Touring the States for the first time in 3 years, almost to the day at that, Katatonia came back to New York last night to a welcoming sold out crowd at the Gramercy Theatre. Bringing along Swallow the Sun and Orphaned Land, this was an impressive night of melodic dark metal.
Orphaned Land was first up after the warm-up act and gained a warm reception from the crowd. Their Middle-Eastern heritage is strongly entwined in their music and makes for a great style. When their time was over, the crowd begged for them to keep going.
Swallow The Sun was up next and furthered the excitement in the crowd. Their style of melodic doom metal is eerie and intense and just when a song seems to be taking a slow turn it lunges into a roaring up tempo monster. They totally blew my expectations out of the water and I’ll be watching for their next visit to NY. There was a resounding call for encore but time constraints wouldn’t allow for it.
Finally, at about 10 PM, Katatonia took the stage to cheers from a hyped crowd. Their mastery of doom metal is hard to match and the dedication of their fans proves it. With a style that is reminiscent of a darker styled Tool, they are melodic, sorrowful and all out incredible musicians. Their on stage presence is captivating, and they spared none of their talent in putting together their setlist. The fans couldn’t get enough from the 15 songs played in about 90 minutes times, and were begging for more. If you missed this performance, buy your tickets early when Katatonia makes their next trek to NY, or you’ll be amongst the company of fans left standing outside the venue like they were last night looking for any extra tickets and willing to pay any price. They knew what was in store and Katatonia exceeded all expectations.
Photos: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2043640&id=1574410252&l=7efe737c14
Setlist:
1. Day & Shade
2. Liberation
3. My Twin
4. Onward
5. Longest Year
6. Soils Song
7. Omerta
8. Teargas
9. Saw You Drown
10. Idle Blood
11. Ghost
12. Evidence
13. July
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14. Forsaker
15. Leaders