Katatonia Discusses Rise to Musical Success & Life on the Road!

Swedish Heavy Metal band Katatonia is celebrating their 20th anniversary of musical existence this year. Katatonia was born in Stockholm, Sweden in 1991 when Jonas Renkse (formerly aka Lord Seth) and Anders Nyström (formerly aka Blakkheim) joined musical forces. The bands anniversary celebration is currently taking place in North America in an extensive tour with fellow countrymen Opeth.

Sonically speaking, after carefully analyzing the rise of the Swedish Death Metal scene in the early 90s, Katatonia made the conscious decision of adding melodic elements to the Skandinavian signature sound in order to create something fresh and unique. Ever since their inception the band has been hard at work perfecting their musical craft both on and off stage. In order to keep their creative flow going strong, once they get back home from their current trek across North America, their plan is get busy with the production of their eighth studio album.

Recently, Katatonia and Opeth performed two sold out shows at the Webster Hall in New York City and before Katatonia took center stage we had the chance to sit down to chat with guitarist/co-founder Anders "Blakkheim" Nyström, who was joined by his co-guitarist Per "Sodomizer" Eriksson. During the conversation, we chatted about the bands rise to musical success, about life on the road, and much more. So sit back, relax and enjoy!



Remaining North American tour-dates:

- 10/8/2011: Burton Cummings Theatre (Winnipeg, MAN)
- 10/10/2011: Edmonton Events Centre (Edmonton, ALB)
- 10/11/2011: MacEwan Hall (Calgary, ALB)
- 10/13/2011: Commodore Ballroom (Vancouver, BC)
- 10/14/2011: Knitting Factory (Spokane, WA)
- 10/15/2011: Showbox SoDo (Seattle, WA)
- 10/16/2011: Roseland Theater (Portland, OR)
- 10/18/2011: The Warfield (San Francisco, CA)
- 10/18/2011: The Mayan Theatre (Los Angeles, CA)
- 10/20/2011: House Of Blues (San Diego, CA)
- 10/21/2011: The Fox Theater (Pomona, CA)
- 10/22/2011: Marquee Theatre (Tempe, AZ)
- 10/24/2011: The Complex (Salt Lake City, UT)
- 10/25/2011: Ogden Theatre (Denver, CO)
- 10/27/2011: The Rave (Milwaukee, WI)
- 10/28/2011: Vic Theatre (Chicago, IL)
- 10/29/2011: St. Andrew's Hall (Detroit, MI)
- 10/31/2011: Mr. Smalls (Millvale, PA)
- 11/1/2011: Rams Head Live (Baltimore, MD)

Discography:

\m/ 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)

\m/ Live albums

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

\m/ 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)[8]

\m/ Demos

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

\m/ Singles

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

\m/ 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)

Current Katatonia lineup:

- Jonas Renkse: Lead Vocals (since 1991), Drums, Percussion (1991–1999)
- Anders "Blakkheim" Nyström: Lead & Rhythm Guitars, live backing Vocals (since 1991)
- Daniel Liljekvist: Drums, Percussion (since 1999)
- Per "Sodomizer" Eriksson: Live lead & Rhythm guitars (since 2009)
- Niklas "Nille" Sandin: Live Bass (since 2009)

Related links:
Katatonia's Official Site
Katatonia on Facebook
Katatonia on Twitter