10-05-2014 Katatonia

Supports: Messenger; Venue: Christuskirche, Bochum (Germany)
By: Basak Günel

A church, candles and a total acoustic set… That’s what the fans were going to experience at a rainy day in Christuskirche at Bochum. The headliner act for the show was dark/progressive metal band Katatonia; the band has released the “Dethroned & Uncrowned” album via PledgeCampaign last year which was basically the unplugged version of the band’s latest album “Dead End Kings”, released in 2012. The young progressive metallers Messenger from the UK would be the opening act.

The evening started quite early with the warm-up act Messenger but the anticipation could be felt from the beginning. It was quite obvious that they were nervous; the band was formed in 2012 so they are quite young but also impressive. The band’s music is all about “cosmic ode to the forces of nature and the inevitable cycle of life” and this is how one would feel when listening to the band. Add the church vibe and you will get a mixture of blues, psychadelic and indie/rock. Hence, the band’s progressive sound made everyone quite satisfied; Messenger definitely proved that they have potential and I must say, their style fit perfectly to the theme of the night. Surely, in a place like a church, one could hear almost every instrument and element of music and that’s what made this band’s show so captivating. They also mentioned that the German audience was very welcoming; even more welcoming than the audience in their homeland, UK, which I found quite surprising!

When it was time for Katatonia, the excitement arose; the candles and lights were ready. When we are talking about a Katatonia show – metal or not- the darkness is always there and this time, I found the atmosphere even more gloomy. The setlist consisted of basically everything; there were new songs as well as some ‘classics’ like “Teargas” or “Tonight’s Music” and this what made the show so special. This was not the tour for a certain album but it felt like the ‘best-of’ of the band.

Another highlight of the show was the two new band-members; recently, the drummer Daniel Liljekvist and the guitarist Per “Sodomizer” Eriksson decided to leave the band on a mutual decision, which saddened many fans. Nevertheless, the two temporary bandmembers, Bruce Soord (guitarist/WISDOM OF CROWDS, THE PINEAPPLE THIEF) and JP Asplund (drums) fit into the band perfectly and it felt like they were from the ‘family’.
One thing I really loved about this acoustic set was how crystal clear Jonas Renkse’s voice was. In normal Katatonia shows, his voice mostly got lost in the heavy riffs but this time, it was more of a Jonas Renkse show; one moment, he was mesmerizing the audience with his melancholic vocals and at another moment, you could see him playing the solo part of the songs. I think this was surely one of the most magical moments of the whole set.

I doubt that even one person was dissatisfied from this magical night; Katatonia totally proved that they are stronger than ever and they surely keep pushing the boundaries.

Links:
Messenger Facebook
Katatonia Facebook