As with the previously announced Bandit Rock Awards (please go vote if you haven’t already) Katatonia have now been nominated in the “metal” category at Swedish Metal Awards. Please help Katatonia win this nomination by following these instructions:

1. Choose a band in each category from the dropdown menus, or if you only care about Katatonia, select Katatonia from the “Metal” menu.

2. Write your e-mail address in the last field under the categories.

3. Fill in the captcha/verification code displayed.

4. Click the “SKICKA RÖST!” button

5. IMPORTANT – you will now get a verification mail to the submitted email address with a link. Simply click that link to verify your vote and you’re done!

OR you can vote by sending a SMS (the SMS costs 5 SEK and must be sent from a swedish carrier):

1. Write: SMAW 0604 KATATONIA – “Night Is The New Day”

2. Send it to number 72550.

The voting closes January 28th at 12.00 cet.

THANKS A LOT!

Sad but true, today’s announcement will be heavy hearted for us to bring to you. We can hereby confirm that the brothers Fredrik ‘North’ Norrman and Mattias ‘Krypt’ Norrman have decided to step off the ride and leave Katatonia. We respect their decision and would like to take the opportunity to collectively thank them both for all the years gone by, all the up’s and down’s we shared out on the road, in the studio and basically the memories and moments we shared of our 20’s growing up together. Fredrik was with us for 15 years and Mattias for 10 years and we were lucky to have the same intact line-up going since 1999, but it’s true what they say – all good things come to an end.

Here’s the official statements from the Norrman brothers:

“This is definitely the hardest decision I’ve ever made. It’s absolutely grievous to say the words “quit katatonia”, even worse to make it happen. It’s been 15 really good years and I would like to thank the guys in the band and all people that I’ve meet on the road. I’ll now watch katatonia from your side…..”

- Fredrik ‘North’ Norrman

“It’s with great sadness I have decided to leave Katatonia after 10 fantastic years. This decision was probably the toughest I have ever made. The reason for this is many small factors that makes it hard for me to be away from home this forthcoming year. It’s going to be a lot of touring in the future so the time for this desicion had to be done now. And I will point out that there is no personal argue between us in the band, just that the time for touring isn’t right for me… This is not what I wanted, but family always comes in the first place. I would like to thank Jonas, Anders, Daniel, Fred and our crew for all those years together. It has truly been the best in my life. And a big thanx to all fans and all good friends I have made out there. You are the best and you will be missed… I really hope that one day when the time is right be able to continue the journey with the band. I wish all the best to you guys!! I’m really gonna miss the life on the road with you!”

- Mattias ‘Krypt’ Norrman

We also know that out of the ashes of a setback new possibilities open up. We’ve already found temporary replacements for the upcoming tours and this will not affect any of our agenda or plans for 2010. Currently filling in for Fredrik on guitar will be long time guitar tech and also guitarist of Bloodbath, mr. Per ‘Sodomizer’ Eriksson while we have Niklas ‘Nille’ Sandin filling Mattias shoes on bass until we decide how to move on with the replaceable positions on a permanent long term.

Monday December 21st, the Winter Solstice, is the longest night of the year in the Northern Hemisphere, the date when night becomes the new day.

To celebrate this date Katatonia, in conjunction with Omerch, are pleased to offer a special contest, exclusive to www.nightisthenewday.com

We have 5 prize packs up for grabs:

• 1st – Night Is The New Day Swedish edition and vinyl edition, signed poster, hoodie + t-shirt or skinny of choice
• 2nd – signed copy of Night Is The New Day CD plus vinyl edition, hoodie + t-shirt or skinny of choice
• 3rd – Night Is The New Day CD plus dog tag and 2 t-shirts or skinnies of choice
• 4th & 5th– Night Is The New Day CD plus t-shirt or skinny of choice.

To stand a chance of winning one of these prizes you have answer these five questions correctly:

1. Mikael Åkerfeldt has assisted Katatonia with session vocals and also co-produced the vocals on a couple of releases, but what more did he do to help the band in the early years?
2. In the credits of Dance of December Souls – someone called Day Disyraah has been credited. Who is hiding behind this pseudonym?
3. Katatonia recently toured with Paradise Lost, but they have toured together one time before. Which Katatonia album were they promoting at that time?
4. How many different logos have Katatonia used on their releases?
5. How many cover songs have Katatonia included on their releases and what are they?

Please send your answer along with your contact details to competition@peaceville.co.uk. Deadlines for entries is January 4th 2010 and the winners will be picked at random from all the correct entries.

Greece has been added to the New Night Over Europe Spring tour 2010. The Two new dates are Saturday 10th April at the Principal Club Theater in Thessaloniki and Sunday 11th April at Gagarin 205 in Athens. The support bands on these two shows are exclusive for Greece and not part of the of rest of the European tour.

It’s been a while since we were roaming the European roads on eight wheels, but as of today we can proudly announce the confirmed dates for the New Night Over Europe 2010 spring tour which will run from early March through April. Support bands to be confirmed. Keep checking out the tour section for updates as we may schedule a few more gigs here and there. Ticket links for all dates will be up there soon. We’re excited and we hope you are too. See you at the shows!

Katatonia have been nominated in the category “best album” at the Bandit Rock Awards. It is only you who can make it happen. Your vote is what counts.

CLICK HERE TO VOTE

Instructions for you who don’t understand Swedish:

Fill in your first name (“förnamn”), last name (“efternamn”), date of birth (“födelsedatum”), E-Post (“e-mail”), Telephone number (“telefonnummer”) and the City you live in (“ort”).

Once that is done, look for “Bästa album” (best album) – scroll down to Katatonia and then finish it off by hitting the “RÖSTA” (vote) button and you’re done!

UK

• Powerplay (10/10) - “…an inspiring, near-flawless metal tour-de-force that threatens to leave most of their competitors way behind and choking on their melancholic dust…”
• Guitarist (5/5) - “…the standard never drops from truly masterful…”
• Rocksound (9/10) - “…the Swedes have quite possibly penned their very own masterpiece here…”
• Terrorizer (8/10) - “…Night is the New Day fills the vast space opened by ‘Distance’…”
• Metal Hammer (8/10) - “…If this album is the result of Katatonia confronting their inner demons, let’s hope they never cheer up…”
• Ultimate Guitar (9/10) - “Katatonia return with one of their most complete and gratifying efforts yet…”
• Scratch The Surface (8/10) - “…it’s a unique and intense set of songs…”
• One Metal (4.5/5) - “…Katatonia’s finest work to date – an album staggering in both its ambition and its accessibility, showcasing beauty and despair in equal measure…”
• Thrash Hits (5/6) - “…Katatonia stand proud as one of the fore runners of the doom laced rock movement. Night Is The New Day delivers a blindingly good orchestrated soundscape. It is a perfect example showing how Jonas Renkse and Co not only helped define the genre but they also have a massive influence in shaping its forward movement…”
• Kerrang (3/5) - “…keeps a creative light burning throughout…”
• Shake N Stir (4/5) - “…It’s nothing short of remarkable…”

Continue reading →

Decibel Magazine and Katatonia are teaming up to provide one lucky Deci-dude or Deci-dudette with post-Black Friday, pre- Hanukkah/Christmas/Kwanzaa with a sweet prize package. Actually, one one lucky Deci-dude or Deci-dudette will get the “Darkest Day Package” and two other runners-up will receive one (1) copy of the new Katatonia CD Night is the New Day.

So, here’s the “Darkest Day Package” prize package:

1. One (1) Katatonia hoodie
2. One (1) Katatonia t-shirt
3. One (1) Katatonia Night is the New Day CD
4. One (1) Katatonia poster
5. Four (4) Katatonia back catalog CDs (randomly chosen)

Two runners-up will receive one (1) Katatonia Night is the New Day CD.

How do you enter? Very simple. Correctly answer the question below and email us at katatonia@decibelmagazine.com.

Q: Who sang guest vocals on the new song ‘Departer’
and what band from the 90’s was he in?

Contest valid to residents of North America. Void where prohibited. The “Darkest Day Package” winner will be announced on 12/14/2009. The runners-up winners will be announced on 12/14/2009.