Katatonia

For other uses, see Catatonia (disambiguation).

Katatonia
Katatonia in 2004: (L-R) Jonas Renkse, Fredrik Norrman, Anders Nyström, Daniel Liljekvist and Mattias Norrman
Background information
Also known as	Decomposed Entity Melancholium
Origin	Stockholm, Sweden
Genres	Death/doom, black metal (early era), doom metal, gothic metal, alternative metal (later career)
Years active	1991–1994 1996–present
Labels	Peaceville, Avantgarde Music, No Fashion Records, Vic Records
Associated acts	Opeth, Bloodbath, Diabolical Masquerade, October Tide
Website	www.katatonia.com
Members
Jonas Renkse Anders Nyström Daniel Liljekvist
Past members
Guillaume Le Huche Fredrik "North" Norrman Mikael Oretoft Mattias "Kryptan" Norrman

Katatonia is a Swedish metal band formed in Stockholm in 1991 by Jonas Renkse (formerly known as Lord Seth) and Anders Nyström (formerly known as Blakkheim).

History

Dance of December Souls (1991–1995)

The early Katatonia releases, such as the EP Jhva Elohim Meth... The Revival and their debut album Dance of December Souls, are noted for the overall bleak melancholy and despair of their sound, often giving them the classification of doom metal or death/doom. The early Katatonia albums are sometimes, along with albums by bands such as My Dying Bride, Anathema and Paradise Lost, considered forerunners of the death/doom genre. The band has expressed that their music has been influenced by bands such as The Cure, Fields of the Nephilim, and Joy Division.

The band recorded For Funerals to Come in September 1994. Afterwards, Le Huche left the band. For Funerals to Come was released in 1995. The band took the whole year off due to their struggle to find a permanent lineup.

Brave Murder Day (1996–1997)

When Jonas formed October Tide in 1995 with Fredrik Norrman, Jonas decided to start Katatonia again and got Fredrik to join the band.

In 1996, Opeth's Mikael Åkerfeldt performed the growling vocals on Brave Murder Day when regular Katatonia singer (and then-drummer) Jonas Renkse became unable to perform harsh vocals properly.

Scarlet Heavens (with Primordial) was also released in 1996 but recorded in 1994 as what Jonas describes as something "we never intended to release" due to its soft sound in which Katatonia did, which was not their style. During one of Katatonia's tours, Jonas fell ill and was temporarily replaced by Kenneth Englund.

In 1997, The band enlisted help from Åkerfeldt once again for Sounds of Decay. Before the release of Sounds of Decay The band decided to record Saw You Drown that returned to sound of Scarlet Heavens. Meanwhile the band recorded their third studio album.

Discouraged Ones (1998)

Discouraged Ones was released; it proved to be the last release on which Jonas played drums, as well as the last release with Mikael Oretoft on bass guitar. Katatonia had Anders Nordin to take up drums for Jonas but Anders pulled out of the band at the last minute.

Tonight's Decision (1999–2000)

Since Jonas wanted focus strictly on Vocals permanently, Katatonia enlisted the help of Dan Swanö again to drum for the 1999 album Tonight's Decision. Sick of using session members, the band decided to have a permanent lineup so Fred Norrman got his brother, Mattias Norrman as a bassist and Daniel Liljekvist joined the band as the drummer. In 2000 the band recorded their fifth studio album.

Teargas & Last Fair Deal Gone Down (2001–2002)

In 2001, the EP Teargas, the full-length album Last Fair Deal Gone Down, and the single Tonight's Music. In 2002 the band recorded their sixth studio album.

Viva Emptiness (2003–2005)

"Ghost of the Sun" and Viva Emptiness, a single and a full-length album respectively, were released in 2003.

In 2004, the band released Brave Yester Days (the title being a play on their album Brave Murder Day), which is a double-disc release including all cuts from EPs up to Saw You Drown, selected cuts from full-length albums Brave Murder Day and Dance of December Souls, and two tracks from a compilation.

In 2005, another compilation was released called The Black Sessions. It documented later releases and includes a live DVD. The band recorded their seventh studio album.

The Great Cold Distance (2006–2008)

In 2006, the band released The Great Cold Distance, along with the accompanying singles "My Twin", "Deliberation", and "July". Their appearance at the Summer Breeze festival was filmed, the release called Live Consternation was released in 2007.

Night is the New Day (2009–2011)

Katatonia at Kavarna Rock Fest 2011, Bulgaria.

Katatonia's most recent release, 2009's Night Is the New Day, has received widespread critical acclaim. In December 2009, the Norrmans left Katatonia. In late 2009, Per Eriksson and Niklas Sandin joined the band for the Night Is The New Day tour.

In March 15, 2010, Katatonia released the EP The Longest Year. "Sold Heart" is the only track on this EP to be previously unreleased. The videos for "The Longest Year" and "Day & then the Shade" were directed by Charlie Granberg and Lasse Hoile, respectively.

The band reissued Night Is the New Day and Last Fair Deal Gone Down in 2011.

Katatonia is currently playing shows in celebration of their 20th anniversary.^{[citation needed]} Katatonia played in Lebanon for the first time on September 3, 2011. The event took place at the Roman Amphitheatre in Zouk Mikael. Katatonia are currently special guests on Opeth’s North American Heritage tour that runs from September 2011 until November 2011. Katatonia are slated to headline Madrid Is the Dark III. They will close the two-day festival on December 10, 2011. This will be the only Katatonia show in Spain for 2011.

The mini album For Funerals to Come will be reissued on record and CD through Peaceville Records. The vinyl version will be released on November 7, 2011.

On December 14, Katatonia will perform a special concert in Stockholm celebrating the 20th anniversary of the band. The concert will feature appearances by former members of the band, along with other musicians such as Krister Linder.

On December 31, 2011, Katatonia announced that they would begin recording a new album in early 2012, with plans to release it before summer 2012. They are also working on a DVD titled Last Fair Day Gone Night.

2012–present

On 27 January 2012, the band announced they would head into the studio on 30 January 2012 to begin recording their ninth studio album.

Band members

Anders Nystrom and Mattias Norrman

Current

• Jonas Renkse – lead vocals (1991–1994, 1997–present), drums, percussion (1991–1999), guitar (2002–2005)
• Anders "Blakkheim" Nyström – guitars, backing vocals (1991–present), bass (1992, 1996), keyboards (1997–2005)
• Daniel Liljekvist – drums, percussion (1999–present)

Touring

• Per "Sodomizer" Eriksson – guitars (2009–present)
• Niklas "Nille" Sandin – bass (2009–present)

Former

• Guillaume Le Huche – bass (1992–1994)
• Fredrik "North" Norrman – guitars (1996–2009), bass (1997, 1999)
• Mikael Oretoft – bass (1997–1998)
• Mattias "Kryptan" Norrman – bass (1999–2009)

Session

• Dan Swanö – keyboards, vocals (1992–1993), drums (1999)
• Mikael Åkerfeldt – vocals (1996–1997)
• Kenneth Englund – drums (1996)
• Frank Default – keyboards, strings, percussion (2005–present)

Discography

Albums

• Dance of December Souls (1993)
• Brave Murder Day (1996)
• Discouraged Ones (1998)
• Tonight's Decision (1999)
• Last Fair Deal Gone Down (2001)
• Viva Emptiness (2003)
• The Great Cold Distance (2006)
• Night Is the New Day (2009)
• TBA (2012)

Live albums

• The Black Sessions (Best of double disc set with a live DVD) (2005)
• Live Consternation (including live DVD) (2007)

EPs

• Jhva Elohim Meth... The Revival (1992)
• For Funerals to Come (1995)
• Sounds of Decay (1997)
• Saw You Drown (1998)
• Teargas (2001)
• Tonight's Music (2001)
• The Longest Year (2010)

Demos

• Rehearsal '91 (1991)
• Rehearsal '92 (1992)
• Jhva Elohim Meth (1992)

Singles

• Ghost of the Sun (2003)
• My Twin (2006)
• Deliberation (2006)
• July (2007)
• Day and Then the Shade (2009)

Compilations

• W.A.R. Compilation Vol. 1 (1994)
• Split 10" (1996)
• Identity Five (1999) Century Media (features "Deadhouse")
• Peaceville Classic Cuts (2001) Peaceville (features the track "No devotion")
• Brave Yester Days (2004)
• The Black Sessions (2005)

External links

• Official website
• Katatonia on Myspace