Katatonia/Cellar Darling - Los Angeles, California - 12/2/22

Swedish metal band Katatonia announced their return to the USA. With them, they brought The Ocean Collective and Cellar Darling. The choice of venue for this show was the 1720 warehouse in Los Angeles, California. Many fans were excited to see Katatonia again after a few years as well as the newly formed Cellar Darling who were having their first USA tour.

Up first were Cellar Darling from Switzerland. The band members include Anna Murphy (vocals, hurdy-gurdy, flute), Merlin Sutter (drums) and Ivo Henzi (guitars and bass). All three are former members of folk metal band Eluveitie. Cellar Darling incorporates heavy metal, folk, classical, and progressive influences. In 2017, they released their debut album This Is the Sound. In 2019, they released their second album The Spell. The lights went out and the crowd cheered as Cellar Darling made their way to the stage. The first song played was Freeze. In Cellar Darling, Murphy gets her chance to shine with her beautiful voice and is only matched by her ability to also play the flute and the hurdy-gurdy. The next two songs played were Insomnia and Death. Cellar Darling took a break while Murphy spoke to the audience and was happy to be back in the states after so long. She also mentioned how Los Angeles has given the band the warmest welcome of the tour. It's safe to say they got the best welcoming cheer of the tour. The last two songs played were The Spell and Black Moon. This was only their first USA tour, but Cellar Darling will most definitely return and hopefully play a much longer set.

Headlining the tour were Swedish heavy metal band Katatonia. In 2020, they released their eleventh studio album City Burials. Their twelfth album Sky Void of Stars is set to be released in 2023. The lights went out once again and the packed audience cheered with excitement as Katatonia came out and started their show with Heart Set to Divide, the first track from the latest album. Katatonia's music can best be described as death doom, gothic metal and progressive metal. More of their greatest hits were performed which included Deliberation, Teargas, Leaders, My Twin and Soil's Song. Katatonia's music isn't the type where you normally mosh to. Instead, you just stand there and take the beautiful music in and let it consume you. The show came to an end with Untrodden and Katatonia left the stage. All seemed quiet, except for the fans who stayed put because they clearly wanted more. After a small break, Katatonia came back out for some encores. The encores were Evidence, July and then the show came to an end with Lethean. Katatonia thanked the audience for coming out and for supporting them after all these years. They bowed to their audience then left the stage once more. A Friday night seemed fitting for a show like this as a way for metalheads to let loose whatever troubles and stress they've had. Hopefully Katatonia return to the USA real soon to promote their upcoming album.

Photos and review by Misael Ruiz

Instagram: tarantulamanmr

Katatonia

Cellar Darling