Mnemosynean

Description

To mark 30 years of one of the dark rock/prog genre's most enigmatic and captivating groups, 'Mnemosynean' contains a vast collection of Katatonia rarities, including tracks taken from the band's many EPs, unused album songs, limited special edition bonuses, covers, and a series of collaborative remixes. "Mnemosynean's journey spans from the experimental gothic epic "Scarlet Heavens," recorded in 1994, to tracks recorded during the sessions for the extraordinary 2016 opus, "The Fall of Hearts." The intriguing title "Mnemosynean," which represents memories, was chosen because funerary inscriptions dating back to 400 BC say that the dead could retain their memories by avoiding drinking from the Lethe and instead drinking from the stream flowing from the lake of Mnemosyne (the goddess of memory). After a series of death-doom inspired albums that established Katatonia as a major force in the 1990s underground, the Swedes gained renown by adopting a more metallic, smoother, darker, and more depressive rock style, embracing concepts of urban and social decay, while retaining some of the distinctive traits of their early repertoire, such as the melodic, melancholic, and immediately identifiable guitar leads.