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✦✦✧✧ The newest incarnation of Katatonia begs a few comparisons to Opeth (“Damnation,” anyone?). More pointedly, any vestiges of metal on this album are largely relegated to the status of ornamentation in service to a pervasively gothy form of prog. Look: props definitely due for the band burrowing deeper into their softer side. And Jonas Renkse continues to set a high bar for vocal ability in metal. Except that this music is metal only if you also consider Steven Wilson to be metal. Also, I’ve gotta call a spade a spade here: half the time, this music feels mopey and boring.

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