Tag Archives: katatonia

Features, PiercingMetal Says

PiercingMetal’s “Best Of” 2009: The Music Part 1

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I don’t think anyone is going to argue about 2009 going by like a train without brakes and yet here we are at the part of the year where we line out what we viewed to be “The Best” of the year in terms of albums, videos, concerts, events and books. We’ve aimed at making this a yearly thing and while it’s a lot of fun to share with you it’s also quite a bit of work; This is especially the case when you go way over a small list and keep on writing. With this this installment I’ll be offering up the albums that I got to listen to and liked the most out of the rest of them during the year. Sure we probably missed some that you are expecting to see here but you don’t get your hands on everything in this line of work no matter how you try. So sit back and relax and lets get to onto the main event.

The Best Albums Of 2009:

Mastodon “Crack The Skye” (Sire Records): Mastodon continually push their own musical envelope and this release finds them more a Progressive Psychedelic Rock outfit than a Metal band and the band’s following didn’t mind a bit based on the incredible music that was to be found on this one.

Epica “The Classical Conspiracy” (Nuclear Blast Records): Their 2nd effort for NB is this incredible concert experience that finds the band presenting mostly film score classics and then their greatest numbers with a full orchestra accompanying them. A wonderful experience and one that will impress the most difficult of fans – my hope is that this comes out on DVD sometime soon.

Heaven And Hell “The Devil You Know” (Rhino Entertainment): The most anticipated release for the first half of the year would be this new “Sabbath” album and it did not disappoint at all. Nice and heavy and loaded from beginning to end with solid Metal memories. Hoping this lineup hangs around a lot longer before pursuing other projects.

KISS “Sonic Boom” (KISS Records): Whether you support the fact that a couple of new faces wear familiar makeup or not, the band released a strong album and offered a great batch of extras with it to boot. The Wal-Mart exclusive nature of it made it a best seller that was actually a lot of fun.

The 69 Eyes “Back In Blood” (The End Records): Thanks to producer Matt Hyde The 69 Eyes were indeed back to raw Goth Hard Rock basics and moving on from the glitz they were steadily approaching. Lots of catchy stuff on this one and let’s hope this direction maintains course.
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Features, PiercingMetal Says

PiercingMetal’s “Best Of” 2007: Music, Video and Concerts

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Well it’s that time of the year again and that means it’s time to share with you all what I felt were my very favorites from all of the stuff that was reviewed here on PiercingMetal for the musical year of 2007. I will keep this introduction short and instead let these highlights shine a little brighter. Here we go.

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Best CD’s of 2007:

Let’s just consider this a sampling of some of the music that we found ourselves listening to on more than one occasion be it on the stereo loud enough to wake the neighbors or on our music players. We review hundreds of discs each year and this batch are among the best and most enjoyed by our editorial offices.

Epica “The Divine Conspiracy” (Nuclear Blast Records) – So the singer you have heard on some Kamelot stuff and her band have delivered their third release, a magnum opus that is meatier than beef stew when it comes to satisfying content.

Kamelot “Ghost Opera” (SPV Records) – If you wondered how the guys could top “The Black Halo”, then pick up a copy of this one.

After Forever “After Forever” (Nuclear Blast Records) – You’ve heard her in Ayreon stuff for years now the larger populace can enjoy

Daath “The Hinderers” (Roadrunner Records) – Crushing, thunderous, topical. Interesting lyrical premise as well.

Nightwish “Dark Passion Play” (Roadrunner Records) – Tarja who? The band is back and on fire with new singer Annette Olzon, “Bye Bye Beautiful” indeed, “Hello Beautiful” as well…..

Dream Theater “Systematic Chaos” (Roadrunner Records) – New DT was quite satisfying. I’ve been a fan for years and this album reminded me of why that is the case.

Opeth “The Roundhouse Tapes” – An Opeth live concert recording that finds them on tour supporting their newest album and yet making time to fit in their classics. Stunning.

Within Temptation “The Heart Of Everything” (Roadrunner Records) – a long awaited US debut from Dutch Gothic Metal superstars is loaded with catchy numbers and sure to make them more of a household name.
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Music, Reviews

“Live Consternation” by Katatonia

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Artist: Katatonia
Title: “Live Consternation”
Label: Peaceville Records
Release Date: 6/5/2007
Genre: Dark Metal
Rating: 4/5

I had only been on board as a listener since their last studio effort “The Great Cold Distance” when it came to the band Katatonia but after that album convinced me of the special nature of the group I did what I could to convince those around me to buy this album and catch them in concert should they ever return. It was only a few months prior to their co-headlining tour with Portugal’s Moonspell that the album had snared me and since I caught that show in 2006 I now was able to better understand what many fans of the bands Dark Metal style had known for a long time. The CD/DVD combination release of “Live Consternation” captures Katatonia in the element that is best suited for them and that is the concert stage in front of their loyal fans. The performance on “Liver Consternation” comes to us from the Summerbreeze Festival, Germany – August 17th 2006 and finds the band celebrating a very prosperous year for their music. The tour was in support of “The Great Cold Distance” but unlike most bands they would not overload the time with the new material and instead deliver a healthy set of their own classic standards from a across span of releases. This was a wise move as this particular tour for the band found them reaching new territories for their music that they had never been able to adventure to before.
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Events, Reviews

Katatonia @ B.B. King Blues Club (9/6/2007)

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Katatonia are an incredible Dark Metal band and their dramatic style of music would be the entertainment at B.B. King’s this evening. The tour also featured Scar Symmetry, Insomnium and Swallow The Sun so there was a very interesting mix of styles going on. We were there for everyone on the bill and if you want to see more just keep scrolling past the logo below. We reviewed and photographed everyone for all to enjoy.

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Artist: Katatonia
Venue: B.B. King Blues Club (New York, NY)
Opener: Scar Symmetry, Swallow The Sun, Insomnium
Date: 9/6/2007
Label: Peaceville Records

It was great to find Katatonia performing a headlining set of music for the Metal heads of New York City when they came around for the second time with a tour of their own. When we first caught them they had been the direct support for Portugal’s Moonspell and while this was a terrific show on its own there was quite a different dynamic happening between the Doom-laden Atmospherics that they possessed and the crushing Gothic Metal of the headliner. The show very clearly proved to the audience that Katatonia was a headlining band without question and immediately after they finished there was requests of them to return as soon as possible. The touring bill would find three opening slots which allowed Swallow The Sun, Insomnium and Scar Symmetry to join in and bring their own brands of Metal to hopefully quite a few new Metal hungry fans. Those who have been following the newer arrivals to the Metal scene would agree that this particular show would lean a little much to the Doom side and have a lot of similarity in the overall sound but with each band being interesting in their own right I don’t think anyone in the club would mind. As expected, B.B. King Blues Club would be the scene of this “Doomfest” and with the crowd building rather early tonight it seemed that the trudging and solemn vibe of this kind of Metal was set to begin. Here is what the night held for those who made it down.
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Events, Reviews

Moonspell @ B.B. King Blues Club (10/22/2006)

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Artist: Moonspell
Venue: B.B. King Blues Club (New York, NY)
Opener: Katatonia, Daylight Dies
Date: 10/22/2006
Label: SPV Records

The flyers and announcements listed this event as “The Nocturnal Mourning Tour”, and I could think of no better title for a tour that brought Gothic Metal masters Moonspell to the stage. Daylight Dies and Katatonia, the latter a band who had never made it over to the states before, would join the band. The event would take place at B.B. King Blues Club and according to comments by the band, they were happy to be at a venue that was run with a level of professionalism they had not seen since the beginning of the tour. Here is how some of the night went down along with details on the opening bands sets.

Daylight Dies: I caught this Candlelight Records act as the opener for Emperor when they performed at this very same spot and I have to admit that I feel this is a band that will not be relegated to the third slot on a bill for very much longer. The Emperor shows were jam-packed but there were only a couple of them, which made this a better night for the band as a whole since this would find them on a full US tour. Their set would be shorter than people who were getting into them would care to have happen, but a good amount of the material would come from their release “Dismantling Devotion”, its an album that fans of the Gothic meets Stoner Doom will definitely appreciate. I look forward to seeing them once again and can only say that they will impress many more fans in the future. Of this, I am very confident. The audience also found the members of this group wandering about the club to meet with them and to shake hands, always a nice idea at this stuff.
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