Sounds of Decay

By the time of 1997's Sounds of Decay EP, Sweden's Katatonia had almost entirely abandoned the slothful doom of their early days to embrace a driving, generally mid-paced style of death metal. Previewed a year earlier on the Brave Murder Day album, this newfound energy coincided with, but was likely in no way derived from, the temporary involvement of Opeth vocalist Mikael Åkerfeldt, and effectively marked a transition period for the enduring Swedes that would eventually see them embrace goth metal a few years down the line. But for now, pure death offerings like "Nowhere," "At Last," and "Inside the Fall" retained the tried and true Cookie Monster vocal approach, while stacking ever more power chords within deepening layers of baleful guitar harmonies. The closing "Untrue" is another matter, revisiting somber doom for perhaps the final time before the aforementioned evolution began in earnest. [Sounds of Decay was later included in 2004's Brave Yester Days collection.] ~ Eduardo Rivadavia