Viva Emptiness

Viva Emptiness
Studio album by Katatonia
Released	29 April 2003 (2003-04-29)
Recorded	October–November 2002
Studio	Stockholm (initially)
Genre	Alternative metal doom metal
Length	52:45
Label	Peaceville
Producer	Anders Nyström, Jonas Renkse
Katatonia chronology
Last Fair Deal Gone Down (2001) Viva Emptiness (2003) The Great Cold Distance (2006)

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic

Viva Emptiness is the sixth studio album by Swedish heavy metal band Katatonia, released in 2003 by Peaceville Records. On the album's tenth anniversary in 2013, it was re-released, featuring a new mix, mastering and additional keyboard arrangements.

Background

The album marked the first time that the band chose to self-produce their next record, which Jonas Renkse later described as a "weird decision" and said that the experience was "a little bit difficult."

Musical style

Its main subjects are loneliness, social relations, crime, lying, and depression. According to AllMusic, Viva Emptiness incorporates a mix of "dark gothic pop, crushing heavy rock, textured keyboards, lithe pop melodies, beautifully crafted songs with unique dynamics and sculpted sonic environments to surround them, and bleak, even morose subject matter."

Release

Viva Emptiness was released on 29 April 2003. The album was re-released in 2013. The re-release features new keyboard arrangements and was completely remixed and remastered by David Castillo, as the band wasn't satisfied with the overall sound and production of the original release. In an interview concerning the album's 10th anniversary re-release, Renkse also said that the drum mix "wasn’t good at all," citing the snare sound in particular as being "just horrible," and thus the drum mix was modified in the re-release. The track "Inside the City of Glass" features vocals and lyrics on this edition, compared to the instrumental version included in the original release. The song "Wait Outside" was also included as a bonus track, originally recorded during the album sessions, but was not released until 2005 on The Black Sessions.

Track listing

All lyrics are written by Jonas Renkse; all music is composed by Renkse and Anders Nyström, except where noted

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Ghost of the Sun"	4:07
2.	"Sleeper"	4:08
3.	"Criminals"	3:47
4.	"A Premonition" (F. Norrman, Nyström, Renkse)	3:33
5.	"Will I Arrive"	4:09
6.	"Burn the Remembrance"	5:22
7.	"Wealth"	4:22
8.	"One Year from Now"	4:02
9.	"Walking by a Wire"	3:32
10.	"Complicity"	4:01
11.	"Evidence"	4:36
12.	"Omerta" (Renkse)	2:58
13.	"Inside the City of Glass" (instrumental)	4:08
Total length:		52:45

10th anniversary edition

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Ghost of the Sun"	4:07
2.	"Sleeper"	4:10
3.	"Criminals"	3:50
4.	"A Premonition"	3:34
5.	"Will I Arrive"	4:07
6.	"Burn the Remembrance"	5:25
7.	"Wealth"	4:24
8.	"One Year from Now"	4:04
9.	"Walking by a Wire"	3:35
10.	"Complicity"	4:05
11.	"Evidence"	4:36
12.	"Omerta"	3:00
13.	"Wait Outside"	3:39
14.	"Inside the City of Glass"	5:35
Total length:		58:11

Personnel

Band

• Jonas Renkse – vocals, guitar, programming
• Anders Nyström – guitar, keyboards, programming
• Fredrik Norrman – guitar
• Mattias Norrman – bass, slide guitar on "One Year from Now"
• Daniel Liljekvist – drums, percussion, backing vocals on "Ghost of the Sun"

Production

• Travis Smith – art direction, design
• Dan Swanö – additional editing
• Jens Bogren – mixing
• Peter In De Betou – mastering

Charts

Chart (2003)	Peak position
Finnish Albums (Suomen virallinen lista)	17