Discouraged Ones

KATATONIA’S THIRD ALBUM OF SUBLIME, HAUNTING ROCK/METAL ’Discouraged Ones’ was Katatonia's third album, originally released in 1998. The band was formed in Stockholm, Sweden in 1991 by Jonas Renkse and Anders Nyström & have risen from their early beginnings in dark death/gothic doom metal to become one of the leading acts of the metallic rock/prog scene. ’Discouraged Ones’ was recorded in 1997 at the infamous Sunlight Studios by Fred Estby and Tomas Skogsberg (Entombed, Dismember). The album saw a new direction change with the epic compositions of old replaced with stripped down, compact structures to make room for new vocal harmonies courtesy of Jonas Renkse (who also played drums on the album), putting an end to the growling vocal style from prior releases and giving the band a broader appeal. This was seen as somewhat of a breakthrough album for Katatonia which undoubtedly planted the seeds, stylistically, of what the band evolved into & represent today. ’Discouraged Ones’ is a pinnacle of dark, gothic rock/metal excellence combined with ethereal, trance-like intensity.

On Discouraged Ones, Katatonia remains as depressive as ever, while at the time moving even further away from its earlier sound than it did on the previous release, Brave Murder Day.