio assolutamente di rivolgersi a questa indispensabile collection (per poi magari comprarsi anche tutti gli altri album), per iniziare così un personale cammino verso una musica che, una volta tanto, non si vergogna a presentarsi come “arte”.
CD 1:
01. Teargas
02. Right Into The Bliss
03. Criminals
04. Help Me Disappear
05. Nerve
06. The Future Of Speech
07. Ghost Of The Sun
08. I Am Nothing
09. Deadhouse
10. Passing Bird
11. Sleeper
12. Sulfur
13. No Devotion
14. Chrome
15. A Premonition
CD 2:
01. Dispossession
02. Cold Ways
03. Nightmares By The Sea
04. O How I Enjoy The Light
05. Evidence
06. March 4
07. I Break
08. For My Demons
09. Omerta
10. Tonight’s Music
11. Stalemate
12. Wait Outside
13. Fractured
14. Sweet Nurse
15. Black Session
DVD (Live in Poland):
01. Ghost Of The Sun
02. Criminals
03. Teargas
04. I Break
05. I Am Nothing
06. Sweet Nurse
07. Tonight's Music
08. For My Demons
09. Chrome
10. Future Of Speech
11. Complicity
12. Burn The Remembrance
13. Evidence
14. Deadhouse
15. Murder
Elenco tracce e testi
01 Teargas (03:22)
Why have you put so many things into my eyes
That I can't see clear
Who's paid you for telling me what I'm worth
And run in fear
It has been for me a strain to see already
What have you done
The rising noise
The sharpened smells
The deadened sight
What is it in my eyes
A piece of broken glass
Is this the time I should be on my knees for you
Is this your way of telling
Another has been found
Now I know,
It's teargas in my eyes
What is it in my eyes
A piece of broken glass
Is this the time I should be on my knees for you
Is this your way of telling
Another has been found
Now I know,
It's teargas in my eyes
02 Right Into the Bliss (05:04)
by a black road
giving a brief smile
something's on the way
forgotten for a while
and you try to speak this
without a voice down by a black road
we try to forget and try to make it through
someday we'll go
further from this right into the bliss
some night we'll try
to leave this place for another
they keep pushing me
so far from every chance
makes it so much harder
for me to carry on
so I try to speak this
without a thought down by a black road
we try to forget and try to make it through
03 Criminals (03:47)
The way the light hits the road
The way I am unable to protect you
Oh I'm running away
I will never forgive myself
For running away from you
He came back to your house
I didn't take it as a promise
Always thought it was a lie
He went too far the fucker
It's not like I owe him money
This is different
So gather your strength and break free
Or you will surely die
Gather your strength don't follow me
'Cause I will surely die
The way my eyes cannot move
The way I hope to be protected
And for one moment I thought
That I was lost among the lights of houses
He came back to your house
I didn't take it as a promise
Always thought it was a lie
He went too far the fucker
It's not like I owe him money
This is different
So gather your strength and break free
Or you will surely die
Gather your strength don't follow me
'Cause I will surely die
My dreams of violence
See them coming true
He came back to your house
I didn't take it as a promise
Always thought it was a lie
He went too far the fucker
It's not like I owe him money
This is different
So gather your strength and break free
Or you will surely die
Gather your strength don't follow me
'Cause I will surely die
04 Help Me Disappear (05:13)
To completely dissolve
What method is used
I cannot sleep
My hands are bruised
There's a hole in the wall
Torn up anew
One dead eye
The colour of you
To vanish for life
And promise to stay
Away from the knowing
Bird in a cage
I'd give so much
For the courage to go
If I ask for your help
Then you will know
So help me disappear
Or to believe in a change
No way out of here
That I can see
Or the nightmares that burn
Into my head at night
Make them disappear
So I can breathe
Looked out the window twice
Just to be sure
That no one was standing
Outside the door
But it's just as calm
As it was before
They're all gone now
Not there anymore
Isolated myself
For the sake of freedom
I clenched my fist
For the sake of kindness
I read a book full of strange words
Loneliness is a disease
So help me disappear
Or to believe in a change
No way out of here
That I can see
Or the nightmares that burn
Into my head at night
Make them disappear
So I can breathe
05 Nerve (04:30)
High white ways
Shattered by rain
Pale dead walls
Nerves pushed in pain
Red light faced
Mirrors of the dead
People in the archways
Eyes full of lead
Always closing down myself
Lower sights and never see
Worlds of noise and worlds of light
Expecting not to be
High white ways
Shattered by rain
Pale dead walls
Nerves pushed in pain
Red light faced
Mirrors of the dead
People in the archways
Eyes full of lead
Always closing down myself
Lower sights and never see
Worlds of noise and worlds of light
Expecting not to be
Not close enough for you
To hear a breath or steal a sigh
But just close enough for me
To take a step and pass you by
Always closing down myself
Lower sights and never see
Worlds of noise and worlds of light
Expecting not to be
Not close enough for you
To hear a breath or steal a sigh
But just close enough for me
To take a step and pass you by
06 The Future of Speech (05:39)
My prospects have become less promising
I find it hard to believe in anything
Seems I lost my world and so I lost my faith
And I can't go back to where I've been
Brand new day
Can't get worse
I have no lies or truth in what I say
(There) is no meaning
The words are numb but I'm so afraid
(There) Is no meaning
This is another chance or so I'm told
By these who can push themselves at any cost
They bless me with their fingers crossed
My youth is stolen, transformed and sold
Myself say
Can't get worse
I have no lies or truth in what I say
(There) is no meaning
The words are numb but I am so afraid
(There) is no meaning
I have no lies or truth in what I say
(There) is no meaning
The words are numb but I am so afraid
(There) is no meaning
A brand new day
It can't get worse
Hear myself say
It can't get worse
A brand new day
It can't get worse
Hear myself say
It can't get worse
I have no lies or truth in what I say
(There) is no meaning
The words are numb but I am so afraid
(There) is no meaning
I have no lies or truth in what I say
(There) is no meaning
The words are numb but I am so afraid
(There) is no meaning
07 Ghost of the Sun (04:07)
The thin darkness here
Not strong enough to make you appear
(Strong enough to make you appear)
I once changed my style
They said hello I said goodbye
(They said hello I said goodbye)
I once played a role
I was out there marketing my soul
City of glass that I live in
Coldness from my brothers skin
I trusted you, you lied
It's all I hear a fucking lie
Don't give a shit it's over now
It's all I know you broke the vow
I trusted you, you lied
It's all I hear a fucking lie
Don't give a shit it's over now
It's all I know you broke the vow
The thin darkness here
Not strong enough to make you appear
(Strong enough to make you appear)
I once changed my style
They said hello I said goodbye
(They said hello I said goodbye)
Truth is I have seen it come
Seen the ghost of the sun
Can't have it undone
Truth is I have seen it come
Seen the ghost of the sun
Can't have it undone
In time we all call out for relief
See two lovers meet
Pass you on the street
I trusted you, you lied
It's all I hear a fucking lie
Don't give a shit it's over now
It's all I know you broke the vow
I trusted you, you lied
It's all I hear a fucking lie
Don't give a shit it's over now
It's all I know you broke the vow
The City of glass that I live in
Coldness from my brothers skin
The City of glass that I live in
Coldness from my brothers skin
08 I Am Nothing (04:37)
Tonight I'm nothing
It doesn't matter where I've been
Delay of reaction is
The unseen movie of this life
I remember one of my friends
Telling me to go ahead
Water on every side
There's a dead spot in my eye
If I listen close at night
There's something coming my way
Like someone called my name
But I didn't care to look that way
I just fixed my eyes into the crowd
It would have been strange to turn around
If you would tell me that I was someone
Then for a second I would think
Just like I would try to consider
How it would feel to know
I have to get on with this
It's a decision for tonight
Out to look for chances
It is murder of my mind
Once I was someone new
I was chosen for a while
Then with time I am changing
At least that is what they say
If you would tell me that I was someone
Then for a second I would think
Just like I would try to consider
How it would feel to know
What is worth with being here
I pray so often for a change
If you would tell me that I was someone
Then for a second I would think
Just like I would try to consider
How it would feel to know
09 Deadhouse (04:35)
Somehow better without this
Headlights fuck the city to hell
Somewhere I'm bloody broken
No sensations nevermore
What do you say when you speak
I sense no time
Discouraged television sleep
Not awake until it's fucking dark
Somehow I never leave
This deadhouse
Somehow I don't mind being gone
And if you really think you've seen me
I have to prove you
That you're wrong
10 Passing Bird (03:38)
She's got black hair
And she has got a black dress
She's pretending
That her life is a mess
But I cannot rest
With so many worries
I can't lie down
And say I am done
I live because I need more light
I hope I can change today
She would never think of changing
Too much fucking emo, its false (I know)
She's got black hair
And she has got a black dress
She's pretending
That her life is a mess
She stops me in the street
And asks me to follow
I would if I could
If I wouldn't mind breaking her
And I cannot rest
With so many worries
I can't lie down
And say I am done
I live because I need more light
I hope I can change today
She would never think of changing
Too much fucking emo, its false (I know)
11 Sleeper (04:08)
O my your fever's high
I lay my hands upon you
O my haven't you heard
The truth is untrue
Now I'm breathing
I could not breathe until you did
I'm one second after you
Just a second after you
Someone inside your room
Who is it there behind you
What does he want from you
Sleeper, what did you see
I close the window to the street
Parents died and left their child
Unattented for a while
Now I'm breathing
I could not breathe until you did
I'm one second after you
Just a second after you
Someone inside your room
Who is it there behind you
What does he want from you
Sleeper's song will you listen to me sing
The bird is here I can see the edge of his wing
If you die now how can I then live on
Don't give up you must live on
13 No Devotion (04:48)
i've turned down all devotion
i'm so far from being here
can't bring forth more power
than i have already done
tonight i'm trying
and i see all dread in me
but then i lose again
all hope of being someone
this lack of devotion
will put me to an end
so if you want to save me
and stop me when i run
just tell me that i'll have now
a day less to live when i'm done
14 Chrome (05:14)
The walls are painted
Different every second
My eyes are of chrome
It is television
Can't let go of my leg
It's itching so and bleeding
Layer by layer
I'm peeling away
Burn down my house
And make something happen
Stab me in the heart
And make something stop
'Cause I am so distracted
I am slightly shocked
By how things can keep going
Like a dead man's clock
A mirror is hanging
Kinda loose on my wall
I'm passing it sideways
I'm saying hello
My brother is halfways
Through a book I've left him
Called me today
To see what I'd say
Burn down my house
And make something happen
Stab me in the heart
And make something stop
'Cause I am so distracted
I am slightly shocked
By how things can keep going
Like a dead man's clock
15 A Premonition (03:33)
Stand aside now no one will survice can't tell you how I know
In some time I will change my name and lay low
In the light you can see me walk down by the way
The one who did this to us well he got away
Keep it quiet here I will not tolerate your noise
This is where I listen for
Keep it quiet here I will not tolerate your noise
This is where I listen for the forgiving voice
Keep it quiet here I will not tolerate your noise
This is where I listen for the forgiving voice
It haunts my dreams
It haunts my dreams
It haunts my dreams
It haunts my dreams
Keep it quiet here I will not tolerate your noise
This is where I listen for the forgiving voice
It haunts my dreams
It haunts my dreams
Haunts my dreams
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