This past November, Swedish/Swiss melodeath/thrash combo KATAPULT released its debut album Play Stupid Games, Win Stupid Prizes through Discouraged Records. With the album, the band has made a lasting impression with its aggressive energy, impressive chops and smart songwriting, which has received praise by international press.
Today, KATAPULT unleashes its fourth music video from the album, this time for the song ‘Sweetheart Come’, and once again the video has been created by the band’s visual wizards Florian Moritz and Johan Norström. The song deals with the heartbreaking story of German psychiatric patient Emma Hauck and the letters she wrote to her lover, which were never sent.
Singer Johan Norström states on the song:
“The story behind ‘Sweetheart Come’ is based on the real letters written by Emma Hauck, while she was admitted to psychiatric hospital because of schizophrenia. The story is terribly dark, the letters repeat the term “Herzensschatzi komm” which translates to “Sweetheart come”. The skeleton for the lyrics has been with me for years, but it wasn’t until I received the first draft of the song that I found a fitting musical outlet for the story. We chose to visualize the song as a depiction of what mrs Hauck’s reality might have been like, locked into a small room, with the dream that one day her husband would come to get her back home as her only companion.”
and stream the debut album HERE
Watch the video for the first single Nihilism for the Gods
Watch the video for the second single Comfortably Dumb
Watch the video for the third single Schädel
Play Stupid Games, Win Stupid Prizes can be ordered on CD HERE.
Born in a backstage area in Sweden in the summer of 2017, KATAPULT is the brainchild of Florian Moritz and Johan Norström. As everyone and their grandmother know, not many bands born in backstage areas survive their infancy, but despite being raised in both Switzerland and Sweden, KATAPULT endured. As time went by, Joel Purificacion was invited to shred some solos on their debut EP, A Fistful of Truth, and being such a good fit, he ended up joining the ranks. Similarly, Felix Bacher and David Stutzer ended up sticking with KATAPULT while being invited to track bass and drums, respectively, during the production of the second EP, Shut the Fuck Up and Press Play.
The album Play Stupid Games, Win Stupid Prizes is a merry-go-round of dark emotions, filled with 13 tracks ranging from blistering rage to immense sorrow, all sprinkled with a layer of “go fuck yourself” attitude. Where tracks like “Comfortably Dumb” deal with the hypocrisy of accepting the meat industry, “21st Century Gladiator Boy” points and laughs at all influencers trying to out-stupid one another, “Litany of Spirals” was written during a sleepless night caused by burnout borderline depression, and “Bränn bilder och minnen” is a giant “Fuck you” to that guy from school who is a proud fucking nazi nowadays. To fuel this record with unusual elans, KATAPULT has utilized the services of a special batch of musicians and their artistry, including vocals, percussion, pedal steel, Hammond, violin, cello, and orchestral arrangement.
For Play Stupid Games, Win Stupid Prizes, no less than six videos are in production as KATAPULT continues to have a strong visual presence. This is not just a bold statement as band members Johan and Florian both work professionally as filmmakers. Johan is an experienced editor, colorist, and animator, and Florian is an exceptional director of photography. Keeping in mind that the video for their track “Du brinner ihjäl” received awards for its storytelling and cinematography, Katapult has all the intentions to surpass that video with what comes next.
In the meantime, KATAPULT eagerly awaits their first live performance. The pandemic outbreak and the geographical distance between Switzerland and Sweden have not even allowed all the band members to congregate under one roof.
KATAPULT – Play Stupid Games, Win Stupid Prizes
Tracklisting:
1. The End
2. Comfortably Numb
3. The Hands of the Devil
4. Sweetheart Come
5. The Arsonist
6. Nihilism for the Gods
7. Litany of Spirals
8. Invite the Sin
9. Schädel
10. All This Because of Greed
11. 21st Century Gladiator Boy
12. Bränn bilder och minnen (feat Fredrik Lindkvist)
13. Oh God for One More Breath
KATAPULT is:
Johan Norström (Terrortory, ex- Starship Monolit) – Vocals
Florian Moritz (ex-Arcturon) – Guitars
Joel Purificacion (ex-FallDown) – Guitars
David Stutzer [ex-Darrow, Breakdown of Sanity (by proxy)] – Drums
Felix Bacher (Hektor, Britney, ex-Arcturon) – Bass
Follow KATAPULT:
https://linktr.ee/katapultthrash
https://katapultthrash.com
https://www.facebook.com/katapultthrash
https://www.instagram.com/katapultthrash
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCwBmCwdd3lPtIaKhtkul_Nw