Katagory V

Infobox Musical artist
Name = Katagory V
Landscape =
Background = group_or_band
Alias = Katagory 5
Origin = Salt Lake City, Utah, USA
Genre = Progressive metal
Power metal
Thrash metal
Years_active = 1999 - Present
Label = Nightmare Records
Burning Star Records
Associated_acts =
URL = [http://www.katagory5.com Katagory5.com]
Current_members = Dustin Mitchell Curtis Morrell Matt Suiter Al Rybka Mike Theriot
Past_members = Lynn Allers Marc Hanson Trevor Asire Ryan Tayor

Katagory V is a melodic, Power metal/Progressive metal group from Salt Lake City, Utah that formed in 1999. Signed to Nightmare Records, Katagory V has released four studio albums. Their first album Present Day was released in 2001, and the band's most recent work Hymns of Dissension was released in October 2007.

History

Beginnings, "Present Day" (1999−2002)

Formed in early 1999, Katagory V was founded by bassist Dustin Mitchell, guitarist Curtis Morell and drummer Matt Suiter after meeting at a local rock club in Salt Lake City, Utah. Metal To Infinity interview 2006 [http://users.telenet.be/metaltoinfinity/interview_katagory_v.htm] ] Near the end of 1999 they would be joined by guitarist Ryan Taylor and vocalist Lynn Allers, and begin writing songs for their debut album Present Day, which would be self-released by the band in 2001. Present Day would create a buzz in the underground metal scene [All Music Biography [http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=11:wpfuxqwdldae~T1] ] and grab the attention of Nightmare Records owner Lance King, who would pick it up for distribution through his Record label in 2002. Metal To Infinity interview 2006 [http://users.telenet.be/metaltoinfinity/interview_katagory_v.htm] ]

Katagory V would perform several live shows in Northern Utah through out 2001 and 2002, and would also appear at the Classic Metal Festival II in Cleveland, Ohio, sharing the stage with Seven Witches and long-running heavy metal acts Anvil and Omen. [Blabbermouth.net article June 20, 2002 [http://www.roadrunnerrecords.com/blabbermouth.net/news.aspx?mode=Article&newsitemID=4285] ] A few months before their performance at the Classic Metal Festival II, guitarist Ryan Taylor would leave the band, forcing them to perform at this event as a quartet. Katagory V would then start writing their 2nd album A New Breed of Rebellion in early 2002, and acquire guitarist Trevor Asire in late 2002 to fill the vacant slot left by Taylor. Katagory V would return to perform at the Classic Metal Festival III, now relocated to Chicago Heights, Illinois, alongside Twelfth Gate, Nasty Savage and Meliah Rage. [Unrated Magazine article [http://www.unratedmagazine.com/Document.cfm?Page=Articles/index.cfm&Article_ID=122] ]

"A New Breed of Rebellion" (2003−2004)

2003 would also see Katagory V perform at the world famous ProgPower USA [ProgPower USA] IV festival as a showcase band, sharing the stage with Prymary and Stride. Their second album, A New Breed of Rebellion was due for release at this time, but would be held back several months and not see an official release until January 2004 through Metal Ages Records. Cover art for the album would be supplied by German artist Rainer Kalwitz. Trevor Asire would make the decision to part ways with the band for unrelated personal matters in January 2004, and would be replaced by Marc Hanson.

A New Breed of Rebellion would be known among the bands fans as a misunderstood classic, as it was often criticized in the media as being thin in production, far too technical and less song oriented compared their debut album, Present Day.Hardrock Haven Interview February 2007 [http://www.hardrockhaven.net/interviews2007/KatagoryV07.php] ] In an attempt to redeem themselves amongst the media and some of their fans, Katagory V would make the decision to not promote the album with any live performances in 2004 and spend a majority of that year writing and rehearsing material for the follow up to A New Breed of Rebellion.Hardrock Haven Interview February 2007 [http://www.hardrockhaven.net/interviews2007/KatagoryV07.php] ] They entered the studio in October 2004 with producer Mike Fowkes and would spend the next six months recording the bands third album, The Rising Anger.

"The Rising Anger" (2004-2006)

Spring of 2005 would see Katagory V finish up the recording process of The Rising Anger, and bounce back with several live performances throughout the year, including and opening slot for Metal Church, an appearance at J. J. Kelly’s for the Chicago Powerfest with Imagika, Tad Morose and Morgana Lefay. [Blabbermouth.net article January 24, 2005 [http://www.roadrunnerrecords.com/blabbermouth.net/news.aspx?mode=Article&newsitemID=31949] ] and the Monsters of Metal show in Salt Lake City, Utah with Helstar, Agent Steel and Avengers of Blood. This particular show would also have a special appearance by Leatherwolf guitarist Geoff Gayer, who joined Katagory V on stage to perform the Leatherwolf song ‘The Calling’ and featured Ronny Munroe of Metal Church as the announcer for the event. [Metal Underground article [http://www.metalunderground.com/news/details.cfm?newsid=16227] ]

At the beginning of 2006, Bassist Dustin Mitchell would be called upon to fill in on bass for legendary New York metal band Riot at a show in Salt Lake City, due to original bassist Pete Perez having suffered from an accident that left him unable to perform at this show. [Riot (band) on Rock Detector [http://www.rockdetector.com/officialbio,7418.sm;jsessionid=151EAC11B460F769B141D34E8E794CE9] ] A few months later, the band would officially sign with Nightmare Records and release their 3rd album The Rising Anger. Cover artwork for the album would once again be handled by Rainer Kalwitz. This album would see Katagory V return to a more straight-ahead metal approach in their song writing, gaining several high ranking reviews and bring their name into the forefront of many new fans, while regaining the respect amongst many older fans that felt alienated by the previous album. The band would immediately began working on songs for a fourth album, and only stop long enough to perform a one-off show in Las Vegas, Nevada with Leatherwolf before heading into the studio to record the album Hymns of Dissension in the beginning of 2007.

"Hymns of Dissension" (2007-present)

Katagory V finalized the recording of their 4th album Hymns of Dissension in the late spring of 2007 and would set out to perform several select shows, including co-headlining a show with Vicious Rumors and another with Agent Steel. They would also land a deal with Burning Star Records to release the album in Europe, an important move since a large proportion of the band's fans were located in the European territories [Metal Bulletin Fanzine, September 06, 2006, issue #2, Pg. 1-3] . Famed Swedish artist Mattias Norén would also be hired to handle the cover art for Hymns of Dissension. The band would set a date for a CD release party in their hometown of Salt Lake City, Utah to coincide with the up coming release date of their fourth album, and stated they would be performing live at this event, however without long-time lead vocalist Lynn Allers. Katagory V would then announce Imagika frontman Norman Skinner as a temporary fill-in for this show. [Blabbermouth.net article October, 15, 2007 [http://www.roadrunnerrecords.com/Blabbermouth.net/news.aspx?mode=Article&newsitemID=82779] ] This announcement would leave many fans and media to speculate Allers’ status with the band, and would grow even more suspicious when Katagory V announced that they would also be performing on New Years Eve in Las Vegas, Nevada with Metal Church singer Ronny Munroe as his backing band. [BW&BK Magazine Feature [http://www.bravewords.com/features/1000497] ]

Katagory V would release their fourth album in October 2007 to a huge applause from fans and media, but would still keep their silence concerning the bands affairs until January 2008 when they would officially announce that vocalist Lynn Allers and guitarist Marc Hanson were no longer in the band. [Metal-Rules.com NAMM article [http://www.metal-rules.com/zine/content/view/1222/74/1/2/] ] Bassist and founding member Dustin Mitchell assured fans in an interview that the band would continue on. [Metal Temple Interview, November 11th, 2007 [http://www.metal-temple.com/interview.asp?id=392] ]

Sure enough, on June 8th 2008, Katagory V announced that Al Rybka (also of Chicago-based Bavmorda) would be taking over on vocals, and Mike Theriot would be the band's new guitarist. [Katagory5.com press release [http://www.katagory5.com/start.html] ] This new line-up made its live debut in Salt Lake City exactly two months later, on August 8th 2008, and are presently at work on material for a new album, expected to be released in 2009.

Members

Current members

* Curtis Morrell - guitars (1999 - present)
* Dustin Mitchell - bass guitar (1999 - present)
* Matt Suiter - drums (1999 - present)
* Al Rybka - vocals (2008 - present)
* Mike Theriot - guitars (2008 - present)

Former members

* Lynn Allers - vocals (1999 - 2007)
* Ryan Taylor - guitars (1999 - 2002)
* Trevor Asire - guitars (2003 - 2004)
* Marc Hanson - guitars (2004 - 2007)

Discography

*"Present Day" (2001)
*"A New Breed of Rebellion" (2004)
*"The Rising Anger" (2006)
*"Hymns of Dissension" (2007)

[Katagory V discography on Allmusic [http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=11:wpfuxqwdldae~T2] ]

References

External links

* [http://www.Katagory5.com Katagory V official website]
* [http://www.Nightmare-Records.com Nightmare Records website]
* [http://www.Burning-star.net Burning Star Records website]
* [http://www.ultimatemetal.com/forum/katagory-v-165/ Katagory V on Ultimate Metal]
* [http://www.myspace.com/katagoryv Katagory V on Myspace]