Katatonia

Katatonia is a Swedish heavy metal band formed in Stockholm in 1991 by Jonas Renkse and Anders Nyström. The band started as a studio-only outlet for their love of death metal. Increasing popularity led to more band members for live performances, though outside of the band's founders, the lineup was a constantly changing musicians throughout the 1990s, including Mikael Åkerfeldt of Opeth for a period. After two albums, Dance of December Souls (1993) and Brave Murder Day (1996), problems with Renkse's vocal cords coupled with new musical influences caused the band to avoid the screamed vocals of black and death metal in favor of traditional, melodic progressive rock.