Fred Norrman of Katatonia just scored a new endorsement deal with Finnish guitar maker Amfisound. Read more and check out the details on his new custom model: http://katatonia.com/knews/?p=112

Antenna delivers a short and to-the-point review of the new Katatonia live CD/DVD "Live consternation": http://antenna.nu/katatonia/liveconsternation.php

Katatonia will return to North America in September for their first headlining tour in this part of the world. Support will come from fellow Swedes Scar Symmetry plus Finnish acts Insomnium and Swallow the Sun. Dates:

09/04 - Jaxx West, Springfield, VA
09/06 - BB Kings, New York, NY
09/07 - Mark's Place, Bedford, NH
09/08 - Chance Theater, Poughkeepsie, NY
09/09 - Le Medley, Montreal, QC
09/10 - Imperial de Quebec, Quebec City, QC
09/11 - The Funhaus, Toronto, ON
09/12 - Peabody's, Cleveland, OH
09/13 - I-Rock, Detriot, MI
09/14 - The Pearl Room, Mokena, IL
09/15 - Station 4, St. Paul, MN
09/17 - Bluebird Theater, Denver, CO
09/19 - Whiskey, Hollywood, CA
09/20 - Showcase Theater, Corona, CA
09/21 - Brickhouse, Phoenix, AZ
09/22 - Launchpad, Albuqeruque, NM
09/24 - White Rabbit, San Antonio, TX
09/25 - Ridglea Theater, Ft. Worth, TX
09/26 - Scout Bar, Houston, TX

This week's playlist for my show on Sirius:

01. Kristofer Åström - The dark
02. TALK 1
03. Amandine - Better soil
04. Christel Alsos - What you gotta do
05. Tarantula - Two arrows
06. TALK 2
07. Kristin Asbjørnsen - I'm on my way
08. Thomas Denver Jonsson - Dreams at the film club
09. Tenderloud - Texas down
10. TALK 3
11. Hyacinth House - Ghost town
12. Strayfolk - I'll be a-goin'
13. The First Miles - Bottle, don't let me down
14. TALK 4
15. Hello Saferide - I was definitely made for these times
16. Hederos & Hellberg - I can't hold myself in line
17. Two Times the Trauma - I fell in love with an ocean
18. David Sandström Overdrive - The Fatville Treaty
19. HGH - Stupid song
20. TALK 5
21. Gorgoroth - Procreating Satan
22. Enslaved - The voices
23. Invocator - Breed of sin
24. TALK 6
25. Seance - Post mortem
26. Watain - Underneath the cenotaph
27. Dark Tranquility - Icipher
28. TALK 7
29. Eucharist - The Eucharist
30. At the Gates - Slaughter of the soul
31. Wolfbrigade - EU (European Union)
32. TALK 8
33. Katatonia - Had to (leave)
34. Bloodbath - Soul evisceration
35. Cult of Luna - The revelation embodied
36. TALK 9
37. Finntroll - Slaget vid blodsälv

Check out the microsite for the new Katatonia live record "Live consternation": http://peaceville.com/liveconsternation/

Swedish doom act A Swarm of the Sun has now confirmed April 30 for the release of their new EP "The king of everything". The first single "I fear the end" is now available for download, both as a video and mp3: http://www.aswarmofthesun.com/
Recommended for fans of Katatonia and the like.

Katatonia's set from the 2006 Summerbreeze Festival in Germany will be released as a double CD/DVD live album to be entitled "Live consternation" and released on May 28. Tracklist and coverart: http://katatonia.com/news.php

Katatonia's new video for the song "July" is up on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gLEogbdozHc

Candlelight has posted a new Swallow the Sun track on myspace: http://www.myspace.com/candlelightrecordsusa
StS is Finland's leading melodic doom act; very comparable to Swedes Katatonia.

Some new tourdates for Katatonia:

04/11 - Club Lua, Lisbon (POR)
04/12 - Teatro Sá da Bandeira, Porto (POR)
04/13 - Sala Caracol, Madrid (ESP)
04/14 - Sala Bikini, Barcelona (ESP)
04/15 - Sala Tunk, Guipuzcoa (ESP)

Katatonia has selected the song "July" to be their next single. A video was shot by director Charlie Granberg and should be released soon. As for b-sides, the single will include the previously unreleased track "Unfurl" as well as a remix of "Soil's song" by fellow Swede Krister Linder. It comes out March 26, one month earlier for digital downloads.

Dark Dose on Sonores: http://darkdose.com/?p=145
I passed the CD to Jesse when his band Daylight Dies passed through Seattle on tour with Katatonia and Moonspell. I didn't stick around for the latter (besides the fact that I'm not really a fan, it was raining hard and I had a long drive home), but the others were great. Good to read that he's enjoying the disc, just as I thought he would - it easily made to be one of my top picks from last year.

Katatonia's most recent album "The great cold distance" has been remixed for 5.1 sound and will be reissued in a special 2CD digipack with the new mix on disc one and the original on two with two bonus tracks ("Displaced" and "Dissolving bonds"). It will be out on March 12.

Finnish melodic metal act Ghost Brigade will be entering the studio on January 6 with engineer Mikko Poikolainen to record their debut album for release on Season of Mist in 2007. In the meantime, the band's four-song demo is still available for download: http://www.ghostbrigade.net/ghostbrigade.rar
Imagine Katatonia with gruffer vocals and you'll have a good idea of what to expect. I dig it.

Top 10s for 2006: Andrew (Aversionline/Blodårstid)