Katatonia Sets Release Date For Re-Imagined Dead End Kings

If ever I am appointed ruler of the recording industry, my first mandate would require all bands to release an alternate version of each album. My underlings would kinda insinuate that my preference is a “dub version,” in which vocals are stripped to some extent, snares are reverbed and delayed, and crystal-clear mixes are thudded out and murky. Yes, yes from atop Mount Capitol Records, King Anso has spoken muahahaaaa. Ahem.

For now, we can thank Katatonia for their early embrace of coming law: The downpressive metal quintet has set a September release of Dethroned And Uncrowned, a new exploration of last year’s Dead End Kings. Nice! From their crowdfunding pitch:

[I]t’s our wish to release the entire album in a stripped down, semi-acoustic way … The album title won’t lie: drums will be dethroned and distorted rhythm guitars will be uncrowned! Instead, we’ll place the emphasis on the many layers of ambience, with the melodies staying central and the vocal harmonies representing the heart of the album. Although the songs are the same and the track listing doesn’t change, we hope the end result is something entirely different! Think of the album like a person’s face in the hands of a surgeon, whose appearance is gonna change, but it’s still the same person behind that face and we guess an important factor, in this case, is that the surgeon is Katatonia!

Oh man these guys see the writing on the wall! Not only is Katatonia re-imagining their album per pending requirement, but they are also cozying up to the new regime via that gross analogy! My favorite! I dub them knights of the new realm!

Pre-order Katatonia’s Dethroned And Uncrowned here.