Returning to October Tide |
October 1st, 2005
contributed by |
Today brings forth the great month of October. The beginning of cooler days and the descent into winter. For some this seasonal change may bring forth disappointment. Not for me — and I venture to say not for many who read this site. I bid farewell to the suffocating furnace of Summer, with my middle finger extended. With open arms I embrace the crisp cool days of Autumn and eventually, the frigid nights of Winter. The depletion of daylight and cold weather inevitably bring with it a change in our mental state. There is no better time of the year to enjoy Sweden’s now defunct October Tide.
I will state straight away: October Tide is without a doubt one of my favorite bands. The band was born during a temporary break-up of Katatonia, of whom all the members originate. “Rain without End” was created entirely by Jonas Renkse and Fred Norrman and released in 1997. While it is true the material does not stray far from Katatonia of the same time frame, the overall mood is quite different. “Rain without End” proved (to any who had doubt) the incredible creativity and musical proficiency (across all instruments) Renkse has — he not only sang, but played drums and guitar. Fred Norman should not be overlooked either, as he contributed to guitars and bass guitar as well. “Rain without End” met every desire I had for Renkse’s style of melancholic metal which I had come to love, especially considering the future fate of Katatonia was unknown.
The second and last album from October Tide, “Grey Dawn” was released in 1999 — several years after Katatonia had reunited. Despite being painfully delayed, the album sounded ahead of it’s time. Mårten Hansen from A Canorous Quintet was recruited for vocal duties. While I enjoy Renkse’s growls, Hansen had an eerie similarity to Mikael Åkerfeldt I could certainly appreciate. If you ever hear Renkse talk about October Tide, he’ll undoubtedly tell you that he dislikes “Rain without End” and will only stand behind “Grey Dawn”. While I admit “Grey Dawn” is a more mature, sophisticated affair — the two albums are too different to really compare. Renkse is a huge fan of a musical element hordes of the music “listening” public just doesn’t appreciate nor understand — and it’s this very element which saturates “Grey Dawn”. This element is dissonance. He believes there is something dark and haunting in the dirty, ugly side of music as much as the beautiful — and he’s right. This mixing of the gritty disharmonies next to the beautiful melodies creates a dramatic result. Today’s contribution is a perfect example of this — focus on the pleasant and beautiful melodies which begin the song then shortly crash into ugly dissonance of the verse. It is this incredibly effective emotional mechanism which defines “Grey Dawn”. When you feel depressed or abysmal in any way — you certainly feel internal dissonance. You don’t always experience the pleasant melancholy we often talk about. When you mix the two together, musically, you have a volatile result. It’s certainly a lesson I’ve taken and utilize as a musician. It’s perplexing to see many simply not understand it.
Everyone has always said October Tide was a “side project” Renkse and Norrman collaborated in. I have a different theory. October Tide digs too deep, has too much raw emotion on display for just a side project. Particularly on Grey Dawn — just have one listen to the intensely depressive acoustic downer “Dear Sun” — and it will be clear the level of thought that went into this album. My theory is October Tide was to be Renkse’s and Norrman’s new band. Remember, the future of Katatonia was unclear while much of this material was be birthed. This is not the kind of album you “pop out” in your spare time. If Renkse was going to do a “side project”, he’d have done something drastically different musically (such as Anders did with Diabolical Masquerade). Instead, he dug deep as ever and put forth an emotionally drenched album. October Tide was his main band — it was the future. Strengthening this idea is the fact Renkse refuses to ever do another October Tide album — why do such a thing when he has Katatonia.
This is just my theory. It’s unfortunate we won’t see another October Tide album, but I’m thankful a temporary break-up of one incredible band could lead to the (short) existence of another.
October 1st, 2005
at 1:56 am
“Rain Without End” and “Grey Dawn” are two of my favorite CDs. I think your theory might be correct. If he was planning to continue with Katatonia, he probably would’ve saved all those amazingly emotional melodies for them. I never knew that Katatonia split up for a short time. I wish they would split up again if it meant the return of October Tide. I prefer this over Katatonia’s current direction.
If you like this stuff you should check out Aphotic.
October 1st, 2005
at 2:37 pm
I spoke several times of my absolute worship for this album, Grey Dawn.
I listened to it hundreds of times I think, without being bored once. It is one of the few albums that can be compared with other pieces of art such as a painting, a photograph, or a book. You can clearly feel, as you stated, the work of composition that was behind it.
Let’s repeat it once again, Grey Sawn is an awesome musical work. I’d really like to hear more of Jonas Renkse compositions. This guy has something broken, and just have the gift to transpose it into music. Jonas Renkse is an artist.
October 2nd, 2005
at 2:45 pm
And for those who are interested in seeing more of Connie Imboden’s work (incredible stuff…)
http://www.connieimb...
October 2nd, 2005
at 6:32 pm
I can only agree to all that has been said. I bought Rain without End and was suffocated into the immensity of that album and kept listening to it for one year, even tho I knew there was another album available, I never had that urge to buy or download it. Don’t know why, but it never gotten me into that direction for some reason. Later on, I decided to look it up on all stores around and wasn’t able to find it, neither on cash converters and the like 2nd hand CD stores and so I decided to download it off the Internet and BAM! I was all literally possessed by it, definitely an awesome album - much better than anything of Katatonia (excluding Viva Emptiness which is a masterpiece)
One thing I found missing on this review, is the reason why they gotten a new vox for their second work. Renske while doing the screams, he pulled his standards pretty high and wanted to make them so evil that he ended up damaging his vocal cords and that was why he stopped with October Tide and Katatonia and why he only does clean vox today.
October 2nd, 2005
at 6:52 pm
I find it unfortunate people feel the need to say statements like this is “way better” than anything Katatonia has done. I love both for their separate qualities. I’ve noticed in many places (and now here) the discussion of October Tide easily turns into this ridiculous competition with Katatonia. I know it’s natural to draw a comparison, but I wish people could state their admiration for October Tide in another way.
October 3rd, 2005
at 8:43 am
Ha, ha, holy shit I just posted this record, too. I hadn’t checked your site for a few days when I did it, ha!
October 3rd, 2005
at 4:57 pm
Wow… I didn’t know about this before, and I’m a huge Katatonia fan.
This was really good stuff, really enjoyed the growling, something I usually have problems with. I so need to look up these albums. Thanks!
October 4th, 2005
at 5:51 pm
Jesse, it’s not like I think that October Tide is better per se, I just don’t like anything Katatonia has done besides Viva Emptiness. It’s not like a “one or the other” type of statement. I understand your pain, although I can’t help with my musical preferences… No album of October Tide beats Viva Emptiness, but they’re equally good. Curiously, I like October Tide which was mainly composed by Renkse and I love Viva Emptiness which was mostly composed by Anders…
October 4th, 2005
at 11:36 pm
My comment was not directed squarely at you. I did not mean to imply anything negatively about your personal musical preference, either. Like what you like, of course. However, I am frustrated seeing a discussion of October Tide always turn into a competition with Katatonia. I wish the dialogue was something different than OT vs. Katatonia, because ultimately they are different bands that reach different goals. It’s not a competition. Depends what someone is looking for.
October 7th, 2005
at 6:12 pm
OK, point taken! ;-)
November 7th, 2005
at 6:56 pm
This album is f*cking amazing! What was mentioned about dissonance in jesse’s review is so true. Im not a fan of dissonance used on its own, but when its mixed with a more melodic approach it creates a life changing sound!
And the acoustic closer is probably the best acoustic piece ive ever heard