The new Katatonia album Night is the New Day opens straight away with a song that strongly reminds of the previous album The Great Cold Distance. ‘Forsaker’ is a powerful song which contains the melancholic atmosphere typical to Katatonia, combined with high energy guitar eruptions resulting in an exciting dynamic. Also ‘Idle Blood’ is a real gem in which the suffocated emotion is beautifully reflected by a great combination of heavy guitars and soothing symphonic sounds. The heavier touch of predecessor The Great Cold Distance is taken further on this new album but then in a more ethereal way and this results in great progressive tracks like ‘Nephilim’, which due to the doom influence even reminds of old Paradise Lost. On Night is the New Day next to the evolution in sound it is also clear that the voice of singer Jonas Renke has developed. Listen for instance to the sensitive ‘The Promise of Deceit’, ‘Inheritance’ which reminds of Anathema, or the breakable ‘New Night’. The most striking difference with the previous album however is that Night is the New Day due to the symphonic touch sounds more versatile and it seems like Katatonia is going the same route as their genre colleagues Opeth have gone before. ‘Day and Then the Shade’ is the justified single that perfectly connects to previous singles like ‘July’ or ‘My Twin’. Night is the New Day is an album on which you hear a band that has managed to further refine their sound. It seemed like it was difficult to outmatch their previous album, yet Katatonia did exactly that. Night is the New Day is a real masterpiece.