Dustin would call in the help of drummer Matt Suiter, whom he had played in various other bands with previously, and Curtis would recruit guitarist Ryan Taylor, who was his partner in their previous band prior to forming Katagory V. The four started writing a several songs, including reworked songs from both Dustin & Curtis's former bands, and then sought out a competent, powerful and versatile vocalist that would be able to handle the job, this in turn would lead them to Lynn Allers. As of late 1999, the line up was complete and with many disagreements and futile compromises, they settled for the purposely-misspelled Katagory V as the official band name.

The band would record their first album, "Present Day" in early 2000, and release it independently while securing a distribution deal with Nightmare Records in the U.S. - 2002 would see the band selling many copies of the now-sought-after underground classic, "Present Day", and a growing fan base in Germany, and other parts of Europe. This album became renowned for the song, "Evil Princess"; hailed as a U.S. Metal classic, this song would receive massive airplay on late-night radio stations, internet radio broadcasts and even played over PA Systems between bands at European metal festivals.

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. Katagory V 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 "A New Breed of Rebellion", 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 the sophomore effort with Curtis handling all the guitar duties; and which would be geared in a more technical, progressive metal direction.

In January of 2003, after much of the recording had been complete for "A New Breed..." Katagory V held auditions for the vacant guitar slot left by 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 since 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 record 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.

Early 2003 also saw the band 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 lack of promotion and finances Metal Ages Records would close it's doors at the end of 2003, and the band would buy back their licensing rights to "A New Breed of Rebellion", which would then be turned over for distribution through Nightmare Records, the label ran by former Balance of Power/Pyramze vocalist, Lance King, who also handled the distribution of debut, "Present Day".

Katagory V would 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 new material and then recording their 3rd album, "The Rising Anger" throughout 2005. With this 3rd album, Katagory V decided to create songs that would combine their earlier straight-ahead metal style with the more modern, progressive edge of the 2nd album. This was something that they had been working toward since their inception six years earlier - combining melodic, hook-laden songs with classic thrash riffing, while still implementing their influences of U.S. power and progressive rock/metal.

Early 2006 would see the release of "The Rising Anger", and with the album completed, Katagory V would then perform several showcase events over the next year and a half, including the Monsters of Metal show with U.S. Metal veterans Helstar and Agent Steel, and opening for Vicious Rumors and metal legends and friends, Metal Church. It was also in this period, that bassist Dustin Mitchell would sit in with New York rock/metal icons, Riot, at there show in Salt Lake City, after original bassist Pete Perez was injured prior to that show. Not only would “The Rising Anger” redeem themselves with many of their older fan base, but create a strong following in both the U.K. and Greece, and shoot up to the top of several magazine and radio station top 10 favorites in Europe, America and Canada.

In the spring of 2007, Katagory V would no longer be considered a “U.S. Import” metal band, and finally gain a stronger presence in Europe by signing a two-album deal with Burning Star Records. Katagory V will debut their first-ever domestic European release with their upcoming 4th album, “Hymns of Dissension” in the Fall, and this release will also include two very special bonus tracks not available anywhere else. These two songs were recorded specifically for their fans in Europe – An unreleased studio track “Anthem of the Underground”, as well as an updated, re-recorded version of the classic “Evil Princess” song from their debut album.