On both Thursday the 16th and Friday the 17th my friend and I attended shows on Katatonia's, 'New Night Over North America' tour, which on the 16th in Milwaukee, Wisconsin had the line-up of Urn, Orphaned Land, Swallow the Sun and Katatonia, while the following day in Chicago, Illinois the line-up included, Clad in Darkness, Novembers Doom, Swallow the Sun, Orphaned Land and Katatonia. For me, both shows were incredible and I'm quite happy we decided to attend both shows, but the performance in Chicago was slightly more memorable for us since the line-up was better with Novembers Doom on board, the venue was bigger, a lot more people attended and of course fans in Chicago are simply more dedicated and hungry for metal down there. That's not to say that I didn't have a blast in my hometown of Milwaukee, because I absolutely did, but what I quickly observed was the aforementioned increase of people (at least double in Chicago) and it just seemed like the bands had more fun and really wanted to put on absolutely one of the best shows of their life's on Friday evening. Rather than actually reviewing both shows I'll just simply give my thoughts on each band that I saw on these two evenings.Urn/Clad in Darkness: In Milwaukee it was Urn who served as openers while in Chicago it was Clad in Darkness who got things rolling. Both bands are actually from Chicago, but I guess both couldn't open up in Chicago so somehow Urn found there way up to Milwaukee. As for Urn, my two friends and I only caught the last song or two of their set and much like when we saw them back in April when they opened for the Finnish metal tour they played some sort of progressive viking indescribable metal, which much like back then failed to make much of an impression on me. However, it seems this band plays out quite often and I'm sure they've got their fans and all, but in the live setting they just really are not that convincing.
As for, Clad in Darkness, well when we walked in we once again caught just there last song and they were in the middle of some lengthy progressive instrumental number, which must have gone on for a solid ten minutes or so. As it reached it's climax the singer, whom had been laying somewhere on the stage, emerged and then began screaming in a black metal-ish voice and the band was then finished. Curiously it made me wonder if all the bands music is in this progressive vein or just that particular song. I wasn't to fond of the singers vocals, but musically it wasn't too bad at all. Hopefully I'll catch them some time in the future and be able to sample more of their songs and get a better understanding of their music.
Novembers Doom: I've known about these guys for probably a solid ten years now and although I never really considered myself a fan I've always found a little something special in all of the albums I've heard from them. The band played a few songs from their latest releases as well as some older material from way back in day when I remember hearing them for the first time. All in all, they put on a great performance and were quite embraced in their home town of Chicago. I'll have to consider picking up their new album soon since I really enjoyed what I saw on this evening.
Orphaned Land: In Milwaukee these guys played before Swallow the Sun and in Chicago they played after them, which would lead me to believe that they were switching spots every other show. Orphaned Land who hail from Israel have been playing together since the early 90's, though they really didn't catch much attention until a few years ago when Century Media picked them up and released their third album, 'Mabool.' The band could probably best be described as something like Middle Eastern folk metal and basically they combine metal with what sounded to my ears like traditional Middle Eastern music. I can honestly say during the first day in Milwaukee the band wasn't that convincing, but when we saw them the following day it was much more interesting, because once again more people were into what they were doing onstage. As far as the actual metal portion of their music is concerned I didn't notice a large abundance of colorful and tuneful metal melodies, but rather things were a bit more tuneless in that department while it seems like the bands main strength is combining the folk music with heavier music. Unfortunately, all of the folk music had to be sampled, but it still managed to catch my attention and made me a bit curious to hear their albums. The singer, who proclaimed himself not to be Jesus Christ(although looking similar enough), was quite a good front man and at least in Chicago he had no problem getting the crowd involved. Regrettably, I didn't buy their album(s), but I'll have to keep them in mind and pick them up later and see what Mid East metal is all about.
Swallow the Sun: Well, what can I say other than that I really enjoy these guys and have done so for a few years now. Both of their performances were utterly outstanding and on each day they played a great selection of their finest songs. However, once again they excelled the most in Chicago and that's quite simply because they had Jonas from Katatonia come onstage and sing, 'The Justice of Suffering' with them, which is something I've been longing to see them do, but wasn't sure if they ever had done previously. It made the night to say the least. Some of the other songs they played throughout the two days were; Swallow, These Hours of Despair, Hope, Plague of Butterflies, New Moon and The Ship. I truly enjoyed watching these guys on both nights and I do hope they come back soon since they've have plenty of fans waiting for them here.
Katatonia: I've been listening to Katatonia for something like nine years now. I remember back in 2001 after reading an interesting review and interview in Metal Maniacs I bought, 'Last Fair Deal Gone Done,' and at first was a bit confused by what I was hearing since I was at the time more accustomed to just hearing black and death metal from Sweden. However, it quickly became a favorite of mine, I bought all of their back catalog and have followed them closely ever since and nowadays can easily consider them as an absolutely favorite band of mine.
The last time Katatonia toured the states was in 2007 and I most regretably missed them back then and this is largely why I wanted to see them on both days. As I had greatly hoped Katatonia was breathtaking both home in Milwaukee and down in Chicago, although on both nights they played the exact same set list, but I still enjoyed every last minute of it. Curiously the band didn't play any songs from, 'Tonight's Decision,' which really baffled me, but I can only assume with the sudden departure of the Norrman brothers the band didn't have time to rehearse with their new touring members, Per "Sodomizer" Eriksson & Niklas "Nille" Sandin, but if anyone has any further insight on that I'd really like to hear it.
Anyway, to say I had a 'moment' during these performances would be an understatement indeed as I was quite simply in the bliss of life, but I guess all of you music fanatics know what it's like to finally see your favorite bands live and you know what I'm talking about.
As expected Katatonia mostly played new songs from the past three albums, but snuck a few in from Last Fair Deal and Discouraged Ones too. They played songs like, Forsaker, The Longest Year, Idle Blood, Onward into Battle, Day and then the Shade, Leaders, Soil's Song, July, Ghost of the Sun, Criminals, Evidence, Complicity, Omerta, Teargas and Saw you Drown. Unfortunately, they did not play my absolute favorite song, Cold Ways, but who knows maybe it will be there in a future tour.
All in all, it's hard for me to truly express my emotions since I had such a good time on both nights and I can honestly say if you have any love for Katatonia or any of the supporting bands definitely get off from work and check this tour out. You won't regret it.
If you need further proof then just stop over at my youtube channel and check out some of the videos I made on Friday night.
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