Katagory V - Biography
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Biography
Katagory V came into inception in early 1999, when founders Curtis Morrell (guitar) and Dustin Mitchell (Bass) met at a local rock show through mutual friend. The two immediately found they had a lot in common musically, and decided to put a metal project together that would boast the sound and style of many of their influences. Little did they know that it would actually evolve into a real, working band.
Dustin would call in the help of drummer Matt Suiter, whom he had played in various other bands with (Vivid Image, Malevolence), and Curtis would recruit guitarist Ryan Taylor, who was his partner in their previous band, Arbitrator. The four started writing a few songs, including reworked songs from both Dustin & Curtisu's former bands, and decided it was time to seek out a vocalist that would be competent and talented enough to take on the task at hand.
After a few ups and downs, the band came across Lynn Allers (formerly of the band Tanis), whom had auditioned for Arbitrator in 1997 when the band was making attempts to reform. He however, bowed out; feeling the music and talent was not fitting for his vocals. This time around, he returned with the promise of a new line-up, and new direction. After the first audition, he decided to stick around, and as of late 1999, the band was complete. With many disagreements and futile compromises, they settled for Katagory V as the name of their line-up.
The band had made the ideal goal of creating music that was powerful, melodic and above all, METAL. Katagory V was looking to fuse many of their early metal influences with early progressive rock, while still maintaining a sense of melody and hooks.
Year 2000 - 2002
The band started tracking their first album, Present Day in early 2000, with very little hope of anything actually becoming of it, other than to say they made a heavy metal album that everyone in the band was happy with for the first time in their careers as musicians. Between the summer of 2000 and 2001, Katagory V would spend their time crafting an album of classic U.S. metal anthems and progressive overtones at Streamline Studios, owned by Curtis Morrell, near the end of the year, and would secure a distribution deal with Nightmare Records. 2002 would see the band selling many copies of their independent release, Present Day, with a growing underground fan base in Germany and other parts of Europe, get their fair share of many favorable reviews overseas and in the United States, and live appearances along side such acts as Omen, Seven Withes and Anvil.
It was at this point the band had decided to take themselves a bit more seriously, as they had no idea that a metal band from Utah, like themselves, would ever get this far, and it came as a strong reality check that metal fans across the globe were actually listening and raving about their music.
Also during the early part of 2002, the band would start writing and recording the follow up to Present Day, and were feeling the pressure of coming up with a product that would top their debut release, which has been considered and underground cult metal classic in many circles.
During the writing of their 2nd album, they would see the departure of guitarist Ryan Taylor over personal obligations outside the band, which then brought them down to a four piece. Katagory V would continue on without Taylor, and would enter the studio in the late fall of 2002 and begin recording there sophomore effort â%A New Breed of Rebellion, with Curtis handling all the guitar duties; and which would be geared in a more progressive metal direction.
Year 2003
In January of 2003, after much of the recording had been complete for A New Breed of Rebellion Katagory V held auditions for the vacant guitar slot left by Ryan Taylor, and came across the talent of Trevor Asire. The band would complete the recording of the album in the spring, and sign to Metal Ages Records, while making live appearances with Meliah Rage and Nasty Savage outside their native Utah, and then make the trip to perform the pre-party showcase at the now infamous ProgPower festival in Atlanta, Georgia, featuring acts such as Stride, Prymary, Nightwish and Symphony X.
However, with the live performances boosting the bands popularity in the States slightly, all was not well. The band would see delay, after delay in the release of their 2nd album, which had been complete in July of 2003, and would not be released until January of 2004, nearly three years since the release of Present Day. Many fans had become distant and jaded at the length between albums, and this in turn would affect the band internally, causing strife between the band and the label, as well as between the band members themselves. It was then that the band parted ways with guitarist Trevor Asire in December of 2003.
Year 2004-2005
After the release of A New Breed of Rebellion in January, the band again began looking for another 2nd guitarist, and would hire on Marc Hanson, a friend and very accomplished guitarist whom Dustin had met a few years earlier. With the delayed release of their 2nd album, there would also be a delay in promotions. A New Breed of Rebellion would see no publicity or push from the through most of 2004, with much of the promotion and reviews popping up in the late fall of 2004, almost 9 months after it had been released. Even though the album had no push initially, it had sold over double the amount that Present Day had, but the band felt things could have went much better and were unhappy with the ripple effect that had been caused by all the delays involved with the album. The A New Breed of Rebellion would then be turned over for distribution through Nightmare Records, the label ran by former Balance of Power vocalist, Lance King, who also handled the distribution of Present Day.
Katagory V would make then make the hard decision of not performing live for the rest of 2004, and concentrate on picking up the slack from their 2nd album, by writing and recording their 3rd album, tentatively titled The Rising Anger . They would also turn over their web duties to Jens Pohl, (webmaster for Running Wild, RockPromotion.net), as well as see many mixed reviews on A New Breed of Rebellion, where some fans felt alienated by the change of direction to a more progressive style, while many others hailed it as the best metal album to come out of the U.S. in years.
At the end of 2004, Katagory V entered the studio to record their follow up to A New Breed. Spending several months with producer Mike Fowkes fine tuning their craft, the band would complete the duly titled The Rising Anger in the spring of 2005. Through the bands eyes, this album is the catalyst of what they have been working toward since their inception six years earlier, combining melodic, hook-laden songs with classic thrash riffing, while still implementing their influence of U.S. power and progressive metal. With the album completed, the band would then perform several showcase gigs including the Monsters of Metal show with U.S. Metal veterans Helstar and Agent Steel.
Today...
With 2006 here, Katagory V has a new chapter and attitude with their latest album The Rising Anger, due April 25th 2006 on Nightmare Records. With the new album, the band is currently gearing up to perform live once again and bring the rebellion to the metal masses once again.
(source: http://www.katagory5.com/)
Dustin would call in the help of drummer Matt Suiter, whom he had played in various other bands with (Vivid Image, Malevolence), and Curtis would recruit guitarist Ryan Taylor, who was his partner in their previous band, Arbitrator. The four started writing a few songs, including reworked songs from both Dustin & Curtisu's former bands, and decided it was time to seek out a vocalist that would be competent and talented enough to take on the task at hand.
After a few ups and downs, the band came across Lynn Allers (formerly of the band Tanis), whom had auditioned for Arbitrator in 1997 when the band was making attempts to reform. He however, bowed out; feeling the music and talent was not fitting for his vocals. This time around, he returned with the promise of a new line-up, and new direction. After the first audition, he decided to stick around, and as of late 1999, the band was complete. With many disagreements and futile compromises, they settled for Katagory V as the name of their line-up.
The band had made the ideal goal of creating music that was powerful, melodic and above all, METAL. Katagory V was looking to fuse many of their early metal influences with early progressive rock, while still maintaining a sense of melody and hooks.
Year 2000 - 2002
The band started tracking their first album, Present Day in early 2000, with very little hope of anything actually becoming of it, other than to say they made a heavy metal album that everyone in the band was happy with for the first time in their careers as musicians. Between the summer of 2000 and 2001, Katagory V would spend their time crafting an album of classic U.S. metal anthems and progressive overtones at Streamline Studios, owned by Curtis Morrell, near the end of the year, and would secure a distribution deal with Nightmare Records. 2002 would see the band selling many copies of their independent release, Present Day, with a growing underground fan base in Germany and other parts of Europe, get their fair share of many favorable reviews overseas and in the United States, and live appearances along side such acts as Omen, Seven Withes and Anvil.
It was at this point the band had decided to take themselves a bit more seriously, as they had no idea that a metal band from Utah, like themselves, would ever get this far, and it came as a strong reality check that metal fans across the globe were actually listening and raving about their music.
Also during the early part of 2002, the band would start writing and recording the follow up to Present Day, and were feeling the pressure of coming up with a product that would top their debut release, which has been considered and underground cult metal classic in many circles.
During the writing of their 2nd album, they would see the departure of guitarist Ryan Taylor over personal obligations outside the band, which then brought them down to a four piece. Katagory V would continue on without Taylor, and would enter the studio in the late fall of 2002 and begin recording there sophomore effort â%A New Breed of Rebellion, with Curtis handling all the guitar duties; and which would be geared in a more progressive metal direction.
Year 2003
In January of 2003, after much of the recording had been complete for A New Breed of Rebellion Katagory V held auditions for the vacant guitar slot left by Ryan Taylor, and came across the talent of Trevor Asire. The band would complete the recording of the album in the spring, and sign to Metal Ages Records, while making live appearances with Meliah Rage and Nasty Savage outside their native Utah, and then make the trip to perform the pre-party showcase at the now infamous ProgPower festival in Atlanta, Georgia, featuring acts such as Stride, Prymary, Nightwish and Symphony X.
However, with the live performances boosting the bands popularity in the States slightly, all was not well. The band would see delay, after delay in the release of their 2nd album, which had been complete in July of 2003, and would not be released until January of 2004, nearly three years since the release of Present Day. Many fans had become distant and jaded at the length between albums, and this in turn would affect the band internally, causing strife between the band and the label, as well as between the band members themselves. It was then that the band parted ways with guitarist Trevor Asire in December of 2003.
Year 2004-2005
After the release of A New Breed of Rebellion in January, the band again began looking for another 2nd guitarist, and would hire on Marc Hanson, a friend and very accomplished guitarist whom Dustin had met a few years earlier. With the delayed release of their 2nd album, there would also be a delay in promotions. A New Breed of Rebellion would see no publicity or push from the through most of 2004, with much of the promotion and reviews popping up in the late fall of 2004, almost 9 months after it had been released. Even though the album had no push initially, it had sold over double the amount that Present Day had, but the band felt things could have went much better and were unhappy with the ripple effect that had been caused by all the delays involved with the album. The A New Breed of Rebellion would then be turned over for distribution through Nightmare Records, the label ran by former Balance of Power vocalist, Lance King, who also handled the distribution of Present Day.
Katagory V would make then make the hard decision of not performing live for the rest of 2004, and concentrate on picking up the slack from their 2nd album, by writing and recording their 3rd album, tentatively titled The Rising Anger . They would also turn over their web duties to Jens Pohl, (webmaster for Running Wild, RockPromotion.net), as well as see many mixed reviews on A New Breed of Rebellion, where some fans felt alienated by the change of direction to a more progressive style, while many others hailed it as the best metal album to come out of the U.S. in years.
At the end of 2004, Katagory V entered the studio to record their follow up to A New Breed. Spending several months with producer Mike Fowkes fine tuning their craft, the band would complete the duly titled The Rising Anger in the spring of 2005. Through the bands eyes, this album is the catalyst of what they have been working toward since their inception six years earlier, combining melodic, hook-laden songs with classic thrash riffing, while still implementing their influence of U.S. power and progressive metal. With the album completed, the band would then perform several showcase gigs including the Monsters of Metal show with U.S. Metal veterans Helstar and Agent Steel.
Today...
With 2006 here, Katagory V has a new chapter and attitude with their latest album The Rising Anger, due April 25th 2006 on Nightmare Records. With the new album, the band is currently gearing up to perform live once again and bring the rebellion to the metal masses once again.
(source: http://www.katagory5.com/)