Katatonia

the recordings begin

Jesse — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 20:52:10 +0000

It’s been a busy time lately and the hard work has finally paid off. We have now thirteen songs in the bag and hey, that means the recording of our new album can and shall begin. We’re starting with the drums on Monday and we’ll be once again work together with David Castillo (who engineered and mixed ‘Night Is The New Day’), so even though we always strive to improve our productions, it should sound sweet that it’s the same team putting this one together, just throw in some new gear, gadgets and toys with that! The recordings as well as the mix will be divided between Ghostward and our own HQ over the next month and we’ll keep you posted on the progress.

So, how does the material sound like? Well, you got the lush textures, the moody melodies, the heavy parts, the progressive touches, the mellow bits and so on… Is it metal? Is it rock? Is it alternative? Is it singer/songwriter? Actually at times it feels like we’re exploring territories where Katatonia would be an orphan in the land of “genres”. We can’t tell where and to whom we belong and the goal is that it doesn’t even matter, because before and above any genre there’s first an acceptance level of music being good, or being bad. Katatonia might be bad people, but we create good music. Amen.

We also hooked up again with keyboard maestro extraordinaire Frank Default and regardless of the internet speculations, he’s not to “blame” for the increased use of electronics since the last album. That part has been called for as we simply feel that it has grown to fill a hole in our sound inside, or alongside, the classic formation of instruments. In our world, we allow mellotrones, hammonds, rhodes and strings to integrate with loops, distortion and filters to manifest in the katatonic maelstrom. It’s our time to marry contemporary with vintage. Here’s our 9th album to be delivered!

happy new year

Jesse — Sat, 31 Dec 2011 08:54:03 +0000

‎2011 has been a very busy year mostly out on the road and we’d like to thank everyone who came out to see us! Also thanks to all our friends, families and the loyal “Katatoniacs” worlwide for showing support. We know you’re impatient to know whats up next and in brief the big news are that the first couple of months of 2012 will see us hard at work on the recording of our 9th album and if everything goes according to plan the album will be out before summer. We’re also busy on a double duty finishing up the ‘Last Fair Day Gone Night’ anniversary DVD. More info on all of this as we take the step over to the other side, but today we just wanna have a toast and wish everyone a happy new year! Cheers!

Sweden rock festival 2012 confirmed

Jesse — Sun, 18 Dec 2011 23:07:11 +0000

Katatonia will make it’s debut at the Sweden Rock Festival next summer. Specific day and playing time tba.

Are you Ready…

Jesse — Fri, 09 Dec 2011 06:39:01 +0000

For the last Katatonia shows of the year? Before we’re off to catch a plane to Madrid in a couple of hours, here’s an update and a reminder of what’s waiting for everyone with a ticket!

The venue In Madrid, Spain for the Madris Is The Dark show has been changed to Sala Penelope and Katatonia’s stagetime as been slightly extended.

A few support bands has been added for the anniversary shows. Enter The Hunt will open in Stockholm, Sweden while The-Man Eating Tree will open in Helsinki, Finland and Saturnus will open the show in Copenhagen, Denmark. There’ll be no support act at the show in Oslo, Norway.

The Stockholm show going a little extravagant in the celebrations as we have the pleasure to feature exclusive appearances by all our ex-bandmembers and a couple of guests at this show only. If you still haven’t got a ticket, follow these direct links for respective cities/countries and obtain yours now.

TICKETS – DEC 12, THE CIRCUS, HELSINKI, FINLAND

TICKETS – DEC 14, GÖTA KÄLLARE, STOCKHOLM, SWEDEN

TICKETS – DEC 15, JOHN DEE, OSLO, NORWAY

TICKETS - DEC 16, LILLE VEGA, COPENHAGEN, DENMARK

Even more guest appearances at Stockholm show

Jesse — Thu, 17 Nov 2011 10:21:50 +0000

As just announced, we’re proud to have ex-Katatonia members Fredrik Norrman (1994-2010), Mattias Norrman (1999-2010) and Guillaume Le Huche (1992-1995) onboard and of course the one and only Stockholm-New York musician jedi, Krister Linder, with us this evening. But now we’ve also managed to persuade the mysterious and secretive collaborator Frank Default to be part of the show. Nevertheless, this man shouldn’t be a stranger if you know your Katatonia history since he was the painter of our electronic colorbook on ‘Night Is The New Day’ and he has also been previosuly featured with a bunch of Katatonia remixes on a few of our singles.

A few fans have been asking about a possible apperance by two other people that have also been part of our history, Mikael Åkerfeldt (live guitarist 1993-1994, vocals on ‘Brave Murder Day’ & ‘Sounds Of Decay’) and Dan Swanö (producer, engineer, guest musician and drums on ‘Tonight’s Decision’) and yes they were both invited, but unfortunately had to decline due to other commitments and conflicting schedules.

Phonic’s Digital Mixer hits the road with Katatonia

Jesse — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 19:55:57 +0000

Katatonia is a proud and active user of the Phonic Summit. If you’re curious to get a small glimpse into the world behind our live rig and to find out more about this fantastic product that has made our touring so much easier, click the image below. We’ll eventually give a a real run down on our entire setup for all you tech and gear freaks out there!

STOCKHOLM SHOW GONE EXTRA SPECIAL

Jesse — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 15:06:20 +0000

With highly successful performances in Luxembourg, Germany, Holland, France, England and the United States done earlier this year we will close 2011 this December by performing four last extra shows in Scandinavia hitting the capital cites Copenhagen, Oslo, Helsinki and, of course our home town Stockholm.

Katatonia will again perform two sets at each show; the first set will see us play the front to back of ‘Last Fair Deal Gone Down’ – the album that put Katatonia firmly on the musical map and coincidentally also celebrates 10 years since its release. The second set will consist of a mixed set of carefully picked songs from our extensive catalogue. In its entirety this evening with Katatonia will be well over two and a half hours of live music.

The December 14^th show at Göta Källare in our home town of Stockholm will be made extra special by having Enter The Hunt opening up the show, but also by the appearance of four very special guests: Long time former band mates and brothers Fredrik and Mattias Norrman will take on their old bass and guitar duties on selected songs. Also confirmed is the one and only Mr Guillaume Le Huche (a.k.a. Israphel Wing), known for being the band’s bass guitarist on their very first studio album ‘Dance of December Souls’ back in 1993. And the last special guest to be announced is Krister Linder who’s flying over from New York City and taking on vocals duties next to Jonas Renkse to depart the night’s performance…

Founding member and guitar player Anders Nystrom comments:

“Hosting and featuring old members, guests and friends together on the same evening for the purpose of celebrating our 20th year anniversary is not only awesomely killer, but it’s also guaranteed to be a one time event only and never to happen again. To be honest, I’m just as excited as you are to be part of it and let the circle complete itself in our hometown where it started!”

To complete the fan experience Katatonia is offering a limited number of exclusive VIP ticket packages for each show which will include a laminated VIP pass exclusive to the show, access to sound check, a meet & greet with Katatonia, a t-shirt exclusive to that particular show, a special tour program and a tour poster amongst other exclusive items. All the goods will be included in a specially made Katatonia embroidered messenger bag. The VIP laminate will also allow early access to venues so that VIP’s can get the best seats in the house and avoid waiting in line.

VIP and General Admission tickets are now on sale.

‘For Funerals To Come’ to be reissued on vinyl & cd

Jesse — Tue, 04 Oct 2011 17:15:08 +0000

The ultra-rare 1994 mini-album of death/doom metal mastery, ‘For Funerals to Come’, will be released on vinyl on November 7th (cd tba) through Peaceville Records. ‘For Funerals to Come’ contains the trademarks of early era Katatonia with the haunting guitar melodies & slow tempo combining with the tortured vocals of Jonas Renkse to create an aura of melancholy & gothic darkness. This edition of ‘For Funerals to Come’ contains 2 extra tracks, ‘Black Erotica’ & ‘Love of the Swan’, & also features new liner notes from co-founding member, writer & guitarist, Anders Nyström and is limited to only 1500 copies.

Pre-order your copy directly from Peaceville now!

The Hangar, New Orleans, LA cancelled

Jesse — Thu, 29 Sep 2011 18:18:24 +0000

It is with great regret to inform you of the cancellation of our “20th anniversary” headline show at The Hangar in New Orleans, LA this coming Sunday October 2nd. The extensive touring without any break of late has caused Jonas vocal chords to act up and with so many shows still to go on our current tour supporting our friends in Opeth we would be risking cancelling many more shows if Jonas lost his voice entirely during this way more challenging 2+ hours double set. We humbly apologize to our fans who were planning to attend and we promise to make it up to you soon, hopefully sometime next year.

ADDITIONAL 20th ANNIVERSARY SCANDINAVIAN SHOWS

Jesse — Wed, 07 Sep 2011 08:36:45 +0000

With highly successful performances in Luxembourg, Germany, Holland, France and England done in May earlier this year we will close 2011 this december by performing four last extra shows in Scandinavia hitting the capital cites Copenhagen, Oslo, Helsinki and, of course our home town Stockholm.

We will again perform two sets at each show; the first set will see the band play the front to back of ‘Last Fair Deal Gone Down’- the album that put Katatonia firmly on the musical map and coincidentally also celebrates 10 years since its release. The second set will consist of a mixed set of carefully picked songs from our extensive catalogue. In its entirety the show will be well over two and a half hours of live music.

We will offer a limited number of exclusive VIP ticket packages for each show which will include a laminated VIP pass exclusive to the show, access to sound check, a meet & greet with Katatonia, a t-shirt exclusive to that particular show, a special tour program and a tour poster amongst other exclusive items. All the goods will be included in a specially made Katatonia embroidered messenger bag. The VIP laminate will also allow early access to venues so that VIP’s can get the best seats in the house and avoid waiting in line.

VIP tickets are now on sale while General Admission tickets will go on on sale this following Friday, September 9th.