Viva Emptiness (Viva Emptiness - Katatonia)

Member Name: Frankingsteins

Product:	Viva Emptiness - Katatonia
Date:	12/08/08 (19 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: At least there's no rap, I guess?

Disadvantages: Irritating pandering to the mainstream rock audience.

Katatonia's recent albums have been nothing to shout about, though the band attempts to contrive a more aggressive sound to appeal to nu metal fans with the cacophonous background riffs of their sixth album, the lacklustre 'Viva Emptiness.' Every song here could potentially be an impressive work of depressive rock, if the focus was more on atmosphere and less on erupting into thunderous guitar chords as the song enters its second half, though seemingly having no effect on any of the other instruments or vocals.

Even the pointless swearathon of opener 'Ghost of the Sun' seems annoyingly targeted at a younger demographic of the type who might read 'Kerrang!' magazine, and to make matters worse, the album's genuine attempts to sound atmospheric through gloomy, lighter sections come off as nothing more than boring. The only song that I thoroughly enjoyed was the finale 'Inside the City of Glass,' which brings back the long-lost focus on guitars and instrumentation, and almost reaches epic heights.

1. Ghost of the Sun
2. Sleeper
3. Criminals
4. A Premonition
5. Will I Arrive
6. Burn the Remembrance
7. Wealth
8. One Year from Now
9. Walking By a Wire
10. Complicity
11. Evidence
12. Omerta
13. Inside the City of Glass

Summary: Katatonia's sixth album (2003).