Katatonia

[?]

The orchestra is a little overbearing on Leaders, but JTP sounds amazing, especially with the solo at the end.

Niklas responded to a comment on his FB page and said we should expect some kind of audio release.

[abydos]

Yeah it was a little too loud and you couldn't hear the band but that might have been a sound issue because I never really noticed it again on any other song. But it still sounded cool, so I didn't mind. There seem to be few replies that are deleted from FB so maybe that was him saying that? I hope they do release it, but neither the band nor anywhere else did anyone say anything about recording prior or during the show.

My Twin - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gPY9oVPFZbs
The Itch - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4YECjH3-hgo from 1:05 onward... so good.
Soil's Song - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eQWUQj3AwUI

edit: Someone updloaded the full version of Leaders - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Asg2-2_yhA4

[goo-goo]

The orchestra is a little overbearing on Leaders, but JTP sounds amazing, especially with the solo at the end.

Niklas responded to a comment on his FB page and said we should expect some kind of audio release.

Awesome! Will definitely buy this.

[?]

Yeah it was a little too loud and you couldn't hear the band but that might have been a sound issue because I never really noticed it again on any other song. But it still sounded cool, so I didn't mind. There seem to be few replies that are deleted from FB so maybe that was him saying that? I hope they do release it, but neither the band nor anywhere else did anyone say anything about recording prior or during the show.

My Twin - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gPY9oVPFZbs
The Itch - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4YECjH3-hgo from 1:05 onward... so good.
Soil's Song - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eQWUQj3AwUI

Katatonia Followers posted a screenshot of the response:

The Itch is my least favorite on TGCD, but it sounds badass with the orchestra!

[abydos]

The Great Cold Distance (10th Anniversary Edition) (quadruple disc box set preorder)
https://www.burningshed.com/store/peaceville/product/241/8087/

This deluxe edition will include 3 bonus discs featuring b-sides and bonus songs, a new 5.1 remix of the album by Bruce Soord and a live album of Katatonia playing The Great Cold Distance in its entirety with the renowned Plovdiv Philharmonic Orchestra in Bulgaria (from September 2016).

[gazinwales]

I already pre ordered the box and red vinyl

[?]

The Great Cold Distance (10th Anniversary Edition) (quadruple disc box set preorder)
https://www.burningshed.com/store/peaceville/product/241/8087/

This deluxe edition will include 3 bonus discs featuring b-sides and bonus songs, a new 5.1 remix of the album by Bruce Soord and a live album of Katatonia playing The Great Cold Distance in its entirety with the renowned Plovdiv Philharmonic Orchestra in Bulgaria (from September 2016).

Nice! I already own the original special edition that includes Displaced, Dissolving Bonds and the 5.1 mix, as well as the single B-sides, so I won't be getting this one. I'm excited to hear the Plovdiv live tracks on Spotify, though.

In other news, last night in London Katatonia played an anniversary set with songs from every album, including the first performance of Gateways of Bereavement in 20 years!

[gazinwales]

Really good set list IMO.
Yes I also have the special editions, the box with the postcards and poster, 5.1 with 2 bonus tracks, but I couldn't resist, specially the red vinyl.

Seeing them headlining for the first time in December, last time they came to Sydney, played a 40 min set totally blowing away Opeth.

[seasonsinthesky]

Gonna hop on TGCD black vinyl. It's about time.

The anniversary setlist really isn't very good. They just play the usuals plus a couple of songs that used to be the usuals on a few past tours. Don't get me wrong, I'd love to see "For My Demons" etc., I just mean the only special thing they did whatsoever is "Gateways" (which is amazing! What a song!). It really isn't much of an anniversary setlist whatsoever.

[?]

Well, there's Day, which they haven't done besides the acoustic tour 2 years ago, and all the albums are represented, unlike on Opeth's "anniversary" tour last year.

Seriously though, I wish they were playing deeper cuts on this Euro tour, but I've only seen them once before and they played 14 songs back then, so I haven't heard the likes of Evidence, Leaders, For My Demons etc. I'm glad they're not playing a huge chunk of the new one, because I still haven't really warmed up to it.

[Zantera]

Is this setlist representative for the whole tour or just a few gigs? Their new album is their best as far as I'm concerned so it really sucks if they're not touching it that much.

[?]

They've been swapping songs in and out a little bit, but those are the only four new ones they've played so far. In fact, Serac (along with Ghost of the Sun) was dropped recently, so the latest set seems to be 18 songs with 3 from TFOH. Maybe they're gonna play more next year - I bet Shifts will get its live premiere sooner or later, since it's the latest video.

[gazinwales]

Mate if they played that setlist in Sydney in December I guarantee that the audience will go bloody insane.

[Zantera]

Seeing them tonight

[?]

Enjoy! I'm seeing them next Tuesday. Apparently they've incorporated one more new song into the setlist - not gonna spoil which one!

[Zantera]

Re-listening some of their albums. I'm really only 100% into Viva Emptiness and forward, I have listened to some of the earlier albums but not enough to form a strong opinion. I feel like the melodies in their music have gotten stronger and memorable, but perhaps those older albums are more emotional in a sense, so I can see why some hardcore fans might like them more.

Night is the New Day feels like an underrated album. Was the first album I bought with them and I really love most of it. Onward Into Battle is one of my personal favorites among their songs, the chorus is just so darn catchy.

[seasonsinthesky]

Re-listening some of their albums. I'm really only 100% into Viva Emptiness and forward, I have listened to some of the earlier albums but not enough to form a strong opinion. I feel like the melodies in their music have gotten stronger and memorable, but perhaps those older albums are more emotional in a sense, so I can see why some hardcore fans might like them more.

They certainly got better with melody over time, but the 'middling' hard rock albums are infectious as hell. "Dispossession," "Chrome," "We Must Bury You," "The Future of Speech," "Fracture," "Black Session," "Teargas," "Tonight's Music" – all incredible songs with melodies that grab and hold you. The production, of course, is very different, so I understand some initial barriers; Jonas Renske in particular has come a long way. Still, once this material is unlocked for you, it stands up.

What I will say about those first few records when the band transitioned into clean singing "sad rock" is that they are overburdened. Each of them has a solid half and a weak half.

[Zantera]

I was thinking about going through the earlier albums chronologically. The little I have heard, like Brave Murder Day was really cool, but I'm intrigued to get into the really deep cuts like Dance of December Souls or the first few clean singing albums after Mikael Ĺkerfeldt left the picture.

[?]

Re-listening some of their albums. I'm really only 100% into Viva Emptiness and forward, I have listened to some of the earlier albums but not enough to form a strong opinion. I feel like the melodies in their music have gotten stronger and memorable, but perhaps those older albums are more emotional in a sense, so I can see why some hardcore fans might like them more.

They certainly got better with melody over time, but the 'middling' hard rock albums are infectious as hell. "Dispossession," "Chrome," "We Must Bury You," "The Future of Speech," "Fracture," "Black Session," "Teargas," "Tonight's Music" – all incredible songs with melodies that grab and hold you. The production, of course, is very different, so I understand some initial barriers; Jonas Renske in particular has come a long way. Still, once this material is unlocked for you, it stands up.

Yeah, LFDGD is such a great album melodically speaking. If it weren't for We Must Bury You and Passing Bird, it might be in my top 3.

I love the raw emotion of Discouraged Ones, though the album is repetitive as hell. I Break, Deadhouse, Cold Ways and Saw You Drown (to name a few) are fantastic songs. Even the deeper cuts like Last Resort and Distrust are really good, and Relention is the only filler track. Meanwhile, Tonight's Decision feels like an awkward transitional album between DO and LFDGD, and the production is pretty crappy.

[?]

I'm seeing them next Tuesday.

And so I did.

[Casino-95]

I just bought the 10th Anniversary edition of "Viva Empitiness," mainly for the added vocals for "Inside the City of Glass" and "Wait Outside," which I've always loved but refused to buy a used copy of the greatest hits for.

I still love the messy sounding guitars of the original "Viva Emptiness," but the new one is a great alternative.  It's clearer and has some new keyboard parts as well.

I can see myself alternating between the two versions and being happy with either one.

[Tomislav95]

Semi-related: Jonas singing at Serbian wedding (I swear this is legit )
I want to know a story behind this, too bad uploader didn't provide any information.

[?]

Has anybody else noticed that a live version of Last Song Before the Fade from Plovdiv has been released as a single on Spotify? Maybe they'll put out a tour edition of The Fall of Hearts (or something like that) that includes the non-TGCD part of the show.

[goo-goo]

Has anybody else noticed that a live version of Last Song Before the Fade from Plovdiv has been released as a single on Spotify? Maybe they'll put out a tour edition of The Fall of Hearts (or something like that) that includes the non-TGCD part of the show.

It was announced a week or two ago 

https://www.burningshed.com/store/peaceville/product/241/8442/

[gazinwales]

Finally got the 4CD set of TGCD from burning shed today.
Very nice package, haven't had a chance to play anything yet.

[Kotowboy]

It's funny that Catatonia is the name of a 90's Welsh Indie pop Band.

[?]

Has anybody else noticed that a live version of Last Song Before the Fade from Plovdiv has been released as a single on Spotify? Maybe they'll put out a tour edition of The Fall of Hearts (or something like that) that includes the non-TGCD part of the show.

It was announced a week or two ago 

https://www.burningshed.com/store/peaceville/product/241/8442/

Ah, I missed that.

[abydos]

Have you guys listened to the live show with the orchestra yet? Wondering how it is.

[ProfessorPeart]

This week just keeps getting worse. I really hope I am overreacting, but this doesn't sound great. So glad I saw them this year. I can't bear to lose another one of my favorite bands.

_______

KATATONIA Announce Short-Term Hiatus - "We Need To Take Some Time Out To Re-Evaluate What The Future Holds For The Band"

Following our re-scheduled dates for the Baltics and Russia in Feb/March, due to recent issues and injury, it will mark the end of the touring cycle for ”The Fall of Hearts” and after much deliberation we have decided that we will put Katatonia on a short-term hiatus.

We need to take some time out to re-evaluate what the future holds for the band. Unfortunately this will affect the live dates in Norway, Germany, Spain and Poland, and we are deeply sorry for any inconvenience caused.

[goo-goo]

Read that in the morning and I'm worried a bit. Not sure what issues is the band talking about. I did now about the medical issue that one of the band members went through.

[Lethean]

I have had a general sick to my stomach feeling since I saw this this morning.   I really hope it really is only a short hiatus and they deal with whatever they need to deal with and come back strong. It certainly doesn't sound encouraging though.

[?]

I thought it'd been a little quiet lately, so I'm not totally shocked. I hope they'll find the motivation to continue, though... Maybe a change in musical direction would make things fresh, but then again the decision may not have anything to do with the music.

[Lethean]

I don't think it's about the music at all. They seem so pleased with The Fall of Hearts, and rightfully so.  If I had to guess, I would say it's either dealing with industry bs, one of the newer members wants to leave, making them frustrated because they've had a lot of lineup changes already, or it's Anders. I really hope it's not the last one, but I know he almost called it quits in the past and read an interview that's not too old where he seemed tired of the road.  As far as I'm concerned, as long as he and Jonas are a team, I don't really care who else is in the band. (Though I do think their newest members are the best they've had in their respective positions).  Of course it could be something else entirely - those are just what I think is most likely but of course I don't know what might be going on internally.

[?]

They seem to be happy with TFOH, but at least on last year's European tour they focused more on TGCD in their sets, though that may have been a matter of trying to get the new stuff to work in soundchecks first. But yeah, I could see touring fatigue being a factor - I just read an interview where Anders talks about it, reminding me of the chat I had with Danny of Anathema (especially the teleport talk ): https://www.obnubil.com/pages/katatonia

ANDERS: Yes leaving home becomes much harder these days. I’m a very homesick person and I also have a son that needs his father. Touring life can be very rough and now almost all of us being close to middle-aged the wear and tear is not something you can just ignore like back when you were in your twenties. I cut down on drinking almost entirely on doctors orders. Sleep depravity kills me. Crap food turns me into a senior citizen. Still, we always try to unleash all our energy during the show, that’s what counts, that’s what people bought tickets for and came to see. We have a responsibility. That hour on stage is what really means something, what makes it worth the hassles, because the travel definitely does not. It’s a lot of wasted time, weeks of wasted opportunities of being productive and creative. It’s a slow death. The saying ”hurry up and wait” really summons up any touring musicians life. I wish our tours would be shorter or that we had teleporters already. The biggest fear is that I lose the edge, the enthusiasm to even go on tour because it makes me unhappy. Gotta play those cards carefully to retain a balance of the good and bad.

At least this (luckily) doesn't seem to be about arguments between Anders and Jonas, given that they'll be touring together in Bloodbath in the spring. I also don't mind lineup changes as long as the founding duo are there, but I could see the revolving door eating away their enthusiasm if someone is thinking about leaving again. Bringing in a new guy, getting to know them, teaching them the set etc. probably isn't something you want to do every couple of years.

[Lethean]

That's exactly the interview I was thinking about. It definitely sounds draining for him, whereas I think the Bloodbath tours are less extensive.  So maybe it's that or someone else thinking about leaving which I agree would be tiring.  I remember last time they were looking for a guitar player they said that one of the qualifications was that the guitar player had to be into their current sound.

For touring, The Great Cold Distance just had an anniversary and it's the fans favorite. It's also probably their heaviest so I imagine it goes over very well live. However when I saw them on the Fall of Hearts tour, they did 5 to 6 songs from it. Most seemed to go over well, though of course not as much as July or something.