How did you discover Katatonia?

[the_joy_of_grief]

Well, I guess there's been a thread like that before, but I'm pretty sure that was before I came here...

I think it was _transparent_ who said that he got into a lot of metal stuff through Katatonia. For me, things were the exact opposite. If I hadn't become interested in metal I probably wouldn't have heard about Katatonia. And once I was into their kind of music, I started to listen to more mellow tunes as well. I don't think I would've checked out stuff like Songs:Ohia, Kent, Lisa Miskovsky without being a Katatonia fan and reading the members playlists. So if you think about it, this band has done a lot for me in the long run...

Sorry, I'm ranting.

Anyway, just curious how you happened to get to know/get into Katatonia. I got a promo CD of Discouraged Ones, thought it was OK but didn't listen to it a whole lot. Two years later, some friends introduced me to their earlier stuff and made me listen to Discouraged Ones again, this time *full blast*. I was hooked. Then, TD came out and...well, I think you can imagine how the story goes on

So, how bout you?

 

[requiem]

Yeah, this has come up a couple of times before.. but it's always interesting!

I got into metal/hard rock at a reasonably young age (Motley Crue, Metallica, GnR etc) and already counted My Dying Bride, Paradise Lost and Anathema as my favourite bands before I heard the Century Media 5 compilation in about 98.

'Deadhouse' was on it. I liked it ok.. but it didn't blow my mind.

Then when 'Tonight's Decision' came out and I saw Travis' artwork, I ordered from my record store (a regional town with a reasonably reliable music dealer!).

I was blown away!!

The rest is history. Now they're equally my favourite band with Anathema.

 

[_Transparent_]

yeah you said it joy, i owe a lot to Katatonia, and Peaceville and their £8.99 re-release, when i only had £10 to spend about the same week or month i started listening to Lacuna Coil, Zyklon, and loads more on compilation cds and MP3's, a filtered out all the crap and started buying loads of cds i'd previously looked past in shops, and returned a lot of those cds too...

its really wierd to think that maybe i wouldnt have heard katatonia if there were new releases in the shop that day and the cd wasn't really cheap/half price. but then theres loads/more bands out there i'd love and dont know the name of :sad:

 

[adventcredence]

hey i think i got the weirdest story of how i become aware of the superband named katatonia (i'm talking like you people dont know this stuff! )

one day i was browsing a japanese grindcore page and believe it or not i saw a link to download "deadhouse" off discouraged ones i said wtf let's see how's this and man you know the rest of the story from that lucky find i have all katatonia records even the jhva elohim meth mcd and it's good to see a band have such a transition while being good in all their stages!

so the lesson is DON'T UNDERAPRECCIATE THE HELP THAT GRINDOCRE JAPANESE BANDS DO TO SPREAD THE WORD ABOUT GREAT BANDS!

 

[Wanderingblade]

When I first discovered metal, I was downloading a little of everything... got nightmares by the sea, fell in love, got dispossession, fell in love again...

 

[requiem]

Originally posted by adventcredence
one day i was browsing a japanese grindcore page and believe it or not i saw a link to download "deadhouse" off discouraged ones

Life is like a box of chocolates.....

 

[in2thenight]

a friend of mine who had tonights decision played it in the car one day so the first song i heard was 'for my demons'. at first i thought it was so bleak and a bit fragmented and at the time that was too much for me. then i took more time to read the lyrics and hear other songs and that was it! now they are my favourite band!!!

 

[ether]

I was introduced to them by a friend, who was looking for someone who could go to their concert with her. She made me listen to a couple of songs from each album and at first I preferred their earlier stuff, but then I downloaded some samples from their site and liked everything. Well, after their gig i bought all their albums that I could find and now they are absolutely my favourite band!

 

[Parabola]

Well, when Discouraged Ones came out, I read a review about the album. The reviewer was so impressed by that masterpiece, that I had to go out and buy it. To be honest, I wasn´t that impressed by first time listening. But later on DO became better and better and Katatonia one of my favourite bands. So there was no question about ordering TD and LFDGD in the following years, and of course getting interesting in the older stuff. And now I can hardly wait for the next album...

 

[Clayman77]

My first Katatonia album was Tonight's Decision. At the time I was listening to a lot of Sentenced, MDB and Paradise Lost. When Tonight's Decision came out I read a review of the album from finnish music magazine. Reviewer loved the album and also thought that it sounded a bit like Sentenced. So I bought the album and I was sold. It was absolutely the best album I had ever listened to. After that I bought the other Katatonia albums and just lost myself in the world of Katatonia.

 

[scitzo]

The first song of theirs I heard was murder from the Firestarter compilation put out by Century Black, you know, the one that came with a match. That was the album that opened up my eyes to alot of the bands I listen to today. Opeth, Borknagar, Old mans child and Arcturus (BTW their new album is awesome!)

After hearing murder I searched for albums of theirs and could only find Discouraged Ones. BIG difference! Thought it was kind of mundane. Then I got TD became more adjusted to the new sound and than of course LFDGD.

 

[yourdeadgroom]

I had been into doom for about a year, and read an interview with them in Metal Maniacs. The description of the music sounded like something I would like, so they went on to my "to-check-out" list. A while later, I came into contact with a guy who was into trading CD-Rs, so I got a copy of BMD.....

 

[elric]

first heard, same as requiem, deadhouse on the century media identity 5 sampler... was randomly leafing through the booklet while listening to one of the other samplers i got at the same time, and read the description of katatonia... caught my attention, so went and put on dead house.... and then put on deadhouse, and put on deadhouse, and etc read some good reviews on ssmt, and went and downloaded a bunch of random things, mostly off TD and LFDGD... ended up within the week burning copies of DO, TD, and LFDGD, and checking every record store for real copies (this was before i had a credit card)... and have since replaced my burned copies with the real thing and added BMD, and the last 2 ep's, and put the TD poster up on my wall so that's my tale of how i got into kata, and also my argument for something napster-like to exist...

 

[Don Corleone]

i heard it from a friend and listened to discouraged ones on his md player...and life has never been the same for me since then.

 

[~Zeanra~]

A friend of mine mentioned them few times. Next time I went to buy some music, I saw some Katatonia's CD's and bought one, I was curious. It was Tonigh't Decision and...well, I didn't know what think, how to react....but I started to like this CD after a while, and every time I listen to it, it sounds even better.

 

[Anthony]

I read in a magazine about "Discouraged Ones" and asked to lidten for a couple of minutes in a shop. I thought then "snotty crap" and went home. And i returned on the next day and bough the cd, cause all night i was haunted by "visions of her drown". I was blown away!

 

[Dakuroth]

For me it was a cover CD off Metal Hammer, sandwiched between Moonspell (yay!) and fucking Coal Chamber or some such crap. The song was "I am Nothing", and the rest is history....

 

[lumen]

I'd heard a couple of songs and didn't think to much of them, but I eventually borrowed Tonight's Decision off a friend because of the Dan Swano connection. I still wasn't too impressed at first, but after a while it sunk in and I wanted more. And now I love it all...

 

[Skaldir]

Hi Ilamaura, nice to see you here.
First, I think, I heard Dance of December souls, but to be honest I only liked one part on this album. It started with a clean guitar... pretty much at the end of the album or in the middle.
But then, someday, I got Discouraged Ones and it was no way out anymore. They really belong to me favourites now, (every album sice D.O. ) along with some stuff from Dan Swanö and Anathema.

 

[MadTinus]

My first post here, ha! I discovered the band through magazines really in the beginning with the Jhva Elohim Meth demo re-released on MCD by Dutch label Vic Records (also released first October Tide album). So followed pretty much their whole evolution to their style of today, I first had my doubts when Discouraged Ones followed Brave Murder Day, but I got into it after all and there I am, still a fan after all those years. I love the new stuff, but my fave Katatonia release probably still is the "For Funerals To Come" Mini album, pure magic!