Label: GlassVille Records
Review by Tony Cannella
I first heard of the Swedish band Paatos via their 2004 album “Kallocain”. This was an interesting album, I thought and little did I know it was their second. I had no idea that this band was still together until I received their new album “Breathing” – which is actually their fourth studio album (they have a live album out there somewhere, I think). Paatos has been described as everything from rock and pop to progressive music. It’s all true, but Paatos also infuses moments of metal, psychedelic and alternative to the mix – their musical pallet is pretty wide. Musically, the closest comparison I can think of is “How to Measure a Planet?” era the Gathering meets something like 3rd and the Mortal. One thing is for sure, “Breathing” has plenty of atmosphere and nuances. The opening track “Gone” is a heavy almost doom-y song with an early Black Sabbath or Soundgarden feel to it. The next song “Fading Out” is not as heavy as the first song and has kind of a laid-back feel. “Shells” slows things down a bit from even the previous song, but it does get a little heavier as the track progresses. The music that Paatos delivers on “Breathing” is played at a very deliberate, dirge like pace. This is not cheerful music, but there is nothing wrong with that. I like the pacing and structure of songs like: “In That Room”, “No More Roller Coaster”, “Surrounded” and the final song “Over & Out”.
“Breathing” is quite an interesting album and Paatos has proven to be a difficult band to categorize. The album kind of plods along and may not be everyone’s cup of tea but Paatos do exactly what they want and I don’t imagine they care much what reviewers and media types think anyway.
Rating – 78/100
Tracklist
- Gone
- Fading Out
- Shells
- In That Room
- Andrum
- No More Rollercoaster
- Breathing
- Smartan
- Surrounded
- Ploing, My Friend
- Precious
- Over & Out
Line Up
- Petronella Nettermalm – Vocals
- Peter Nylander – Guitar
- Ulf Ivarsson – Bass
- Ricard Nettermalm – Drums