Katatonia: Unplugged (Sorta)

MTV’s Unplugged series was always a lot of fun, and it produced some absolutely incredible albums independent of their plugged-in counterparts (most notably for Alice in Chains and Nirvana). Why don’t metal bands nowadays dabble in the Unplugged treatment very often? I suppose so much metal is too technical and reliant on effects and distortion to work in that context, but still, you’d figure we’d see more of it.

One band whose music is a great natural fit for the Unplugged treatment: Katatonia, whose slower tempos, ethereal soundscapes and open arrangements leave plenty of room for experimentation. Katatonia are doing just that with Dethroned and Uncrowned, a stripped-down version of 2012’s Dead End Kings that brings the orchestras, percussion instruments, and vocal elements the forefront while putting the kibosh on the distorted guitars and metal drums. As you can imagine, the results are beautiful. Check out “The One You Are Looking For Is Not Here” below:

Dethroned and Uncrowned comes out on September 10, 2013. Catch Katatonia on tour this fall with Cult of Luna, Intronaut and TesseracT. Dates here.