Saw You Drown

I was flipping through the collection to see if I could find something that perhaps fit the doom and gloom of December. I did stumble upon some Katatonia and thought it's somewhat fitting. This is a bit of a treat too. Something a little rare that I'm not sure I've played before. So enjoy a little 10' slice of Katatonia with the '05 release of 'Saw You Drown'.

Katatonia is and for a lot of people, a tale of two bands. Starting out as teenagers in the Swedish Doom/Death scene before undergoing some changes and emerging as a Depressive Metal giant later. The band released their first demos in 91/92 as a bunch of teenagers. And by 93 had released their first LP. Starting out as a Doom/Death metal band the band released a few more records in that genre, including releasing 'Sounds Of Decay' which featured a vocalist change to Opeth frontman Mikael Akerfeldt. 1998 marked a change to the bands sound. Gone were the growls of frontman Jonas Renske, replaced by what would some would argue a more progressive depressive sound and clean vocals. 'Saw You Drown' marks a dawn of a new band and the beginning of an evolution. The EP is 4 songs and clocks in just under twenty-five minutes, but provides a window into what the sound of a new band was going to be. Depressing and moody the album is what Katatonia has been known for in the recent years, making depressing music sound really good.

I got into the late period Katatonia before the really Doom/Death stuff. Not to say I don't like the earlier material, but I'm partial to the latter releases. Albums like 'Tonight's Decision' and 'Last Fair Deal Gone Down' are masterpieces in their own rights. Beautifully haunted pieces of music. The band continues to release outstanding work. Take in this years release, 'Dethroned & Uncrowned' a stripped down remixed and reworked effort of their last record 'Dead End Kings'. I was lucky enough to catch Katatonia earlier this year as thr direct and only support for Opeth. Two Swedish Metal giants with ties to each other over the years. I got to see them after only flying in a few hours earlier from California and still dealing with the loss of my Grandfather who had passed earlier in the week. Exhausted and still emotionally frail, maybe depressing metal wasn't what I needed, but it was exactly what I needed to pick me up. Amazing live show. While there is always sorrow, there is always hope.

I mentioned this was a rare one for me. The album was originally released in 98 to 1,500 copies. Long out of print it was sought after as a collectors item. In 2005 the band decided to release it on a limited edition 10' Blue Vinyl. So this is it, the rip of the LP. Here's the specks; 2005 Release by Infinite Vinyl (Imprint Of The End Records) on Blue Colored Vinyl. Limited to 1,000 copies. This is #65 of 1,000. Record IVS010. There is a bit of skip at the end of the LP and some crackle as is normal with some of these colored pressings. This I believe is the first time I've played this LP, at worst it's the second time.

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