| October
Tide was a melodic doom metal band formed in the mid-1990s by Jonas Renkse
(vocals, drums) and Fredrik Norrman (guitars, bass) of the Swedish band
Katatonia. The band released two full-length efforts, Rain Without End
(1997) and Grey Dawn (1999). Marten Hansen from the death metal
band A Canorous Quintet handled vocals for the Grey Dawn release,
as Jonas Renkse ruined his vocal chords to the extent that he was no
longer able to adequately produce harsh vocals. All lyrics were written by
Jonas Renkse. Music was composed by both Renkse and Norrman. According to Renske, the band was put to an end due to
the increasing demands of Katatonia, who experienced a relatively
significant increase in attention by the late-1990s. Renske commented that
he felt October Tide was largely misunderstood and under-appreciated. VIC
Records released Rain Without End in 1997. It was recorded in 1995.
Due to the small status and poor distribution of the label, the album,
limited to 1,000 copies, quickly became an obscure and highly-sought item.
VIC currently owns the rights to Rain Without End and plans to
re-release it in 2008. Grey Dawn was released by Avantgarde Records
in 1999.
October Tide Melancholic guitar melodies and sorrowful, yearning riffs glide over simplistic, slow, and elegant rhythms. Ethereal keyboards and acoustic guitars assist in the formation of contemplative ambience, supplying the music with an introspective character. Renske’s vocals are more restrained in this music compared to his work on the early Katatonia’s releases. He doesn’t come across as hopelessly desperate here; rather, the quality of these vocals is of a world-weariness which has yet to completely server ties with its bitterness. There are clear similarities to early Katatonia, particularly the Brave Murder Day effort; the structural minimalism, sustained guitar melodies, and the ethereal swirl of shoegazer music are prime commonalities with that second Katatonia disc. Similarly, the themes of isolation, solitude, detachment, withdrawal, and alienation are explored through a monochromatic worldview. Yet this music is more ethereal than Katatonia; more delicate and transparent, more distant yet more personal. It’s these particular aspects that Renkse is emphasizing with October Tide. The proper perspective from which to approach this album is that it was conceived of and recorded prior to the formulation and actuality of Brave Murder Day; during a time when Katatonia’s music was meandering and its future was not certain. This album, then, was a precursor of what was to come with Brave Murder Day, articulated through the voice of the entity of Katatonia. "it's all painted cold Tranquility and despair unify in music for cold, grey, hollow days, when life seems to move in slow-motion silence. The expression is stressed in its lamenting of brief existence in a discomforting world, but there is a serenity to keep an equilibrium with the colorless despair and downcast resignation from a life that is seen as a useless endeavor. It is the serenity experienced in the dreams of being far away, drifting somewhere, not through suicide; this music is not suicidal. It yearns, not necessarily for death, but to just be....gone, removed from the burden of functionality in a disaffecting world. Some of these guitar melodies are gorgeous, particularly in "Infinite Submission". This music identifies the beautiful in the melancholy, and explores it in such a manner that its expression and intent comes across perfectly sincere and genuine. The entire album flows seamlessly. The production leaves the drums a little thin, similar to the drum sound on Brave Murder Day, but grants the music a smooth and appropriately clear sound. The atmosphere of the music is wonderfully enveloping, engaging the listener into its sound-world: transparent, floating, elegant, blue-grey sobriety of sound washing over in waves of soothing intervals. 5/7/08 Notes Tracklisting 1. 12 Days Of Rain Running Time: 39:12 Line-up Jonas Renkse - Vocals & drums Production Produced by October Tide
October Tide The second and final album from October Tide finds an equilibrium between the elegance of design and execution with a more dismal exploration of profound despair. The sound is more monochromic, which strikes a contrast with the glistening yet sorrowful melodies, while further affirming the minimalist rhythms and structure. The production is spectacular, providing the music a thicker, more powerful and crystalline sound. The design of the music is creaseless and its motion is graceful, precisely executed and organized. The new vocalist is Marten Hansen of the death metal band A Canorous Quintet. His performance here is fairly standard in the growled death metal style which is delivered with an anguished tone to fit the dispirited nature of the music. These vocals lack the charisma and convincing quality of Jonas Renkse’s voice; Hansen is more aggressive, bitter, and excited. Similarly, the music is less ethereal, darker, sometimes more misanthropic, with the primary focus remaining the somber riffs and exquisitely melancholic melodies over unobtrusive rhythms. Songs start with a main riff and melody, entering into a standard form of clearly defined sections, with subtle variation arising in dynamic contrasts, suspensions of active focal elements for the introduction of contemplative acoustic/clean guitars which establish atmospheric security before launching into grand epic tragedy or monumental, crushing sorrow. This effort does not outshine the debut, though it seeks obscurity and darkness through its chosen style of expression through subtly different elements. It’s a more obvious listen, as it doesn’t feel as detached and spectral, which ultimately makes it less exceptional, less of an experience.
"I can't feel any will to be
part of this fight The obvious similarities to Katatonia are present as before, but this is not a criticism; consider the source of the music and remain aware of this band’s origin of conception. That band’s early Paradise Lost influence and its intention to go deeper and darker in the exploration of themes from Gothic is not absent in the music of October Tide, only here Renkse’s and Norrman’s non-metal inspirations (American indie/downbeat rock, shoegazer, 1980s darkwave/goth rock) are allowed a stronger impact on structural design and timbre; though not so much that one could not reasonably imagine Grey Dawn as the logical follow-up to Brave Murder Day. The guitar melodies flow in smooth lucidity as is traditional of the Swedish metal approach to melody, offering eloquent clarity of expression over rigid foundations. "I learn from this life to
hide from humanity, Like the debut, Grey Dawn is music of dreadful awakenings apprehended during introspective moments on lonely, rainy fall evenings. The theme of lamenting the brevity of pleasurable elements continuous to be explored, yet now with a more determined and strained intention of life-denial. The feel of the music is one of drifting through dark rooms as if one has lost touch with self-identification, not as concerned with self-rediscovery as with falling into oblivion, which is not perceived as a risk but as a release, a deliverance, like the embrace of slumber which grants temporary refuge from life’s pain. The closing acoustic instrumental, "Dear Sun", suggests that its addressee is not being summoned to shine forth. 5/8/08 Notes Tracklisting 1. Grey Dawn Running Time: 39:56 Line-Up J. Renkse - drums, electric and acoustic
guitars Vocals executed by Marten Hansen Production Recorded and mixed in Studio Underground by Pelle Saether Links October Tide Discography Rain Without End (VIC, 1997) |
