Posted in Whathaveyou on March 20th, 2025 by JJ Koczan
Anders ‘Blakkheim’ Nyström is for sure right in his assertion that Katatonia fans are somewhat broken into cliques or collectives or at very least online professions of faith for different eras of the band. Inevitable maybe, for an act whose early albums had a distinct impact on a genre while at the same time the band themselves grew in different directions. Nyström played on 13 records with Katatonia. They’re not all gold, but the horrible truth is that regardless of what year a record came out, Katatonia have remained consistent in the level of their craft as their sound has continued to progress. Nyström and frontman Jonas Renkse, up to this point, were the remaining founders of the band.
I don’t know what this means for Bloodbath, if Nyström and Renkse will continue to collaborate in Katatonia‘s brutal death metal cousin outfit. A quick look at social media shows a fest date at Party San in August, if that’s an answer.
And of course the future of Katatonia itself is something of a question in terms of personnel and sound alike. Nyström mentions Renkse proceeding with “new members,” while Renkse, in his somewhat shorter post, doesn’t say much more than he’s moving forward. Fair enough, as the progression of time do be linear like that. If it’s not the end of the band, it’s at least bound to see a significant shift in the dynamic, on stage and in the studio. I’ll be curious to see how it shakes out… moving forward.
From social media:
Says Anders Nyström:
“Sad but true.
The time has come for me to confirm that the roads ahead Jonas and I have chosen for both Katatonia and ourselves have grown too wide and far apart, and as a result, our long-term collaboration has drawn to a close.
With him and I being the duo that founded Katatonia almost 35 years ago, and owing to the fact that we managed to take our mission this far, it’s inevitable that our band’s legacy will continue to play a huge role for both of us and always live on, albeit in a different light either captured by our past, future or the many chapters in between.
To each our own, we may all have our own preferences and different levels of appreciation for either the early, mid or later Katatonia eras, but it seems like any willingness to embrace them all, in order to honor our history through live activities, has unfortunately failed to sustain. Needless to say, I still love ALL our albums, but with the early stuff being neglected for so many years, a feeling of having “unfinished business” with a style that goes far back to our roots has just grown stronger and stronger. I can’t help feeling adamant that songs from our early-mid discography deserve to be equally acknowledged and likewise targeted for our live show repertoire, the essential medium where the past should always be alive! Unfortunately, that door has been kept shut and left everything we did pre-millennium in a void.
Avowed, with one of us gone, Katatonia could and should have been mutually laid to rest while exploiting the freedom to continue in any desirable direction under a new name. But with Jonas now regrouping with new members and navigating further in his own direction, I no longer need to wait and see which way the wind is blowing to enter that void and grab hold of what’s been abandoned. After all, Katatonia’s legacy is resting on both ends of the timeline.
Come what may, I’d like to thank Jonas and the rest of my ex-colleagues for the incredible ride we shared through four compelling decades.
Blessed be!”
Says Jonas Renkse:
“Anders Nyström and I are going our separate ways. A decision not taken lightly, but for everyone to thrive and move forward with their own creative preferences as well as personal schedules this has become the realistic option. Anders and I started the band in 1991 and his impact on the band’s trademark sound is undeniable. As bleak as this sounds, and is, it’s further evidence of life getting in the way of our preferred plans. I wish Anders all the best for the future.”
Posted in Reviews on January 23rd, 2023 by JJ Koczan
This year marks the 30th anniversary of Katatonia‘s debut, Dance of December Souls, and as the Swedish melancholic masters shift from Peaceville Records — a home since 1999’s Tonight’s Decision, their fourth full-length — to Napalm Records, they offer a collection that emphasizes the journey their sound has undertaken across those three decades. Sky Void of Stars is their 12th album, and its 10-song/45-minute run follows 2020’s City Burials (review here) in its maturity of voice, its awareness of who and what Katatonia are as a band, and how after all this time, they’re going to keep both themselves and their audience engaged. Katatonia‘s music has never been party rock. Rooted in death-doom, guitarist Anders Nyström and vocalist Jonas Renkse — both founding members — have more than a few genuine slogs under their belt.
But as their contemporaries in bands like My Dying Bride and Paradise Lost have in recent years shifted back toward darker and heavier, more extreme and aggressive sounds, Katatonia remain more fiercely committed to melody, to creating an aural sphere that is as lush as it is grim, so that even a song like “Author,” with its harder twist in the chorus, or the album’s prog-metal six-minute finale “No Beacon to Illuminate Our Fall” — one of just two songs on the album with a title longer than a single word; the other is the political lyric “Colossal Shade” — can coexist fluidly with Katatonia‘s core tonality, vocal and production styles as a backdrop. From the dive-right-in intensity of opener “Austerity” to the push in the hook of “Birds” and the memorably wistful penultimate cut “Atrium,” which might be a defining moment for the album as a whole, Katatonia are themselves — Renkse and Nyström are joined in the band by bassist Niklas Sandin, guitarist Roger Öjersson and drummer Daniel Moilanen — even as they continue to evolve the scope of what that means.
To some extent, having such a well crafted sonic persona means that an established audience will both to a certain extent know what’s coming from a new release and have expectations in that regard. Maybe that’s unavoidable for an act like Katatonia, who are both long-tenured and have had a marked influence on death-doom, goth rock and depressive heavy music more generally along their way — they are a known quantity. Sky Void of Stars, when you zoom out on it, is not a radical change to the format of Katatonia. It’s easy to imagine some of these songs worked alongside the requisite older cuts into setlists for festivals and tours (the cycle has been underway since last Fall), while others are kind of left behind over time — if a later piece like “Sclera” is one of the latter, it would be a shame; its choral melody is quintessential Katatonia; you could use it as a primer to introduce people to the band — and some hit harder than others.
It’s a dynamic collection, professional in its level of production and sound, and part of the band’s core stylistically is a fluidity that comes not the least from Renkse‘s vocals, so yes, it flows from front to back with a kind of grace rare in or out of metal. They know what they’re doing even as they lean to one side or another between the more aggressive instrumental stretches — that opening shove into “Austerity” would be one, the culmination of “Author,” that chug in “Colossal Shade” peppered with other ambient layers as it is, and certainly they save the heaviest for last in “No Beacon to Illuminate Our Fall” guitar-wise — and the dancier pieces like “Opaline,” a brooding post-metal exploration in “Impermanence,” with SOEN‘s Joel Ekelöf on guest vocals and the more gently-delivered verse of “Sclera,” which tells a story lyrically that comes across as personal while somewhat opaque. They are, as noted in the first sentence above, masters.
At the same time, they bring as sure a hand to “No Beacon to Illuminate Our Fall,” which hits as hard in guitar as keyboard, has jazzier prog metal flourish and ends in a drift rather than a huge blowout. “Author” is death metal with clean singing over it. Even “Birds,” which is emotionally urgent in its beginning and answers that with a satisfying shove in its second half, finds Katatonia steady in their stance, feet on the ground structurally, while speaking to different sides of their approach. Perhaps it’s just that after three decades, that root definition of who Katatonia are as a band and what they can do while still sounding like themselves has become so encompassing that “Impermanence,” “Sclera,” “Atrium” and “No Beacon to Illuminate Our Fall” can coexist smoothly after songs like “Opaline” and “Drab Moon” have already marked out so much ground being covered.
Lyrics are another tie bringing the songs together. There are a few specific references; the year 1988 is namedropped in “Austerity,” and Renkse mentions being 46 in “Opaline,” while the bridge of “Atrium” takes place in the Marriott presumably at 7th and 46th in Manhattan — the rest of that song would seem to be in a divorce lawyer’s office — but these are part of skillful, thoughtful storytelling that’s enhanced by the emotive presence and delivery of the vocals, and true to form in meeting listener expectations there as well.
Maybe the ultimate story of Sky Void of Stars — the title-line delivered in “Author” — is one of Katatonia playing to their strengths. Outside perhaps the finisher, the album doesn’t feel like it’s actively pushing back on the band’s identity or trying to take what’s so immediately recognizable about their work (at least to the converted) and throwing it out the window of that Marriott suite. But in the case of Katatonia, this particular band, the idea of “playing to strengths” covers a significant range; there are many strengths toward which to play. Sky Void of Stars will keep them on the road — the 12th chapter in an ongoing narrative of their evolution — will please their listener base while giving reason to proselytize, and has enough details in its sound and overarching breadth to dive into for the band and audience alike over a longer term than week-of-release or current-tour-cycle. You wouldn’t necessarily call it groundbreaking, but it does carve its own space in their discography, serving as a reminder of how much Katatonia have accomplished as they push ever and reliably forward.
Posted in Whathaveyou on October 26th, 2022 by JJ Koczan
Sweet, new Katatonia. That’ll be a reliable bet to take, as the long-running Swedish melancholic doom innovators are set to issue their new album, Sky Void of Stars, on Jan. 20. I’ve been through like 15 iterations of the title trying to type it right because in my head, it’s close to something similar from Star Trek even though, as I look it up, I’ve got that wrong too. If you see it wrong anywhere here — it’s called Sky Void of Stars, remember — Sky Void of Stars. Sometimes the mind plays tricks on you.
Sorry to derail, but hey, we know what’s coming a little bit here, right? And I don’t necessarily think that’s a bad thing. Katatonia‘s track record is 12 albums deep. There’s gonna be a reliably downer aesthetic and atmosphere — as seen above and below — and maybe moments with a bit more crunch to keep the headbangers happy along with the more melodic and heavy-progressive moments to show that they’re keeping themselves interested after passing the 30-year mark. I’m not saying it can’t be the album of their career. What I’m saying is the very worst it’s probably ever going to be is really good.
If you can make it scrolling past all their upcoming tour dates on various continents, you’ll find Katatonia‘s new video below for “Atrium.” The song rules.
From the PR wire:
Melancholic Metal Masters KATATONIA Announce New Album, Sky Void of Stars, Scheduled for Worldwide Release on January 20, 2023 via Napalm Records
Official Music Video for First Single, “Atrium”, Revealed
Meritorious masters of melancholic metal KATATONIA carry on their legacy of rearranging the order of the heavy music universe, proudly presenting their hauntingly beautiful next studio album, ‘Sky Void of Stars’, out January 20, 2023, via Napalm Records.
Founded in 1991, KATATONIA have continually embraced the dark and the light alike and, living through genre evolutions beyond compare, ripened their own particular form of expression. From doom and death metal to soul-gripping post rock, they’ve explored endless spheres of the genre, accumulating only the very best aspects. After signing with Napalm Records, the entity around founding members Jonas Renkse and Anders Nyström is ready to showcase its brilliance and illuminate the void in the scene once more with ‘Sky Void of Stars’.
With the first single, “Atrium”, KATATONIA hit with highly energetic atmosphere, holding a gloomy ambience with epic sounds and poetic lyrics to get lost in. The heartfelt piece of sound goes in line with a gripping music video, underlining the exceptional atmosphere the five-piece is creating with every single note. “Atrium” is now available via all digital service providers worldwide.
KATATONIA on the new album, ‘Sky Void of Stars’:
“Our 12th album, ‘Sky Void of Stars’ is a dynamic journey through vibrant darkness. Born out of yearning for what was lost and not found, the very peripheries of the unreachable, but composed and condensed into human form and presented as sounds and words true to the KATATONIA signum. No stars here, just violent rain.”
Sky Void of Stars track listing: 1 Austerity 2 Colossal Shade 3 Opaline 4 Birds 5 Drab Moon 6 Author 7 Impermanence (feat. Joel Ekelöf) 8 Sclera 9 Atrium 10 No Beacon to Illuminate Our Fall 11 Absconder (Bonus Track)
Ltd. Deluxe Wooden Box (incl. Mediabook + Digipack Atmos Mix BluRay + Crow Pendant + Star Chart Artprint + Pin) – Napalm Records exclusive Die Hard Edition 2LP Gatefold Ink Spot / FOREST GREEN (incl. Slipmat, Patch, 12 pages poster) – Napalm Records exclusive 2LP Gatefold DARK GREEN – Napalm Records exclusive 2LP Gatefold MARBLED TRANSPARENT/DARK GREEN – OMerch exclusive 2LP Gatefold MARBLED CRYSTAL CLEAR/BLACK – OMerch exclusive 2LP Gatefold BLACK 1CD Ltd Mediabook (incl. Bonus Track) 1CD Jewelcase Digital Album
KATATONIA – 2022 North American Tour w/ The Ocean Collective and Cellar Darling 11/09/22 – Washington, DC / Black Cat 11/1022 – Worcester, MA / Palladium 11/11/22 – New York, NY / Sony Hall 11/12/22 – Philadelphia, PA / Underground Arts 11/13/22 – Harrisburg, PA / Harrisburg Midtown Arts Center 11/15/22 – Quebec City, QC / Impérial Bell 11/16/22 – Montreal, QC / Le Studio TD 11/18/22 – Toronto, ON / Opera House 11/19/22 – Pittsburgh, PA / Thunderbird Music Hall 11/20/22 – Chicago, IL / Metro 11/22/22 – Denver, CO / Oriental Theater 11/23/22 – Salt Lake City, UT / Soundwell 11/25/22 – Portland, OR / Hawthorne Theatre 11/26/22 – Vancouver, BC / Rickshaw Theatre 11/27/22 – Seattle, WA / The Crocodile 11/29/22 – Roseville, CA / Goldfield Trading Post 11/30/22 – San Francisco, CA / Great American Music Hall 12/02/22 – Los Angeles, CA / 1720 12/03/22 – San Diego, CA / Brick by Brick 12/04/22 – Mesa, AZ / Nile Theater 12/06/22 – Austin, TX / Come and Take It Live (+Soen as direct support) 12/07/22 – Dallas, TX / Amplified Live (+Soen as direct support) 12/09/22 – Atlanta, GA / Hell at The Masquerade 12/10/22 – Tampa, FL / The Orpheum
KATATONIA – 2023 UK & Europe Tour w/ Sólstafir and SOM 20.01.23 FI – Tampere / Tampereen Tullikamari (Pakkahuone & Klubi) 21.01.23 FI – Helsinki / Kulttuurital 22.01.23 EE – Tallinn / Helitehas 24.01.23 PL – Warsaw / Klub Stodoła 25.01.23 DE – Berlin / Huxleys Neue Welt 26.01.23 DE – Cologne / Essigfabrik 27.01.23 DE – Stuttgart / LKA Longhorn 28.01.23 CZ – Prague / ROXY Prague 29.01.23 AT – Vienna / Arena Wien 31.01.23 HU – Budapest / Akvárium Klub 01.02.23 DE – Munich / Backstage Werk 02.02.23 CH – Zurich / Komplex 457 03.02.23 IT – Milan / Live Club 04.02.23 FR – Lyon / Ninkasi GERLAND 06.02.23 ES – Madrid / Kapital 07.02.23 ES – Barcelona / La Salamandra 08.02.23 FR – Toulouse / Le Metronum 10.02.23 GB – London / O2 Forum Kentish Town 11.02.23 GB – Manchester / O2 Ritz Manchester 12.02.23 GB – Bristol / Marble Factory 13.02.23 GB – Glasgow / The Garage 14.02.23 GB – Wolverhampton / KK’s Steel Mill 16.02.23 DE – Frankfurt Am Main / Batschkapp 17.02.23 NL – Haarlem / Patronaat 19.02.23 FR – Paris / Le Trianon 20.02.23 LU – Luxemburg / Rockhal 21.02.23 BE – Antwerp / Muziekcentrum Trix 22.02.23 DE – Hamburg / Gruenspan 23.02.23 DK – Copenhagen / Amager Bio 24.02.23 NO – Oslo / Rockefeller Music Hall 25.02.23 SE – Stockholm / Fryshuset Arenan
KATATONIA – 2023 Latin American Tour 17.03.23 MX – Guadalajara / C3 Stage 18.03.23 MX – Monterrey / Cafe Iguana 19.03.23 MX – Mexico City / Cafe Auditorio 22.03.23 CH – Santiago / Club Chocolate 24.03.23 AR – Buenos Aires / El Teatrito 25.03.23 BR – Sao Paulo / Carioca Club
KATATONIA are: Jonas Renske – Vocals Anders Nyström – Guitars Roger Öjersson – Guitars Niklas Sandin – Bass Daniel Moilanen – Drums
Welcome to the penultimate day of the Summer 2020 Quarterly Review. I can only speak for myself, but I know it’s been a crazy couple months on this end, and I imagine whatever end you’re on — unless and probably even if you have a lot of money — it’s been the same there as well. Yet, it was no problem compiling 50 records to review this week, so if there’s a lesson to be taken from it all, it would seem to be that art persists. We may still be painting on cave walls when it comes to the arc of human evolution, but at least that’s something.
Have a great day and listen to great music.
Quarterly Review #31-40:
Katatonia, City Burials
Like their contemporaries in My Dying Bride and Paradise Lost, the latter-day period of work from Sweden’s Katatonia veers back toward some measure of direct heaviness, as City Burials showcases in cuts like “Rein,” “Heart Set to Divide” and “Behind the Blood,” but more than either of those others mentioned, the Stockholm outfit refuse to forsake the melody and progressivism they’ve undertaken with their sound in the name of doing so. By the time they get to “Untrodden” at the end of the album’s 50-minute/11-song run, they’ve run a gamut from dark electronica to progressive-styled doom and back again, and with the founding duo of guitarist Anders Nyström and vocalist Jonas Renkse at the helm of the songwriting, they are definitive in their approach and richly emotive; a melancholy that is as identifiable in their songs as it is in the bands working under their influence. Their first work in four years, City Burials is an assurance that Katatonia are in firm ownership and command of all aspects of their sound. As they approach their 30th year, they continue to move forward. That’s a special band.
Boasting production, mixing and percussion from The Golden Grass‘ Adam Kriney, Marmalade Knives‘ debut album, Amnesia, is a delight of freaky-but-not-overblown heavy psychedelia. Oh, it’s headed far, far out, but as the opening narration and the later drones of second cut “Rivuleting” make plain, they might push, but they’re not trying to shove, if you know what I mean. The buzz in “Best-Laid Plans” doesn’t undercut the warmth of the improvised-seeming solo, and likewise, “Rebel Coryell” is a mellow drifter that caps side A with a graceful sense of wandering the soundscape of its own making. The vibe gets spacey on “Xayante,” and “Ez-Ra” touches on a funkier swing before seeming to evolve into light as one does, and the 10-minute “Astrology Domine” caps with noise and a jammed out feel that underscores the outbound mood of the proceedings as a whole. Some of the pieces feel like snippets cut from longer jams, and they may or may not be just that, but though it was recorded in three separate locations, Amnesia draws together well and flows easily, inviting the listener to do the same.
Edinburgh’s King Witch toe the line between classic metal and doom, but whatever you want to call them, just make sure you don’t leave out the word “epic.” The sweeping solo and soaring vocals on the opening title-track set the stage on their second LP, the hour-long Body of Light, and as much mastery as the band showed on their 2018 debut, Under the Mountain (review here), vocalist Laura Donnelly, guitarist Jamie Gilchrist, bassist Rory Lee and drummer Lyle Brown lay righteous waste to lofty expectations and bask in grandiosity on “Of Rock and Stone” and the linear-moving “Solstice I – She Burns,” the payoff of which is a high point of the album in its layered shred. Pieces like “Witches Mark” and “Order From Chaos” act as confirmation of their Euro-fest-ready fist-pumpery, and closer “Beyond the Black Gate” brings some atmosphere before its own headbang-worthy crescendo. Body of Light is a reminder of why you wanted to be metal in the first place.
Eminently listenable and repeat-worthy, Glass Parallels‘ debut LP, Aisle of Light, nonetheless maintains an experimentalist flair. The solo-project of Justin Pinkerton (Golden Void, Futuropaco), covers a swath of ground from acid folk to psych-funk to soul vibes, at times bordering on shoegaze but seeming to find more expressive energy in centerpiece “Asphyxiate” and the airy capper “Blood and Battlegrounds” than any sonic portrayal of apathy would warrant. United by keys, pervasive guitar weirdness and Pinkerton‘s at-times-falsetto vocals, usually coated in reverb as they are, Aisle of Light brings deceptive depth for being a one-man production. Its production is spacious but still raw enough to give the drums an earthy sound as they anchor the synth-laden “March and April,” which is probably fortunate since otherwise the song would be liable to float off and not return. One way or another, the songs stand out too much to really be hypnotic, but they’re certainly fun to follow.
Stonework is the self-aware debut full-length from Portland, Maine, trio Thems That Wait, and it shoulders itself between clenched-teeth metallic aggression and heavier fuzz rock. They’re not the first to tread such ground and they know it, but “Sidekick” effectively captures Scissorfight-style groove, and “Kick Out” is brash enough in its 1:56 to cover an entire record’s worth of burl. Interludes “Digout” and “Vastcular” provide a moment to catch your breath, which is appreciated, but when what they come back with is the sure-fisted “Paragon” or a song like “Shitrograde,” it really is just a moment. They close with “Xmortis,” which seems to reference Evil Dead II in its lyrics, which is as good as anything else, but from “Sleepie Hollow” onward, guitarist/vocalist Craig Garland, bassist Mat Patterson and drummer Branden Clements find their place in the dudely swing-and-strike of riffs, crash and snarl, and they do so with a purely Northeastern attitude. This is the kind of show you might get kicked at.
Complexity extends to all levels of Sojourner‘s third album and Napalm Records debut, Premonitions, in that not only does the band present eight tracks and 56 minutes of progressive and sprawling progressive black metal, varied in craft and given a folkish undercurrent by Chloe Bray‘s vocals and tin whistle, but also the sheer fact that the five-piece outfit made the album in at least five different countries. Recording remotely in Sweden, New Zealand, Scotland and Italy, they mixed/mastered in Norway, and though one cringes at the thought of the logistical nightmare that might’ve presented, Sojourner‘s resultant material is lush and encompassing, a tapestry of blackened sounds peppered with clean and harsh singing — Emilio Crespo handles the screams — keyboards, and intricate rhythms behind sprawling progressions of guitar. At the center of the record, “Talas” and “Fatal Frame” (the shortest song and the longest) make an especially effective pair one into the other, varied in their method but brought together by viciously heavy apexes. The greatest weight, though, might be reserved for closer “The Event Horizon,” which plods where it might otherwise charge and brings a due sense of largesse to the finale.
The order of the day is sprawl on Udyat‘s recorded-live sophomore LP, Oro, as the Argentinian outfit cast a wide berth over heavy rock and terrestrial psych, the 13-minute “Sangre de Oro” following shorter opener “Los Picos de Luz Eterna” (practically an intro at a bit over six minutes) with a gritty flourish to contrast the tonal warmth that returns with the melodic trance-induction at the start of “Los últimos.” That song — the centerpiece of the five-track outing — tops 15 minutes and makes its way into a swell of fuzz with according patience, proceeding through a second stage of lumbering plod before a stretch of noise wash leads pack to the stomp. The subsequent “Después de los Pasos, el Camino Muere” is more ferocious by its end and works in some similar ground, and closer “Nacimiento” seems to loose itself in a faster midsection before returning to its midtempo roll. Oro borders on cosmic doom with its psychedelic underpinnings and quiet stretches, but its movement feels ultimately more like walking than floating, if that makes any sense.
To anyone who might suggest that extreme metal cannot also be forward-thinking, Bismarck submit the thoughtful bludgeon of Oneiromancer, a five-song/35-minute aesthetic blend that draws from doom, death, hardcore and sundry other metals, while keeping its identity in check through taut rhythm and atmospheric departures. Following the chants of opening intro “Tahaghghogh Resalat,” the Chris Fielding-produced follow-up to Bismarck‘s 2018 debut, Urkraft (review here), showcases an approach likewise pummeling and dynamic, weighted in ambience and thud alike. “Oneiromancer” itself starts with blastbeats and a plundering intensity before breaking into a more open midsection, but “The Seer” is absolutely massive. Despite being shorter than either the title-track or “Hara,” both of which top nine minutes, and closer “Khthon” underscores the blood-boiling tension cast throughout with one last consuming plod. Fucking raging. Fucking awesome. Pure sonic catharsis. Salvation through obliteration. If these are dreams being divined as the title hints, the mind is a limitless and terrifying place. Which, yes.
I won’t say it’s seamless or intended to be, but as Albuquerque, New Mexico, two-piece The Gral Brothers make their initial move on Caravan East between cinematic Americana and industrial brood, samples of dialogue on “Cactus Man” and violin in the seven-minute soundscaper “In Die Pizzeria” seem to draw together both a wistfulness and a paranoia of the landlocked. Too odd to fall in line with the Morricone-worship of Cali’s Spindrift, “Crowbar” brings Spaghetti West and desert dub together with a confidence that makes it seem like a given pairing despite the outwardly eerie vibes and highly individualized take, and “Santa Sleeves” is beautiful to its last, even if the lone bell jingle is a bit much, while “Silva Lanes” pushes even further than did “Circuit City” into mechanized experimental noisemaking. They end with the birdsong-inclusive “Ode to Marge,” leaving one to wonder whether it’s sentiment or cynicism being expressed. Either way, it’s being expressed in a way not quite like anything else, which is an accomplishment all on its own.
When you’re at the show and the set ends, Flamingo Graphics is the CD you go buy at the merch table. It’s as simple as that. Recorded this past March over the course of two days, the debut album from Floridian foursome Astral Glide is raw to the point of being barebones, bootleg room-mic style, but the songwriting and straightforward purposes of the group shine through. They’re able to shift structures and mood enough to keep things from being too staid, but they’re never far off from the next heavy landing, as “Devastation” and the closer “Forever” show in their respective payoffs, that latter going all out with a scream at the end, answering back to the several others that show up periodically. While their greatest strength is in the mid-paced shove of rockers like “Space Machine” and “Scarlett” and the speedier “Workhorse,” there are hints of broader intentions on Flamingo Graphics, though they too are raw at this point. Very much a debut, but still one you pick up when the band finishes playing. You might not even wait until the end of the show. Meet them back at the table, and so on.
Posted in Whathaveyou on June 23rd, 2020 by JJ Koczan
Plenty of this lineup looks familiar from what Psycho Las Vegas would’ve been in 2020, and duh, that’s the idea. You’ve still got Danzig doing Lucifuge, still got At the Gates and Katatonia and Emperor and Mercyful Fate. Still got the possibility that if I go, I can hang out after Pinback‘s set and bother Rob Crow about how badly he needs to do another Goblin Cock record. Wino, Fatso Jetson, Elder and Blackwater Holylight playing the pool party, six or seven curveball emo bands — all that fun stuff. Spectacle unmatched in heavy music, set in the Planet Earth’s official home for damned souls. It’s as perfect as it is incongruous.
Makes me wonder what Crowbar have going on next August.
But what you probably want to know is whether your ticket if you had one for 2020 is still good for 2021. Yes.
Behold:
Psycho Entertainment presents Psycho Las Vegas 2021
Psycho Las Vegas has been rescheduled to August 20th – 22nd, 2021. Psycho Swim has been rescheduled to August 19th, 2021. If you already purchased a pass for either event and want to attend in 2021, there is nothing you need to do – your passes will automatically be valid for the new dates.
80 of the 83 bands originally booked on the lineup are returning in 2021. The bands who are not joining us next year are Ty Segall, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, and Crowbar.
Danzig, Mercyful Fate, Emperor, The Flaming Lips, Blue Oyster Cult, Down, Mayhem, Satyricon, Obituary, Warpaint, Blonde Redhead, HEALTH, Watain, Ulver, Katatonia, At the Gates, Poison The Well, Paul Cauthen, Amigo The Devil, Exhorder, Wolves in the Throne Room, Thursday, Pinback, Zola Jesus, Drab Majesty, Boris, Eyehategood, Repulsion, Immolation, Midnight, MGLA, Windhand, Cursive, Tsol, King Dude, Pig Destroyer, Brutus, Profanatica, Lower Dens, Cult of Fire, Intronaut, boysetsfire, Death by Stereo, Curl Up and Die, Adamantium, This Will Destroy You, Khemmis, Mothership, Guantanamo Baywatch, Dengue Fever, Kaelan Mikla, Black Joe Lewis, Fatso Jetson, Wino, Creeping Death, Mephistofeles, Frankie and The Witch Fingers, Toke, Foie Gras, Flavor Crystals, Silvertomb, Lord Buffalo, Warish, Alms, Bombers, Glacial Tomb, Relaxer, Black Sabbitch, Hippie Death Cult, Vaelmyst, Mother Mercury, Two Minutes to Late Night
America’s rock n’ roll bacchanal returns to Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino August 20th through August 22th, with another resort-wide casino takeover unlike any of its kind. Now approaching its fifth year in the swirling neon decadence of Las Vegas, PSYCHO will feature over seventy artists across four stages including the world-class Events Center, the iconic House Of Blues, Mandalay Bay Beach, and the vintage Vegas-style Rhythm & Riffs Lounge in the center of the casino floor. PSYCHO LAS VEGAS 2021 will continue to redefine America’s conception of what a festival can be.
Psycho Entertainment presents Psycho Swim “The Official Psycho Las Vegas Pre-Party”
Old Man Gloom, Elder, Polyrhythmics, Death Valley Girls, The Skull, Blackwater Holylight, Here Lies Man, DJ Scott Seltzer
America’s rock n’ roll pool party returns to DAYLIGHT Beach Club on August 19th for the second annual PSYCHO SWIM. This official all-day pre-party celebrates the best of previous PSYCHO LAS VEGAS lineups with performances from a host of festival alumni as well as new PSYCHO additions.
DAYLIGHT Beach Club is nestled next to the Mandalay Bay Resort And Casino and features a 4400-square-foot main pool, daybeds, cabanas, and bungalows, with an elevated stage offering unobstructed, up-close-and-personal views of artist performances.
Plenty of familiar stuff here if you’ve been hanging around the site lately, but there’s some stuff I haven’t written about yet too. The theme, such as it was — and man, themes are loose with this show anyway, but this one felt even more so — was just good stuff that happened in April. Today’s May 1, and it feels like last month was just lost on so many levels, that I wanted to highlight a few of the good things that happened despite the chaos and the dire feelings that defined so much of the time.
My point is the same as ever: Music still sounds good. If you’ve got that, you’ve got something to hold onto. If there’s nothing else, there’s music. That’s all I’m ever really saying. Sorry to spoil it. Now you don’t have to look at The Obelisk anymore. You’re all done.
You should still listen to the show though because I recorded the voice tracks for it on my phone while I was going to buy fresh mozzarella, and considering New Jersey’s got over 100,000 cases of COVID-19, the sheer Jersey-ness of the endeavor really I think shines through. Plus in the second break, if you stick it out, I say the word “awesome” like 50 times and sound like a total doofus, and that’s worth hearing. I overuse “awesome” anyway, but really, it sounds silly here. I listened back and heard it and decided to leave it in. Hell, at least it’s real.
Thanks for listening if you do.
The Obelisk Show airs 5PM Eastern today on the Gimme app or at http://gimmeradio.com
Full playlist:
The Obelisk Show – 05.01.20
Elder
Halcyon
Omens*
Elephant Tree
Exit the Soul
Habits*
Forming the Void
Ancient Satellite
Reverie*
BREAK
Foghound
Turn Off the World
Turn Off the World*
Lord Fowl
The Wraith
Glorious Babylon*
Soldati
Solar Tse
Doom Nacional*
Trippy Wicked
Green Memories
Three Leaves / Green Memories*
Satyrus
Black Satyrus
Rites*
Marrowfields
Dragged to the World Below
Metamorphoses*
Pale Divine
Tyrants / Pawns (Easy Prey)
Consequence of Time*
Paradise Lost
Fall From Grace
Obsidian*
Katatonia
Behind the Blood
City Burials*
Itus
Primordial
Primordial*
BREAK
River Cult
Chilling Effect
Chilling Effect*
Astral Bodies
Mythic Phantoms
Escape Death*
The Obelisk Show on Gimme Radio airs every Friday 5PM Eastern, with replays Sunday at 7PM Eastern. Next new episode is May 15 (subject to change). Thanks for listening if you do.
Posted in Whathaveyou on January 30th, 2020 by JJ Koczan
Danzig doing the Lucifuge record, plus Emperor and Mercyful Fate on US exclusives. In the age of spectacle, Psycho Las Vegas stands apart from its otherwise-might-be peers. There’s a method to all this madness. A plan in action. These people aren’t stupid — this isn’t a stupid lineup, unless you mean “stupid” in an emphatic sense. That’s what Psycho Las Vegas is: emphasis realized. The chaos is the mission. How could there be a more suitable complement to this year, this moment in human history? This is happening at a fucking casino. In Las Vegas. Do you understand what I’m telling you? Do you understand you surreal that is? Repulsion are playing a god damned casino. On a bill with The Flaming Lips and Katatonia. This is your brain on… fire, I guess?
A couple weeks ago — days ago? hours? I have no idea what day it is or why I should be expected to know; I’ve actually set an alarm to post this at the right time in an effort not to screw it up which I probably will anyhow — I happened to have some quick email correspondence with the souls behind the genre-consuming beast of a festival that is Psycho Las Vegas 2020 and I made my BIG PITCH for coverage. Want to know what it was? What it basically boiled down to was, “How about you guys bring me out to the festival and put me up for four days, I take a bunch of mushrooms, maybe go see some bands and write whatever the hell I want?”
Their answer was yes, so that’s my plan. I think Psycho deserves nothing less than me ranting about I don’t know probably cultural decay, self-hate manifest as pretentious judgmentalism, and not eating for four days? Yeah, that sounds good. I’ll go with that.
The schedule isn’t out yet, but it’s clearly a choose-your-adventure festival. For those seeing HOT TIPS from an internet influencer, you’re on the wrong goddamn site. I’m the guy who spent half his morning cleaning up animal piss at his mom’s house. I’ll say though that along with the gargantuan proportion of the headliners — come on, Danzig doing Danzig II is brilliant and you know it — and all the indie, emo and post-hardcore stuff that, yeah okay, I get it, the aughts were a thing for some people (not for me; was too drunk to remember any of it), it’s righteous to see such a huge event in addition to telling Coachella to suck its ass continuing to commit to the heavy underground. My chosen adventure will include but not be limited to placing priority on Lord Buffalo, Blackwater Holylight, Fatso Jetson (of course), Mothership (the context is too good to pass up), Hippie Death Cult and… yes… Katatonia. Because they’re the wintriest band ever and it’ll be 100 degrees. The most Psycho move ever would be to put them on the pool stage. Keeping my fingers crossed that’s how it works out. Shit, put Mayhem out there while we’re at it.
That’s all provided I’m not too out of my mind to leave the hotel room.
Here’s a poster and words in blue. See you there, sort of:
PSYCHO LAS VEGAS 2020 – COMPLETE LINEUP
DANZIG (Celebrating 30 years of “Lucifuge”) MERCYFUL FATE (2020 USA Exclusive) EMPEROR (2020 USA Exclusive) THE FLAMING LIPS BLUE OYSTER CULT DOWN (Celebrating 25 years of “Nola”) BLACK REBEL MOTORCYCLE CLUB TY SEGALL WARPAINT MAYHEM SATYRICON WATAIN BLONDE REDHEAD HEALTH OBITUARY ULVER (2020 USA Exclusive) KATATONIA AT THE GATES POISON THE WELL TSOL CROWBAR EXHORDER WOLVES IN THE THRONE ROOM THURSDAY PINBACK ZOLA JESUS DRAB MAJESTY BORIS KING DUDE PAUL CAUTHEN AMIGO THE DEVIL EYEHATEGOD PIG DESTROYER REPULSION IMMOLATION MIDNIGHT MGLA WINDHAND CURSIVE BRUTUS PROFANATICA LOWER DENS BLACK JOE LEWIS INTRONAUT BOYSETSFIRE DEATH BY STEREO CURL UP AND DIE ADAMANTIUM THIS WILL DESTROY YOU KHEMMIS MOTHERSHIP GUANTANAMO BAYWATCH DENGUE FEVER KAELAN MIKLA BLACKWATER HOLYLIGHT FATSO JETSON WINO (ACOUSTIC) CREEPING DEATH MEPHISTOFELES FRANKIE AND THE WITCH FINGERS TOKE FOIE GRAS FLAVOR CRYSTALS SILVERTOMB LORD BUFFALO WARISH ALMS BOMBERS GLACIAL TOMB RELAXER HIPPIE DEATH CULT VAELMYST MOTHER MERCURY DJ SCOTT SELTZER
Psycho Entertainment & MGM Entertainment present PSYCHO SWIM
Lineup: OLD MAN GLOOM ELDER THE SKULL DEATH VALLEY GIRLS BLACKWATER HOLYLIGHT HERE LIES MAN POLYRHYTHMICS DJ SCOTT SELTZER
Tickets for PSYCHO LAS VEGAS as well as the PSYCHO SWIM pre-party, which requires a separate ticket from the main festival pass, are on sale now!
Tickets for all PSYCHO LAS VEGAS events can be purchased at VivaPsycho.com or AXS.com.
Posted in Bootleg Theater on December 15th, 2017 by JJ Koczan
Katatonia, Last Fair Deal Gone Down (2001)
Primarily in my mind, 2001’s Last Fair Deal Gone Down is a winter album. Not at all Katatonia‘s first outing that one might think of as geared toward colder climes — their debut, after all, was 1993’s Dance of December Souls — but from the lachrymose unfolding of opener “Dispossession” and the weepy backing lines of e-bow guitar to Jonas Renkse‘s depressive vocal melodicism, the Stockholm group’s fifth long-player has always carried a chilly association. So of course it was released in May.
Issued via Peaceville Records, it’s not a record history looks back on with any particular favor, but it’s one I’d consider vastly underrated for the quality of its songs and atmosphere. More than a decade into their tenure around the core founding duo of Renkse and guitarist Anders Nyström at that point, Katatonia, like British cohorts Paradise Lost, Anathema and My Dying Bride — the so-called “Peaceville three,” of which one might think of Katatonia as the fourth but for the fact that they’re not from the UK — had cast off their earlier death/doom sound in favor of said focus on atmospheric approach. Last Fair Deal Gone Down, comprised of a CD-era swath of 11 songs spread over 50 minutes, marked the first time Nyström and Renkse joined forces with brothers Fredrik Norrman (guitar) and Mattias Norrman (bass), as well as drummer Daniel Liljekvist, and as a five-piece, they continued to flesh out the stylistic progression of 1999’s Tonight’s Decision, nestling into the unabashed emotionalism and hooks of songs like “We Must Bury You,” “Teargas,” “Tonight’s Music,” “The Future of Speech” and “Passing Bird” while referencing what was then modern alternative rock in a piece like “Sweet Nurse,” which carries echoes of Failure‘s “The Nurse Who Loved Me” from 1996’s Fantastic Planet and foreshadowing future delving into progressive doom on “I Transpire” and closer “Don’t Tell a Soul.” These pieces, as well as “Chrome” and the later “Clean Today,” arrive with a consistency of character thanks to a fluid and at times lush-sounding production, giving Last Fair Deal Gone Down a somewhat gentle touch despite being weighted in tone and at times strikingly aggressive, but it’s ultimately the songwriting that most stands the work out from Katatonia‘s vast discography and the output that their aforementioned peers were releasing at the turn of the century.
All formed roughly in the late ’80s and earliest ’90s, Katatonia, Paradise Lost, Anathema and My Dying Bride helped greatly to establish what would become death/doom, but none of them would stay put entirely within that sphere. Paradise Lost went gothic and by 2001 were on their way toward trying their hand at radio-friendliness (because in 2001 that was a thing), and Anathema were in full-on depressive mode with A Fine Day to Exit, brooding and sad but not at all metal. My Dying Bride, who put out The Dreadful Hours the same year, arguably stayed closest to what one might think of as their core sound, but Katatonia‘s progression was particularly striking because rather than present its changes in flashes, it all carried such a sense of presentation. To listen to Last Fair Deal Gone Down, they’re clearly trying new things and working out ideas as they’d never done before, and yet the footing beneath them is so sure that there’s never any doubt they’ll pull it off in the end. And of course they do. There’s nothing angular about it. Nothing pokes you in the eye and says, “Hey, this is us doing something we haven’t done,” but the tracks are undeniably coming from a place beyond Tonight’s Decisionor anything that preceded it. A strong focus on keyboard textures provide a hallmark of its era, but where others of their ilk clumsily made their way into the unknown, Katatonia on Last Fair Deal Gone Down move with a gracefulness that speaks not only to their maturity as artists, but to the idea of their having thoroughly worked on this material in fleshing it out to where they wanted it to be, refusing to make any album other than that which they wanted to make, and knowing how to realize their own vision in the actual recording process.
Katatonia have put out five-arguably-six records since Last Fair Deal Gone Down, and as it was their fifth album, it’s fair to think of it at this point as being part of a middle-period for the band. Emotional dramas — sometimes, admittedly, melodramas — would continue to persist in their sound from 2003’s Viva Emptiness across 2006’s triumphant The Great Cold Distance, 2009’s Night is the New Day (discussed here), 2012’s Dead End Kings and last year’s The Fall of Hearts (review here), and there are trace elements across all their offerings that one can follow all the way back to 1993 if one is willing to embark on such a winding path, but most importantly, they’ve never failed to on some level push themselves forward from album to album, whether it’s a matter of tightening songwriting around a new lineup or finding new modes of expression for the melancholy that seems to have taken up permanent residence in their souls. Not to wish anyone ill, but long may it reign.
As we move toward the darkest days of the year, this one seemed all the more fitting. I hope you agree, and as always, I hope you enjoy. Thanks for reading and listening.
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Rougher start to the week than finish, and little question I have The Patient Mrs. to thank for that. I was kind of a wreck on Monday and Tuesday and a redirect Tuesday night involving more cloud bread and leftover pesto helped situate me for the last couple days. I’ve been in therapy for two weeks now, going Monday mornings, and this week was hard. My therapist wants me to see my primary care doctor to get an electrolyte panel and and EKG done because I have an eating disorder and I guess the concern is I could be doing damage to my heart. Fair enough. That appointment is next Thursday. I don’t anticipate there being any problems, but one never knows. Sometimes life is interesting.
In the meantime, I didn’t stay there long, and that was on purpose, but in my daily weigh-ins, I hit 150 pounds for the first time this week. When I started this whole low-carb thing about two years ago right around this time, I was 330 pounds, which means I’ve lost upwards of 180. It is utter fucking madness to see those numbers typed out.
Oh, I’m also five years sober as of last week. I didn’t even remember the date had passed. I think it was the ninth? Might’ve been the fifth. I don’t know. Either way though, that was Dec. 2012 that I “took a weekend off” drinking.
The Pecan continues his now-seven-week-long process of becoming a human being. Lots of poop, lots of puke, lots of laundry to be done. Blah blah blah, knee deep in baby stuff. He’s cute. The Patient Mrs. likes him. I like him. The Little Dog Dio isn’t so sure, but she’ll get on board eventually.
This is usually the part where I’d post my notes for next week. Well, at some point I’m going to review the next part of The Second Coming of Heavy and at some point I’m going to put up my top albums of the year, but I’m not sure when all that’s going to happen yet, so I’m keeping it vague for the moment. I’ve got a premiere slated for Bible Black Tyrant next Thursday, new videos for King Witch and Black Space Riders early in the week, and if I can I’d like to review the new C.O.C. too, but that might be the week after. Up in the air.
So there you have it. Ups and downs. Music. Life.
From my daze and days of semi-conscious infant fatigue, I wish you all the best as ever. The Patient Mrs. mom is coming north this weekend to watch The Pecan for a couple hours so we can go see the new Star Wars and I’m looking forward to that, and I’m doing a radio interview on Sunday, but other than that, some reading and work on year-end list stuff shall persist. You’ll probably see it coming, but it’ll be January before I know it.
Have a great and safe weekend, and once again, thanks for reading. Please don’t forget to check out the forum and radio stream.
