Katatonia video interview

Diskant has posted an extensive video interview with two of the guys from Swedish melodic doom-metal heavyweights Katatonia: http://www.diskant.dk/artikler/interviews/katatonia-video-interview.htm

Sirius playlist week #39

Here's the playlist for this week's radio show Sirius XMU:

01. Joensuu 1685 - I'm on fire
02. TALK 1
03. Boy Omega - Dinosaur drugs
04. Katatonia - Forsaker
05. Moloken - Die fear will
06. TALK 2
07. Rising - Dead kings
08. The Cardigans - Erase/rewind
09. The Amazing - Dragon
10. TALK 3
11. The First Miles - Black heart
12. [ingenting] - Medan vi sov
13. Skriet - Kärlekens land
14. TALK 4
15. Abandon - It's all gone

Reminder: my show airs every week on Sundays and Mondays at 11pm ET on Sirius XMU. That's channel 26 on Sirius, 43 on XM and 831 for DirecTV subscribers.

Night is the new day

The microsite for Katatonia's new album "Night is the new day" is now open: http://nightisthenewday.com/

New Katatonia track available

Peaceville is giving away a new Katatonia track in exchange for your email address: http://www.burningshed.com/store/peaceville/freedownload/20/

New Katatonia has title, release date

The new Katatonia album will be called "Night is the new day" and will be released in Europe on October 19 via Peacevill Records. The North American release date will be October 27.

Sirius playlist week #25

Here's the playlist for this week's radio show Sirius XMU:

01. Samuraj Cities - 2 close 2 yr hrt
02. TALK 1
03. Pirate Love - Laughing gas
04. Fare You Well - Overload
05. Kap Kap - Steel wheels
06. TALK 2
07. Elmo - Two becomes one
08. Johndoe - Hardt som faen
09. The Black - On the descent to hell
10. The Amazing - Dragon
11. TALK 3
12. The Bear Quartet - I was a weapon
13. Aerial - All refrain
14. Mögel - Håll mig hårt
15. TALK 4
16. Je Suis Animal - Painted in my face
17. Katatonia - Deadhouse
18. Pixie Carnation - Little sister
19. Björn Kleinhenz - Show me love
20. TALK 5
21. New Decade - I guess you ran from something

Reminder: my show airs every week on Sundays and Mondays at 11pm ET on Sirius XMU. That's channel 26 on Sirius, 43 on XM and 831 for DirecTV subscribers.

Bloodbath - Hades rising (video)

Swedish all-star old-school death metal act Bloodbath (feat. members from Katatonia, Opeth and Nocturnal Rites) now has a video for the song "Hades rising": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4OfUVmfNk4E&fmt=18

Katatonia working on new album

Katatonia will be going into the studio later this month to work on their 8th album. Expect an October release via Peaceville.

Antenna talks to Anders Nyström of Katatonia: http://www.antenna.nu/?p=159

Celebrate the 21st anniversary of Mellotronen with the Melloboat Baltic cruise festival March 8-9. Acts confirmed include Anekdoten, Opeth, Mats & Morgan All Star Team ft. Fredrik Thordendal (Meshuggah), Ia Eklund (Freak Kitchen) and Lasse Hollmer (Samla Mammas Manna), Bo Hansson, Promise and the Monster, Comus, Katatonia and more. Go here for more details: http://www.myspace.com/melloboat

Katatonia will be going back into the studio this spring to record a new album. Expect a fall 2008 release.

Katatonia's moden classics "Tonight's decision" (my personal fave) and "Last fair deal gone down" have both been reissued in limited 2xLP 180gm vinyl special editions, complete with b-side bonus tracks culled from various singles. Details here: http://katatonia.com/knews/?p=126

MP3: Bay Laurel - Outside these walls

I spent quite a bit of time combing through my music archives looking for dark and scary music to use in my various Halloween playlists, naturally digging up quite a bit of my old goth and doomrock in the process. One of the bands that jumped out was Bay Laurel, a Swedish act that I probably first became aware of through Katatonia, back when I used to regularly check the current playlist section of their website to see what they were listening to. I discovered quite a few great acts that way- it led me to revisit Kent and Bonnie 'Prince' Billy and got me into other stuff like Ben Christophers, Novembre and Madrugada. Bay Laurel actually reminds me a bit of Madrugada, come to think of it, at least their older material circa "Industrial silence". It strikes a similar mood the guitarists do a decent job of approximating Robert Burås' superb use of space. It also helps that Bay Laurel frontman Rikard Löfgren has a deep voice reminiscent of Sivert Høyem, though his lyrical aspirations don't quite match up. Still, I appreciate Rikard's incredibly earnest delivery even if he sometimes over-indulges in cliché. And the music is great; dark and heavy without crossing the line into metal. Too bad there aren't more bands like this around nowadays or, if there are, I'm certainly not hearing about 'em.

Bay Laurel - Outside these walls

DJ Martian has the heads-up on a new progrock cruiseboat festival called Melloboat 2008 - 21st Anniversary Schizoid Boat: http://djmartian.blogspot.com/2007_10_01_archive.html#499307491658828382
It leaves Stockholm on March 8 and will feature artists such as Opeth, Katatonia, Mats & Morgan All Star Team, Anekdoten, Bo Hansson feat. Eric Malmberg and Niklas Korssell, Promise and the Monster, Emma Nordenstam, Martin Axenrot and more as well as a record convention and cult films.

MP3: Ghost Brigade - Horns

I was a little late to the game with Ghost Brigade's original 4-track demo, but once I finally got into it, I was stoked. Naturally, anticipation was high for the debut full-length "Guided by fire" which came out last month and I eagerly snatched up a copy as soon as I could. On the downside, and I'm not sure this is just familiarity speaking, the re-recorded demo tracks are definitely the early standouts. That's no terrible crime, but I was really hoping for something a bit more surprising. On the other hand, the rest of the record is plenty satisfying. The general formula remains the same: heavy, melancholic doom rock made more powerful by a killer lock-step rhythm section. Comparisons to Katatonia are inevitable, but I find that Ghost Brigade has a far rougher edge due to the use of gruff vocals and more mosh-heavy riffs. Ghost Brigade is also way more rawk. Unfortunately, that also means I can hear a stronger grunge influence lurking beneath the surface. Many of the clean vocals come awfully close to the yeee-ah croon of Eddie Vedder. It doesn't ruin the record, but it does make me cringe sometimes. When said clean vocals work though, they work quite well such as on the track I've posted today. The way the harmonies on the chorus trail off into dissonance is awesome. It's a great counterpoint to the thrashy verse riff and creates a welcome dynamic shift. The sung vocals at the end are nice as well - there's still a slight Alice in Chains/Stone Temple Pilots vibe in his timbre, but it's offset by the evil lyrics ("This time your god won't help you!"). I definitely prefer the darker, heavier stuff overall, but I respect that they're trying to develop a more original sound, a niche I think fans of both older (pre-clean vox) and newer (post-clean) Katatonia can appreciate.

Ghost Brigade - Horns