KATATONIA — Mnemosynean (review)

Boxset / Compilation · 2021 · Alternative Metal

4/5 · 2022-06-30
UMUR

"Mnemosynean" is a compilation 2-disc album release by Swedish metal act Katatonia. The compilation was released through Peaceville Records in October 2021. It´s a compilation of B-sides, rarities, and remixes released to celebrate the 30 year anniversary of the band.

The first disc features 12 tracks and a total playing time of 73:16 minutes. All tracks are B-sides, outtakes, and rarity tracks from the latter part of the band´s discography (from 2006 onwards). 6 of the 12 tracks have previously been compiled on the 2014 "Kocytean" compilation EP. Disc 1 opens with the two most different sounding tracks in "Vakaren" and "Sistere", which are bonus tracks from the limited edition version of "The Fall of Hearts" (2016). Both are mellow and melancholic tracks, and in the case of "Vakaren", a song featuring Swedish language lyrics, which shows a different side of Katatonia. The remaining tracks are more "regular" heavy melancholic Katatonia tracks, featuring their signature mellow/loud, heavy/soft songwriting approach. The quality is generally high, although some tracks stand out more than others.

Disc 2 features B-sides, rarities, and remixes of tracks predominantly from 2006 backwards. It´s a massive disc featuring no less than 15 tracks and a total playing time of 86:52 minutes. The listener will experience more difference between the tracks in terms of production values and music styles compared to the material on Disc 1, where the sound production on most tracks are relatively similar in style. This is of course not surprising if you´re familiar with the early part of Katatonia´s discography and the very different sounding production values of their early releases. Katatonia have almost always released good quality non-album material, and the material on Disc 2 is definitely an interesting addition to the more well known album compositions. So up until the last five tracks of the compilation, "Mnemosynean" is arguably an interesting and good quality B-Sides/Rarities compilation. The closing five tracks are however remixes of tracks like "Idle Blood" and "Soil's Song", which to my ears are only included for the most hardcore fans. The rest of us can easily skip those tracks and enjoy the remainder of the compilation, without experiencing any kind of loss.

Upon conclusion "Mnemosynean" does a lot of things right. First of all it presents the listener to a lot of "hard to get" and slightly different sounding tracks (very deep cuts if you will), which in most cases could well have been included on the respective releases they are outtakes from, while a few are of the more experimental kind and probably wouldn´t have fit on one of the regular album releases. The 10 minutes long gothic rock influenced "Scarlet Heavens" is probably the best example of that. Having those tracks compiled on one release without "best of" tracks (like Katatonia for example did on "The Black Sessions" (2005)) is a great way to have access to the songs. The remixes unfortunately drag the compilation down and I´d say "Mnemosynean" would have been a better compilation without them. A 4 star (80%) rating is still fully deserved though, as "Mnemosynean" is otherwise loaded with high quality compositions.