New editions on both CD/DVD & LP of Dead End Kings to celebrate 10 years since the release of the critically acclaimed 2012 classic from the Swedish masters of dark & progressive rock / metal.

Katatonia formed in Sweden in 1991 by Anders Nyström and Jonas Renkse. Their debut album, ‘Dance of December Souls’, was released in 1993, gaining the band recognition for their eclectic brand of gothic doom/death metal, joining acts such as Paradise Lost and My Dying Bride as one of the genre’s defining bands. On future albums, a newer, sleeker Katatonia sound came to the fore, starting with a streamlined and structured collection of melodic dark rock songs that became third album ‘Discouraged Ones’. This was to be the main evolution point for modern day Katatonia, where the band stand at the pinnacle of the dark and progressive rock genre. A continuation of 2009’s inspired and acclaimed ‘Night is the New Day’, as well as a leap forward into the unknown, ‘Dead End Kings’ saw the quintet conjure yet another milestone in audial melancholy and angst.

“Looking back on ‘Dead End Kings’ 10 years after its release brings memories of busy and good times. We were eager to keep the momentum that we had built around ‘Night Is The New Day’ and I remember we finished off the mastering just in time (I think it was actually the same day!) for the press listening session we had in London.  Some songs on the album turned out to be Katatonia evergreens that we keep in our live setlists to this day. I also must mention the cover art (and interior as well) that is probably our most ambitious. Took a long time to finish but the result is a classic.

Happy 10 years to DEK!”

Jonas Renkse

Dead End Kings’ was recorded at Ghost Ward Studios and The City Of Glass. Anders Nyström and Jonas Renkse took care of the album production themselves, while David Castillo, well known for his previous alliances with Katatonia, as well as Opeth and Bloodbath, was the man behind the album mix.

The album saw the recording debut of guitarist Per Eriksson for the band, together with the new bassist Niklas Sandin. Additionally, Frank Default joined once more on sampling and atmospherics duties, while there is a very special guest appearance by Norwegian vocalist Silje Wergeland of Dutch legends The Gathering/ex-Octavia Sperati. The stunning artwork was supplied, once again, by long-time visual collaborator Travis Smith.

“This 9th album of ours also spawned its sister album ’Dethroned & Uncrowned’ and together they showed the entire palette of musical contradictions, successfully achieved from one and the same album. I believe we’ve visited every song on this album at different live appearances through the years, but we’re yet to play it front to back while celebrating it in its entirety. Hopefully, we’ll be able to continue that tradition down the road of this 10th anniversary of DEK, our modern classic.”

Anders Nyström

This special tenth anniversary edition of Dead End Kings will be released as a double disc, with the first disc featuring the album plus all of its associated bonus material, and the second a DVD containing the 5.1 audio mix of the album. The package also includes new artwork from artist Travis Smith, with a continuation of the concept from his original work on the album. The LP will be release as a special half speed master for a superior, sharper, more direct and engaging sound.

Peaceville are continuing with the Katatonia celebrations with the release of a new edition of Brave Murder Day.

The new 2CD and crystal clear vinyl LP release on 10 December marks 25 years since the release in 1996 of the band’s second album, Brave Murder Day is a true genre classic, a masterpiece. The primitive structures and melodies give this album an unparalleled trance-like quality, by taking an early Paradise Lost influence (mixed with others such as Kent and Slowdive) and forming a completely unique sound and atmosphere.

The majority of the vocal duties were carried out in his former signature death-growl style by Mikael Åkerfeldt of Opeth, while Jonas Renkse delivered the clean vocal passages that he is known for today, on the ethereal track, “Day”. Jonas also played drums on the album.

 
This 2021 edition of Brave Murder Day is presented on double CD which features the Sounds of Decay EP plus extra track, plus on limited crystal clear vinyl both formats include an additional booklet with reflections on the album from Anders Nyström, with contributions from Jonas Renkse. 

Brave Murder Day will be released on 10 December and is available to pre-order HERE

In addition to Brave Murder Day, Peaceville will be releasing for the first time, Dethroned And Uncrowned, the stellar experimental reinterpretation of the classic album Dead End Kings, on 19 November 2021.

Dead End Kings, released on Peaceville in 2016, was the band’s most successful album to date and cemented Katatonia’s position as masters of a unique kind of hard-edged atmospheric Rock. In September of 2013, sister label Kscope released Dethroned & Uncrowned, a radical reinterpretation of Dead End Kings.

“The synopsis is simple and album title won’t lie; the drums will be dethroned and the distorted rhythm guitars will be uncrowned! We’ll place the emphasis on the many layers of ambience, with the melodies staying central and the vocal harmonies representing the heart of the album” Anders Nyström

Dethroned And Uncrowned will be released on CD and double gatefold LP on 19 November and is available to pre-order HERE

This new release marks 30 years since the formation of one of the most enigmatic & aurally captivating bands to grace the dark rock/prog genre, Mnemosynean contains an extensive collection of all of Katatonia’s rarities and B-sides, including tracks from the band’s numerous EPs,  limited special edition bonuses, cover songs, as well as a series of collaborative remixes.

The journey of Mnemosynean spans the gothic-soaked experimental epic ‘Scarlet Heavens’ recorded all the way back in 1994, through to tracks recorded during the sessions for the stellar 2016 opus, The Fall of Hearts.

The intriguing title of ‘Mnemosynean’ itself represents memories & was selected because tomb inscriptions dating back to 400 BCE say that the dead could keep their memories by avoiding drinking from the Lethe, and drink instead from the stream flowing from the lake of Mnemosyne (the goddess of memory).

The Mnemosynean packaging includes a new band biography courtesy of music journalist Eleanor Goodman, as well as full lyrics plus backgrounds to the track origins described by founding members Anders Nyström and Jonas Renkse, along with other close Katatonia collaborators. The artwork for this release has been created by long-running Katatonia visual artist Travis Smith.

MNEMOSYNEAN is released on 2 CD, deluxe gatefold  triple LP on black vinyl , deluxe gatefold  triple LP on white coloured vinyl (available only through the Peaceville label stores and Katatonia band store)and digitally.

Katatonia & Solstafir will head out in January and February 2023 on a 31-date co-headline tour of the UK and Europe.

Tickets on sale now

Formed in 1991 by Jonas Renkse & Anders Nyström, and transitioning from early pioneers of the rising black/death/doom movement, to powerhouses of the progressive metallic rock genre, 2020 saw Katatonia present their eleventh studio opus, the poignant City Burials, to unanimous acclaim. And so now, following closely in its footsteps, the Swedish dark rock masters present Dead Air to further immortalise the strangest of times.

With a somewhat unforeseen global event transpiring this year which resulted in touring being made all but impossible for artists internationally, Katatonia conducted a more intimate “lockdown” show which was streamed live from Studio Grondahl, Stockholm on May 9th. Dead Air offers fans a full 88-minute set containing 20 tracks from the band’s extensive and illustrious repertoire to date, with inclusions spanning two decades of dark progressive greatness, and essentially also debuting three of the City Burials album tracks in a live setting.

“Due to an overwhelming demand, we are proud to confirm that our lockdown livestream from Gröndahl earlier this year will now see a physical release where you can re-experience the #20 most wanted songs exclusively voted by our fans from all around the world. This very special evening of May 9th will forever serve us as a memory of something equally weird as fantastic, so it feels essential to make it available as something you can touch and own forever” Anders Nyström

The tracklisting itself contains a very literal selection of fan favourites overall, having being voted for exclusively by the band’s worldwide fanbase, flawlessly flirting between earlier singles such as metallic anthems ‘My Twin’ & ‘July’, to the stirring emotional grandeur of new song, ‘Lacquer’.

The recording, mixing & engineering work was orchestrated by David Castillo, notable for his extensive body of work with Katatonia to date, and the performance itself was professionally filmed by Blackbox Video.

The Dead Air artwork has been created by long-running collaborator, Travis Smith.

Dead Air is out now as a gatefold double LP; a limited edition 3-disc set featuring 2 audio discs and DVD format and digitally.

THE NEW STUDIO ALBUM, AN OPUS OF ABSORBING, SOARING PROGRESSIVE ROCK & METICULOUSLY CRAFTED DOSES OF MELANCHOLY – OUT NOW

“In days and nights of black and silver, the dead end king will come. From pieces of broken mirrors there will be a crown bestowed upon his head. In reflections of shattered glass not only the seasons will turn, but also the change disguised by the lapse of time. His mind will have to come to bear the weight of everything that was left behind and forgotten. Archiving the inaccessible. Celebrating the abandoned and mourning the destroyed. The city burials.” Anders Nyström

Surprising their legions of admirers by taking an unexpected break, following the conclusion of their 2016 haunting The Fall Of Hearts album tour cycle. Joyously, 2020 brings the news that they are not only back, but newly armed with arguably their finest album to date, the enormously vivid and powerful City Burials.

With the winds of a new direction steering the band on their latest journey, City Burials stands as Katatonia’s new triumph of deep & enigmatic progressive rock – the fruits of a rejuvenating and profound chapter in the band’s legacy; a catalyst for its creators, with a collection of moments constructed out of the fragments of an ever-evolving life. Compiled into one of their most important modern works and statements to date, the finely-honed instrumentation provides a multi-textured backdrop with the voice of Jonas Renkse guiding us through these latest trials of loss and ruin.

The proof of Jonas and Anders’ enduring artistic bond is displayed throughout City Burials’ absorbing 58 minutes of meticulously crafted melodies and inspired, idiosyncratic arrangements.  From the spine-tingling dynamics of opener “Heart Set To Divide” through and the simmering menace of “Lacquer” to the wildly evocative sorrow-scapes of “City Glaciers” and the exquisitely delicate “Vanishers” (featuring a guest vocal from Anni Bernhard, of Stockholm art rockers Full Of Keys) Katatonia’s eleventh studio album is a showcase for a partnership that was magical from the very start.

Inspired by an injection of fresh blood into Katatonia’s creative brew, with their most recent recruit, guitarist Roger Öjersson, whose contributions have been extremely significant, City Burials is an album that sees the band reclaim part of their heavy metal roots, via several moments of exuberant, old school classicism, deftly woven into these new songs’ kaleidoscopic fabric. Although songs like “Behind The Blood” and “Rein” are as heart-rending and immersive as any in Katatonia’s illustrious catalogue.

The result is an album that looks certain to push the band ever further into the spotlight. With grand plans for extensive touring around the world in support of their latest and perhaps greatest album, Katatonia are wringing fresh hope from life’s gloom-sodden tapestry.

City Burials was produced by Nyström/Renkse and recorded at Soundtrade Studios, Tri-Lamb Studios & The City Of Glass, throughout October & November 2019, with engineering work handled by Karl Daniel Lidén. Artwork appears courtesy of Lasse Hoile, the image itself representing the ongoing era of the Dead End King.

City Burials is available on CD, deluxe mediabook CD with bonus tracks, black and coloured vinyl LPs with bonus track and digitally.