Swedish Heavy Metal band Katatonia is celebrating their 20th anniversary of musical existence this year. Katatonia was born in Stockholm, Sweden in 1991 when Jonas Renkse (formerly aka Lord Seth) and Anders Nyström (formerly aka Blakkheim) joined musical forces. The bands anniversary celebration is currently taking place in North America in an extensive tour with fellow countrymen Opeth.
Sonically speaking, after carefully analyzing the rise of the Swedish Death Metal scene in the early 90s, Katatonia made the conscious decision of adding melodic elements to the Skandinavian signature sound in order to create something fresh and unique. Ever since their inception the band has been hard at work perfecting their musical craft both on and off stage. In order to keep their creative flow going strong, once they get back home from their current trek across North America, their plan is get busy with the production of their eighth studio album.
Recently, Katatonia and Opeth performed two sold out shows at the Webster Hall in New York City and before Katatonia took center stage we had the chance to sit down to chat with guitarist/co-founder Anders "Blakkheim" Nyström, who was joined by his co-guitarist Per "Sodomizer" Eriksson. During the conversation, we chatted about the bands rise to musical success, about life on the road, and much more. So sit back, relax and enjoy!