KATATONIA Announces European Tour With ALCEST, JUNIUS

Sweden's ultimate purveyors of dark rock/metal KATATONIA have announced dates for an extensive European tour in support of their forthcoming ninth album, "Dead End Kings", which hits stores in Europe on August 27 and in North America on August 28 through Peaceville Records. Support on the trek will come from French shoe-gazers ALCEST and Boston's JUNIUS.

Comments KATATONIA lead guitarist Anders Nyström: "We are very much looking forward to a tour that definitely stands out from the rest. Stare into November's darkness with us! Be with us at the side of December's deathbed! Come meet us at the chosen dead ends of Europe...”

Tickets go on sale from Monday, July 16, with general and VIP options being available direct from Katatonia.com and the band's official Facebook page.

"Dead End Kings", which features a guest appearance by Norwegian singer Silje Wergeland (THE GATHERING),was recorded over a two-month period at Stockholm's Ghost Ward studios and the band's new, as-yet-unnamed headquarters. David Castillo returned to "twiddle the knobs," while band co-founders Anders "Blakkheim" Nyström and Jonas Renkse handled the rest of the production duties.

Commented Renkse: "'Dead End Kings' is about the corridors of our mind from where there is no return. Be a king or queen in your own right in these hallways, even at the dead end. Carry your burden with pride. That's what we are doing, twenty years and counting. Kings, because we believe in what we are creating, in our own disturbing faith."

Added Anders: "This album has doors revolving into many different genres of music but remain disguised within the KATATONIA trademark. We have walked the fine line between attempting not to repeat ourselves but also not to distance us away from what people know and love. We're now ready to hand over the evidence and whatever the direction this has taken is now for you to decide. We're confident the creativity and passion on this album is something that will be echoing even beyond the dead end."

"Our seal of identity is on here for sure," Nyström told Decibel magazine. "We haven't gone and changed our sound, but we've further explored some different angles of good music, and that's what we need to do to keep the focus. It might not be so obvious to some, but to others it will be a bigger deal. So, sure, a few surprises and a few songs going off territory are in there, but overall this album is a natural follow-up to [2009's] 'Night Is The New Day', and that is what we wanted to do."

"Dead Letters" lyric video: