When I watch naked sex videos, I avoid the rough/gross stuff (cuz barf) and the solo dildo stuff (cuz yawn), so it’s weird and confusing that I so enjoy internet video of a dude playing drums to Katatonia (above). Like some porn, it’s gross (drummer) and solo (guy gratifying self), so you see the irony. But even though this stud Chris Anderson wears a cymbal company’s logo across his bosom and describes his performance as rusty, the clip looks and sounds awesome and helps fans to visualize the thoroughly tasty and tasteful drums by Katatonia dude Daniel Liljekvist. It’s, like, educational. So there’s no need to feel like a pervert for watching. So why do I cry in the shower afterwards?

–ADF

Katatonia’s upcoming 20th anniversary show on December 14 in Stockholm will feature former members and other special guests (info here). I hope they do a DVD so I can watch it alone at a motel some night.

If, like me, you were hopeful that Opeth and Katatonia would use their recent U.S. tour as an opportunity to get up on stage and play some Bloodbath shit (since members of both bands are in Bloodbath — duh), you were probably disappointed… unless you live in Baltimore, where the two bands did, indeed, play some Bloodbath shit on the final night of the tour. But I forgive them for not doing the same when they performed here in New York. The bummer for people in Baltimore is that they have to live in Baltimore, so they deserve a special treat every now and then.

Here’s the de rigeur cell phone footage of the blessed event:

-AR

[via Metal Insider]

Katatonia are not on Spotify because their label, Century Media, doesn’t want them there. This is unfortunate. After I saw the band play a phenomenal opening set for Opeth a few weeks back I wanted nothing more the next morning than to dive into their back catalogue (of which my knowledge is limited), immerse myself in it, get to know the band better. I looked them up on Spotify, couldn’t find anything but one of their oldest albums, remembered they were on Century Media… and then gave up. I could’ve gotten really into their stuff, become a fan, bought t-shirts, gone to shows in the future… multiply that by the 800 or so folks at the show, multiply that by 20+ tour stops. But nope, Century Media apparently doesn’t want people to discover their bands and forge long-term fanships, only to buy CD so they can make money now.

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A headline like “Tori Amos Issues Challenge to Metal Bands” is hard to ignore.  So I went over to Spinner.com to read this interview with Ms Amos, and this is what she had to say:

“Well, look, sometimes you don’t know how music affects people. I embrace that because I don’t think that just because I talk about emotional stuff that it’s not mother—er stuff. I’ll stand next to the hardest f—ing heavy metal band on any stage in the world and take them down, alone, by myself. Gauntlet laid down, see who steps up. See who steps up! I’ll take them down at 48. And they know I will. Because emotion has power that the metal guys know is just you can’t touch it. Insanity can’t touch the soul. It’s going to win every f—ing time.”

Before we get too riled up, it’d be smart to remember that homegirl has a new album to promote, and will spout any number of ridiculous soundbites to sell some plastic. Also, the offending paragraph showed up at the end of the interview, and feels like an offhand remark. Metal news sites went apeshit over it, though, so here we are. I sincerely doubt that Ms. Amos really intends to stand onstage next to Iron Maiden (or Manowar!) and “blow them off the stage.” Unless she’s got about sixteen Orange amps to blast her whispery, piano-driven poem-songs through and 4/5 of Vader providing backup, she ain’t gonna have much luck.

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A 100% accurate portrayal of the research discussed in this article.

In college, I once took a course on literary representations of New York City, and one the texts utilized was Frank Miller’s graphic novel, The Dark Knight Returns.

My point being simply that it was only a matter of time until academia turned its eye towards extreme music.

From an official press release:

“A research group of a faculty member and graduate students in the University of North Carolina system and in the university of Oulu, Finland, are conducting a multi-year international study of the meaning of metal music. The research project was started in summer 2008 and its main data consists of questionnaires and interviews on the meaning of metal to the different participants of the global metal scene. So far, the researchers have received 370 survey responses, representing a diverse community of Metal fans—men and women between the ages of 13 and 70 from 25 different countries have participated in the research project thus far. Some of the artists interviewed in the project include members from Amorphis, Dark Tranquillity, Disturbed, Nonpoint, Swallow the Sun, Katatonia, The Black Dahlia Murder, Kreator, Epica, Scar Symmetry, As I Lay Dying, Barren Earth, Rotten Sound, and Cannibal Corpse.”

Click to read more…

Last week some initial dates for Opeth’s upcoming North American headlining tour got out on the interwebs; now the full itinerary for the tour has been released, along with the news that Katatonia will be providing support. So, y’know. Look. You were gonna go to one of these shows anyway, seeing as it’s Opeth, but now that Katatonia is involved, it’s really gonna be a series of can’t-miss gigs, y’know?

And what else is there to say, really? Here are those dates:

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MetalSucks recently polled its staff to determine who are The Top 25 Modern Metal Guitarists, and after an incredible amount of arguing, name calling, and physical violence, we have finalized that list! The only requirements to be eligible for the list were that the musician in question had to a) play metal (duh), b) play guitar (double-duh), and c) have recorded something in the past five years. Today we continue our countdown with Opeth’s Mikael  Åkerfeldt…

Everyone knows Mikael Åkerfeldt as the leader of Opeth, as well as the vocalist and contributor to countless other widely regarded musical projects, like Bloodbath and Katatonia. But really, Akerfeldt isn’t just a superior songwriter and all-around musician — first and foremost, he’s a ridiculous talented, incredibly versatile guitarist, and is far and away one of my favorite modern players.

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Teenagers are always doing stupid, embarrassing shit in public, especially the ones who listen to metal. One of the most popular (and potentially humiliating) things a kid can do is enter their high school’s talent show, in particular if they make the mistake of playing a metal song in hopes of impressing their peers. For example, when I was in 9th or 10th grade, I was in a horrible band that played a Black Flag song in front of our school. Nobody thought it was cool, they just laughed at us. Thank god Youtube didn’t exist then, like it does for these dumb kids who embarrassed themselves by trying to be cool in front of their peers.

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FEATURING MEMBERS OF ISIS, MUNICIPAL WASTE, ELUVEITIE, WORMROT, LAST CHANCE TO REASON, ZAPPA PLAYS ZAPPA, GOD DETHRONED, OWEN HART, NIGHTFALL, HORSEBACK, AND OCTOBER TIDE

For 2010, we decided to do something special as part of our regular end-of-year festivities here at MetalSucks — namely, ask musicians from across the vast spectrum of the metalsphere (or, in a few cases, the almost-metalsphere) what their favorite albums of the year were. Death metallers, thrash metallers, black metallers, stoners, grinders, and djenters alike graciously contributed lists to MS, and we’ll be running them in groups of ten to eleven musicians at a time twice a day for the rest of the week.

After the jump, check out the fourth group… we hope you enjoy seeing what some of metal’s heaviest hitters were into this year as much as we have!

(And please note that these are musicians and that they, um, have a lot on their minds. So some of ‘em named albums that actually came out last year. Please don’t freak out.)

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Welcome to “Question of the Week,” a (sometimes) weekly debate amongst the MetalSucks staff regarding a recent hot button issue.

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving, which means we’re taking off early today and won’t be back ’til Monday. We’re sorry to leave non-American readers high n’ dry, but PLUS ONE FOR FREEDOM, MOTHERFUCKERS.

ANYWAY, in honor of the holiday, we decided to do a special Turkey Day-themed QOTW designed to make you feel all warm and cuddly inside:

WHAT (IN METAL) ARE YOU THANKFUL FOR?

The MS staff’s answers after the jump.

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Katatonia, Machine Head, and Periphery all get their pricey gear stolen within a month or so of each other and hey, wouldn’t you know it, some guy named Chris Goulet releases a product called The Rock Lock that’s supposed to protect your gear from being stolen. Coincidence??? Conspiracy!

Of course I’m kidding, but I’d be much more likely to accuse Goulet and MS tipster Rory Fuhrer of conspiring to make a buck if I thought The Rock Lock actually would’ve helped any of the above bands. The Rock Lock works kind of like a bike lock, or those locks they bolt to computers in libraries and schools to prevent them from being stolen; it chains your guitar down to a fixed object. Which will do absolutely no good when some thief decides to jack your band’s entire trailer, or lift a guitar that’s inside a case from backstage.

What someone really needs to invent is a trackable GPS microchip that goes inside the back plate or under the strap button or something, like those ones they put into your pet’s neck to track if Fido ever runs away. Of course the likelihood of grungy metal musicians being able to afford something like that is pretty low, but think of it as an insurance policy… come to think of it, you’d probably be better off with an actual insurance policy.

-VN

So last week some worthless human tampon stole a couple of guitars from Kataonia. And even though we all knew that the joke was the thief or thieves, since our main man Anso made sweet, sweet love to those instruments, we were pretty peeved about it.

Luckily, the guitars were recovered last week, according to a posting on the band’s Facebook page:

As much as I’d love to know the full story behind the guitars’ return — ’cause there’s obviously way more to it than this — I’m mostly just happy that it all worked out in the end. I don’t know what’s gonna happen to the culprit, but I think we can all agree on one thing: Anso should decide the punishment.

Don’t forget that Katatonia are still doing their MetalSucks-presented headlining trek with Swallow the Sun and Orphaned Land until October 7; you can get remaining dates after the jump.

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Even some douche bag stealing their shit can’t stop Katatonia’s MetalSucks-sponsored “New Night Over North America 2010″ tour, which is roughly at the halfway point. That means that if you live in California, Arizona, Texas, Georgia, North Carolina, Kentucky, or Virginia, you have not yet blown your chance to see one of Sweden’s finest exports do their thing live (AND Swallow the Sun AND Orphaned Land, both of whom also rule).

Frank from Metal Injection recently sat down with Katatonia’s Jonas Renkse. He asked him lotsa interesting questions, but did not tell him how he’d like to spend a day together, which is too bad, ’cause now Frank can’t win a signed a guitar. Still, we love Frank, and this is a great interview, so check it out.

Remaining Katatonia tour dates after the jump!

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Like thousands of lucky metal people, I attended a stop of the MetalSucks-presented New Night Over America 2010 tour headlined by Katatonia last week. I’d been ear-horny for live Katatonia since last year’s Night Is The New Day, which was only exceeded in awesomeness by a couple 2009 records. To my delight, Friday’s set was stuffed with Night‘s best jamz (like this one whoa baby), and to my non-surprise, I fell into deeper awe for guitarists Anders Nyström and Per Eriksson after the ass-tight set.

Now, as presenting sponsors of the tour, we MS goons are extended full access to artist-only areas of the venue. So after I’d rushed backstage to dish out congratulations on a great show and use their pristine private toilets, I emerged to find myself alone with the band’s gear. So I did what any tipsy writer would do: I had sex with their guitars. Yep, the guitars used on all your fave Katatonia songs went straight up my ass. All the way. It was hot. It sounds weird, fine, but once I explained that the axes and I were in love, and had consummated, Eriksson and Nyström were cool with it. They agreed to set aside the guitars, untouched, until I met up with them back in L.A. to exchange a fair amount of cash for my new boos.

But now that’s never gonna happen thanks to certain bastards the very next night in Minnesota. From a band statement:

Click to read more…

I was catching up on my Deciblog today when I came across the below video for “And Clash and Clash of Hoof and Heel,” by Sailors with Wax Wings. The outfit is apparently a side-project for Pyramids’ R. Loren, so I now have to admit that although our friend Corey Mitchell is a Pyramids fan, I really don’t know much about the band and can’t comment on them. But I can say that between the quality of the below song and the list of guests who apparently appear on the Sailors with Wax Wings album (including but not limited to Katatonia’s Jonas Renkse, Swans’ Ted Parsons, My Dying Bride’s Aaron Stainthorpe, and Colin “Best Haircut EVER” Marston from Krallice, Dysrhythmia, Gorguts, Behold… The Arctopus, and a million other bands), I plan to check this record out ASAP.

As for the video itself, well… it’s pretty bizarre. I kept expecting there be some kind of “twist” or whatever, but, nope. Just pure, unadulterated strangeness. Still, I was never able to take my eyes off of it… I find it oddly compelling. Hypnotic, even. And, like I said, I dig the music.

Check this out, then weigh in with your thoughts in the comments section below.

-AR

“We can’t believe this,” Katatonia frontman Jonas Renkse announced between songs at their sold-out NYC show this past Friday, the third stop of their MetalSucks-sponsored U.S. tour with Swallow the Sun and Orphaned Land. “Flying all the way across the ocean to play for a sold out crowd in New York City… this is our childhood dream come true.”

Nearly twenty years into their career, these Swedes’ newfound success was the theme of the night. Of their 1.5 hour set no less than seven songs came from their latest album Night is the New Day. And this was no decision fueled by ego and stubborness; Katatonia knew exactly what they were doing, proven by the instant cheers that erupted from the audience whenever the opening notes of a new song rang out. The reaction to the new material was positively stunning; this is Katatonia, not Cannibal Corpse, so moshing wasn’t quite par for the course, but a whole lot of concerted headbanging most certainly was.

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Katatonia are awesome, and we’re pretty awesome, so when they were like, “We’re gonna do this awesome North American tour with two other awesome bands, Swallow the Sun and Orphaned Land, do you wanna sponsor it?”, we were like, “AWESOME!” And thus it was so.

And now the band has released an awesome trailer for the tour! I know, I know, tour trailers are not usually awesome, but this one is — ’cause it features critical praise from both us and — wait for it — Mikael motherfucking Åkerfeldt. And if you don’t take us seriously for some reason, well, Mr. Åkerfeldt is what the kids call “unfuckwithable.” Awesome!

If you don’t go to this tour, you’ll never have sex again. Get dates here.

-AR

The last time I saw Katatonia was a truly unforgettable night, a Scandinavian metal boner-fest to be sure: they played New York City along with Swallow the Sun, Insomnium and Scar Symmetry. I also picked up my beloved Insomnium t-shirt, which I still get questions about (“When did Insomnium come to the U.S.?”). Truth is that I really wasn’t familiar with most of Katatonia’s music at that time so I couldn’t fully appreciate their set, but now that I’ve been versed in the epic ways of these mighty Swedes I’m very glad that I’ll get another chance this Fall when they return to the U.S. on the MetalSucks-sponsored “New Night Over North America” 2010 Tour. Swallow the Sun are tagging along in support once again (maybe I’ll get to bro down with their super awesome keyboard player!) along with Israeli prog metallers Orphaned Land, so this promises to be another night to remember.

In case you missed the dates when they were announced a couple of weeks ago, we’ve reposted them for your convenience after the jump. Check out Katatonia’s new EP The Longest Year, featuring one new song and a couple of Night is the New Day remixes, out now on Peaceville.

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In a time when being “heavy” in the world of metal all too often relies on generic chug or the most guttural vocals spewed forth, it’s always reassuring when a band can actually sing and still be “heavy.” And it’s even more reassuring when that band is Katatonia – because at this point in the game, you know what you’re going to get: an awesome record that relies more on feeling and flavor than overt technicality or balls-to-the-wall brutality.

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Here’s a great example of an excellent music video that was clearly made on a budget. Take a goth chick, go out to the middle of the woods, and film some shit in a style that is both a) intriguing and b) appropriate to the music, and what do you get? An excellent promotional tool that’s enjoyable to watch. Good for Katatonia.

Bonus: this video makes the tension in my shoulders dissolve. Not entirely sure why.

The song, “Day and then the Shade,” comes off of Katatonia’s latest, Night is the New Day, which is out now on Peaceville.

-AR