''Dead End Kings'' is

Katatonia Katatonia are a Swedish heavy metal band formed in Stockholm in 1991 by Jonas Renkse and Anders Nyström. The band started as a studio-only project for the duo, as an outlet for the band's love of death metal. Increasing popularity led them ...

's ninth full-length album. It was released on 27 August 2012 in Europe and 28 August in the United States through

Peaceville Records Peaceville Records is a British independent heavy metal record label. The label was founded by Paul "Hammy" Halmshaw (of the bands Instigators and Civilised Society) in Dewsbury, England in 1987, who was also a one-time drummer of Sore Throat. ...

. Like all Katatonia releases, the album was written primarily by founding members

Jonas Renkse Jonas may refer to: Geography * Jonas, Netherlands, Netherlands * Jonas, Pennsylvania, United States * Jonas Ridge, North Carolina, United States People with the name * Jonas (name), people with the given name or surname Jonas * Jonas, one of ...

and

Anders Nyström Anders Nyström (born 22 April 1975), also known as Blakkheim (or formerly Blackheim), is a Swedish musician. Biography Nyström founded the Swedish metal band Katatonia with singer Jonas Renkse in 1991. Nyström is involved in the songwrit ...

. The band went through a number of lineup changes, making the album the first to feature bassist Niklas Sandin, the only album to feature second guitarist Per Eriksson, and the last to feature drummer Daniel Liljekvist.

Themes and composition

Multiple tracks, including "Buildings", allude to abandoned city scenes, which were inspired by Renkse's and Nyström's visiting of abandoned train tunnels and hospitals in abandoned villages in Sweden. The album is not politically-themed in the conventional sense of promoting

ideologies An ideology is a set of beliefs or philosophies attributed to a person or group of persons, especially those held for reasons that are not purely epistemic, in which "practical elements are as prominent as theoretical ones." Formerly applied prim ...

or presenting solutions, but rather contemplates and laments the poor state of the world due to modern politics in general. Journalists have noted a similarity in sound to the work of American

progressive metal Progressive metal (sometimes shortened to prog metal) is a broad fusion music genre melding heavy metal and progressive rock, combining the loud "aggression" and amplified guitar-driven sound of the former with the more experimental, cerebral ...

band

Tool A tool is an object that can extend an individual's ability to modify features of the surrounding environment or help them accomplish a particular task. Although many animals use simple tools, only human beings, whose use of stone tools dates ba ...

, a comparison Renkse refers to as accidental but flattering.

Reception

The album was generally well received by critics.

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databa ...

praised the diverse and layered sound production on the album, concluding that "With its various parts, ever-shifting dynamics, and blazing instrumental interludes, it sends the set off with a nearly majestic bang. ''Dead End Kings'' is uncompromising in its musical excellence, bleak vision, and dark, hunted beauty; it extends Katatonia's reach exponentially. Kyle Ward, staff reviewer from Sputnikmusic, strongly praised the album for being the perfect culmination of everything the band had strived to become after moving away from their original death metal sound in the late 1990s, citing the albums high production values, layered sound and "emotional sincerity" for the album being a "massive success".

Track listing

Personnel

;Katatonia *

– lead vocals; guitars,

production Production may refer to: Economics and business * Production (economics) * Production, the act of manufacturing goods * Production, in the outline of industrial organization, the act of making products (goods and services) * Production as a stati ...

, mixing *

–

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected strin ...

s, keyboards (12 & 13),

backing vocals A backing vocalist is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists. A backing vocalist may also sing alone as a lead-in to the main vocalist's entry or to sing a counter-melody. Backing vocalists are ...

; production, mixing * Per Eriksson – guitars, backing vocals; engineering *Niklas Sandin – bass *Daniel Liljekvist – drums ;Additional personnel *Frank Default – keyboards (1-11) *

Silje Wergeland Silje Wergeland (born 9 November 1974) is a Norwegian singer, songwriter and pianist. She is best known as the current lead vocalist of the Dutch progressive/alternative rock band The Gathering (since 2009). She was also the frontwoman of Norwe ...

– backing vocals (2) *JP Asplund – addition

percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Ex ...

*David Castillo –

, engineering, mixing * Travis Smith – album cover

Charts

References

{{Authority control 2012 albums Katatonia albums Peaceville Records albums Progressive metal albums