KATATONIA
Discouraged ones

Reissue in Slipcase edition including 2 Bonus Tracks

Katatonia - captured during the band's 2020 lockdown session - perform an extensive 88-minute set of fan favourites spanning two decades of material. 

Limited 2CD/DVD set.

2020 saw Katatonia present its eleventh studio opus - the poignant City Burials - to unanimous acclaim. Following closely in its footsteps, the Swedish dark rock masters present Dead Air to further immortalise these 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 with inclusions spanning two decades of material, and debut performances of three City Burials’ album tracks. 

The tracklisting 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 and July, to the stirring emotional grandeur of new song, Lacquer. The recording, mixing and 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. 

Marking 25 years since its original release, Katatonia's Discouraged Ones is presented on limited edition orange marble vinyl, with the album's original cover artwork.

An album of sublime and haunting Rock/Metal melancholy.

Katatonia was formed in Stockholm, Sweden in 1991 by Jonas Renkse and Anders Nyström & have risen from their early beginnings in dark death/gothic doom metal, to become one of the leading acts of the metallic rock/prog scene, in an illustrious career spanning over three decades and twelve full-length studio albums.

’Discouraged Ones’ was recorded in 1997 at the infamous Sunlight Studios by Fred Estby and Tomas Skogsberg (Entombed, Dismember), and released the following year. 'Discouraged Ones' saw a new direction change with the epic compositions of old replaced with stripped down, compact structures to make room for new vocal harmonies courtesy of Jonas Renkse (who also played drums on the album), putting an end to the growling vocal style from prior releases and giving the band a broader appeal which only helped their trajectory towards being established on the global stage.

Upon release, 'Discouraged Ones' was seen as somewhat of a breakthrough opus for Katatonia which undoubtedly planted the seeds, stylistically, of what the band evolved into & represent to this day, even though more progressive elements were integrated over time. Overall, ’Discouraged Ones’ is a pinnacle of dark, gothic rock/metal excellence combined with ethereal, trance-like intensity.

A limited 30th anniversary pink marble-effect vinyl edition of Katatonia’s debut album, Dance Of December Souls.

The seminal album by a soon to be legendary band exudes an atmosphere of melancholy, accentuated by the growled, despairing vocals of Jonas Renske.

Katatonia was formed in Stockholm Sweden, in 1991 by Anders Nystrom 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 and 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 which became third album 'Discouraged Ones' which is widely regarded as the main evolution point for modern day Katatonia, where a much more progressive style of metallic rock was successfully embraced.

'Dance of December Souls' was recorded at Unisound Studios, April 1993 and released later that same year. Engineering and mixing was handled by Dan Swanö (Opeth, Marduk, Dissection). This early incarnation of Katatonia contained a more doom/black metal approach, whilst always keeping the trademark sorrowful & hypnotic guitar melodies which are still evident today. Katatonia quickly became part of the leaders of the gothic doom movement alongside top UK acts Paradise Lost, My Dying Bride and Anathema.