Katatonia has made a lot of fantastic bonus tracks over the years. This is my list of the 5 best Katatonia bonus tracks/b-sides. I’m probably going to get a bit of slack for not including “Unfurl”, and it was pretty close to making the list, along with gorgeous prog track “The Act of Darkening”. “Ashen” and “Vakaren” were also extremely close to making it.
5. Second (“Dead End Kings” Limited Deluxe Book Edition, 2012)
All the four tracks I mentioned above could have been here, but I chose “Second”. It’s a very straight-forward and simple track musically, but it has a fantastic mood and classic Katatonia vocal melodies that are to die for.
4. March 4 (“Teargas” EP, 2001)
Katatonia usually do something off-beat with their bonus tracks, but this one pretty much follows the overall sound of “Last Fair Deal Gone Down”. It does it damn well though, sporting a chorus with an impact just as good as the best tracks on the album.
3. Sold Heart (“The Longest Year” EP, 2010)
A simplistic mood based song that is quite similar to “Unfurl” instrumentally. Strangely, not many Katatonia fans seem to love it. I think the barren instrumental backdrop really allows Jonas voice and the bleak lyrics to shine through perfectly.
2. Quiet World (“Saw You Drown” EP, 1998)
Starts out so similar to early Slowdive that it can be taken as a tribute, and evolves into one of the darkest songs in the Katatonia discography. The subtle melodies are beautiful and Jonas puts in a heartwrenching vocal performance. The live version above proves what a monumental track it is.
1. Dissolving Bonds (“My Twin” single, 2006)
So good that it got featured on my 10 best Katatonia songs list. “The Great Cold Distance” is a modern album that mostly focuses on building wall of sound type atmosphere, but on this bonus tracks they go for more lead guitars. The song also has fantastic lyrics and excellent vocal melodies (I seem to say that a lot, but most Katatonia songs do).
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