30-09-2016 Katatonia

[schema type=”event” evtype=”MusicEvent” name=”30-09-2016 Katatonia” description=”Support: Agent Fresco” street=”Live Music Hall ” city=”Cologne” country=”DE” ]

Darkness was awaiting the fans of Katatonia on a Saturday evening in Cologne. The Swedish kings of melancholy and doom released their latest record “The Fall of Hearts” recently and they are currently on tour. As a huge fan of the band, I was especially excited this time; I was eager to see how the new line-up with the guitarist Roger Öjersson and the new drummer Daniel Moilanen was. Plus, I was also excited to hear some songs from the new album live.

When it comes to Katatonia shows, a mixture of the energy and melancholy is always there and this was the case in Cologne as well. Surely, the band took a rather progressive turn with the latest record but Katatonia is Katatonia… and their live shows are always otherworldly in my opinion. As a matter of fact, I expected the band to play more songs from the new album but the majority of the songs was some classics of the band. In this sense, this live performance, for me, was more of a harmony between old and new Katatonia and less of ‘touring for the new album’ concept. It was also great to see the 2 new band members fitting into the band really well.

Speaking of the setlist, a diversity of old and new Katatonia songs were played to the fans. Songs like “Serein”, “The Fall of Hearts”, “Last Song Before The Fade” and “Day and then The Shade” from the new album warmed the hearts of the audience but of course, a Katatonia show is incomplete without some classics like “Teargas”, “My Twin”, “July” and “Evidence”. I was actually surprised at the fact that the band played more songs from older albums but when I interviewed the band before the show, Mr. Renkse [vocals] stated that Roger Öjersson still needed some time to rehearse the new songs so it made sense that the band played more of the older stuff. Nevertheless, this Katatonia show gained a special place in my heart as a die-hard fan; the slow songs from the new album combined with the older songs really added a color to the whole set!

One issue that probably disturbed me (and my eyes) was the intense lights used during the set and so I had to close my eyes for almost the entire set! But well… listening to Katatonia with your eyes closed is a totally different experience and I can even recommend it! Go see the band live if you have the chance and get ready to experience the melancholy live.