Katra

The day will come when gothic bands stop fronting their act with so-called attractive women in order to garner interest and support. When it comes to women in metal, I like them to be far more humble and modest. Get on with your role, whatever it is, without much fuss and be done with it. A lot of these gothic bands are fronted by female vocalists, which I have no problem with in theory but, in practise, her very presence is off putting from the get-go, as seen here with Finland’s Katra, a band named after the female vocalist. As you may have noticed, her performance is made the be-all-and-end-all of Katra’s existence. Her image fronts the bands three full-lengths. Wind swept hair, skimpy outfits and a sultry pose is all it takes for this type of gothic act to exist successfully. The instrumentation is almost always second best when it comes to bands like this, those who make the vocals the pivotal aspect and the image of the female presence at the forefront of the imagination. Sex. That and politics. This album, along with this band, provide some sense of what is wrong with modern gothic music. Bands like Katra are trying to bridge the gap between the genres, using drumming that wouldn’t be out-of-place on a latter day Soilwork album and supposedly “sterner” riffs and a woman’s presence to appeal to hormone driven teenagers.

The layering of the instrumentation speaks volumes. Notice how her vocals are placed subtly over the instrumentation just as her images is sprayed all over their merchandise. Although I will admit for having a soft spot for some bands like this, I still cannot help but loathe the tactics of acts like this where the presence of a woman in a metal band is used to make the act itself seem more interesting and unique. Bands like The Gathering are no longer the standard. That particular band has had female members for years and revolutionised the way we see gothic music in relation to metal and rock and they’ve managed to keep their heads on their shoulders, they feet on the ground and not get carried away with small details that make them a little more extraordinary than other bands in a similar field without those elements. For example, female members. Katra, first and foremost, are a very flowery band. Quite effeminate and whilst some of the instrumentation is genuinely interesting, the overbearing vocals and general image of the band is a complete turn-off. Not only that but I’m getting seriously tired of these pointless interludes. This album contains a few, most notably one that last under a minute.

What’s the point? Unnecessary and unwarranted. There are certain aspects of Katra’s music that do actually sound fairly decent, like the use of world music and folksy passages that give the album some much needed flavour. ‘Sahara’ is a good example of this. The classical arrangements as well can be fairly pleasing, though these aspects are sparse and don’t manage to squirm their way to the surface all too often. As expected, moments like these are mostly produced by the keyboards - an instrument which has become an integral part of gothic music. Between the classical arrangements, soft ballads and use of folksy atmospherics, Katra obviously do have some ability to shine but they rarely harness that ability. This is, simply put, a “nice” album, which is possibly one of the most boring adjectives one could use but sums it up aptly given how accessible and timid the album is.

I can even stomach those cheesy industrial moments on songs like ‘Tuonelan Suudelma’ but what I cannot stand is the format of the layering. Unless the guitars are trying their best to play some hard-hitting riffs, the instrumentation feels fairly subdued and lacking in energy. There are brief sections of rejuvenation but much of the material feels lethargic and possessed by the vocals of Katra herself. They’re under her spell, hypnotised by her supposed beauty and, to my surprise, even elements like the synths, which are normally really strong and occasionally overbearing themselves are somehow underwhelming and very subdued themselves. For long periods at a time, the synths and keyboards will be layered into the background, a place they’re not normally associated with when it comes to this type of music. The vast majority of gothic bands tend to place an emphasis on synths as well as female vocals. With Katra, they appear to place emphasis on the female vocals alone for the majority of the recording until they remember, “Oh shit, we have other aspects to our play!”. Technically, as a vocalist, Katra is okay. Her voice isn’t very emotive. I’m not a big fan of operatic vocals as it is.

I have no issue with them when they’re used in a quirky fashion - like bands such as Dantesco, a doom metal band with male operatic vocals. Now that is quirky! Here, they’re expected, formulaic and overwhelming. I’d have fewer issues with them if they tried to cater themselves to the sound of the band, which is fairly muted on most occasions, but they don’t. It seems as if the band, from the off, have realised their style of instrumentation isn’t very affective or interesting, so they’ve place such a heavy burden on the female vocals to perform and draw the crowd in. I have no doubt that acts like Katra will succeed. They’re accessible, mild, use the presence of a fit-and-healthy young lady to front the band and are lukewarm. Everything a modern gothic band needs to survive in the mainstream world. I suppose it would help if the lyrics were in English, too. Though I personally prefer it this way as it adds some much needed character to Katra. Albums like this self-titled debut are all about accessibility and appealing to the modern mainstream fan. The music, with its twinkling piano passages, light hearted riffing, female vocals and sparkling synths all add to a high level of accessibility that is needed to progress in the mainstream world. The music is simply, and very painfully, average.