Night Comes Down by Katatonia

When I'm walking or, especially if I spend several hours on the road, my pair of headphones and a music-player become my companions. Listening to my favorite tracks, a slightly different performance of the melody begins to form in your head. But when I pick up the guitar and start playing, it turns out not that I was counting on.

I respect the work of composers and singers. I think such assumptions of another idea of composition are born because the same music can cause different people to have opposite feelings and associations.

Musicians feel this on a more subtle level. It's not easy to make a high-quality cover-version of song and often it's a long process that requires efforts. Not many experienced musicians manage to give a new life to the old hit. Not everyone can give an emotional state. In general, executor need to feel the song from within, try to been through and touch what the performer faced, when recording the first lines of the lyrics or selecting a chord. Such covers do not sound like the original. There is a similarity, but here and the flow, and the mood is different.

The Stockholm progressive metal band Katatonia released its tenth studio "The Fall Of Hearts" in 2016, which, to my surprise, was presented with a bonus track by a cover version of "Night Comes Down" by the legendary Judas Priest.

The composition perfectly fit into the concept of the album. The group plays music of the genre of depressive rock and often the lyrics of Jonas Renkse have always touched on the themes of loneliness, renunciation of society and spirituality. In them the constant internal struggle is sharpened, growing into eternal suffering.

I think their song version Night Comes Down they out to some extent more sensual. Quite a close topic for the group.

Katatonia's ballad "Night Comes Down" came out cold and muffled, yet atmospheric and spiritual. Coming to the end of the first verse, you understand everything even without translation. This loneliness runs through your veins and cools the blood. You understand how cold this night will be, but the most horrible thing is that you can not to hide from it.

In the same year the cover was included in the audio compilation, timed to the 30th anniversary of the publication of the English magazine "Metal Hammer" - "Decades Of Destruction".

For the first time, the world heard the song "Night Comes Down" on the album of Judas Priest "Defenders of the Faith" in 1984. Sincere and sad tragic ballad was warmly received by admirers of creativity of the British rockers, although it was not a hit. And all for the reason that all longplay is the standard of heavy metal, multi-faceted and one of the best works of metalworkers. Such rhythmic themes as "Freewheel Burning" and "Jawbreaker" or the same "Eat Me Alive" overshadowed the melancholy.

Let's listen and the original:

Somewhat early before Catatonia, in 2015, Night Comes Down outplayed the black metal project Leviathan, consisting of one member - musician Jeff Whitehead. To tell you the truth, his version did not impress me at all. Unsuccessful attempts at imitation and Jeff's whining howls are completely out of place.

By the way, if you like sad, but not too intrusive music, I advise you to listen to Katatonia. They are able not only to make good covers, but also are masters of the chosen case.