Katatonia

Katatonia is a Swedish heavy metal band formed in Avesta, Sweden in 1987 by Jonas Renkse (formerly Lord Seth) and Anders Nyström (formerly Blackheim). Katatonia is noted for the overall melancholy of

Katatonia is a Swedish heavy metal band formed in Avesta, Sweden in 1987 by Jonas Renkse (formerly Lord Seth) and Anders Nyström (formerly Blackheim). Katatonia is noted for the overall melancholy of its sound, often giving them the classification of doom metal or depressive rock. Many critics note a progession in sound from the former to the latter as the band's career has progressed.

The early releases of the band, feature mostly harsh vocals and can stylistically be considered as a mixture of doom and death metal. Opeth's Mikael Åkerfeldt performed the harsh vocals on Brave Murder Day and Sounds of Decay after regular Katatonia singer (and then drummer) Jonas Renkse became unable to scream properly. Katatonia moved to a lighter sound with clean vocals beginning with 1998's Discouraged Ones. Another shift was seen with Viva Emptiness in 2003 in which the music became more vocal oriented than ever before.