Given my love of progressive metal and the fact that I generally enjoy a lot of gothic metal, it seems strange that the Swedish band Katatonia is not one that I have paid much attention to over the years. My first real exposure to the band was 2012's Dead End Kings, which I picked up a little while after it came out following the constant good reviews the album was getting in prog circles. It seemed to be one of those albums that stuck with a few prog-loving friends for a long time - and I somewhat enjoyed it when I finally picked it up, feeling that some of the songs were somewhat reminiscent of what Anathema were doing at the time but with more of a gothic edge. It did not stick with me, though, and it is only over the past year or so that I started to make more of an effort with the band - following picking up 2023's Sky Void of Stars quite cheaply. I have since heard some of the band's other more recent albums, alongside fan-favourite Viva Emptiness from 2003, but I would certainly not consider myself an expert. There is still much to explore, including the death/doom era which kicked off the Katatonia story in the early 1990s, but I have started to gain something of an appreciation for the band - despite them currently falling into that quite cold end of the prog metal scene that I tend to struggle with. I have never really liked Porcupine Tree that much beyond a handful of songs, and all of the bands which followed in their wake such as Leprous and Karnivool have never done much for me, either. Katatonia's more recent work certainly has shades of that sound, but there is enough of their gothic and doom metal past to keep me interested - and I have found quite a bit to like in the band's catalogue and I am sure that I will find more to like as I keep exploring. A new album was always going to be the thing that helped me find a real way in, though, so when Nightmares as Extensions of the Waking State dropped last month I picked it up on release. The band's thirteenth album, Nightmares as Extensions of the Waking State is actually quite a key album in the band's history - as it is the first without founding guitarist, and sometime bassist, Anders Nyström. Katatonia members have come and gone over the years, but frontman Jonas Renkse and Nyström were the ever-present duo keeping the band going. Earlier this year, though, Nyström announced that he had left the band due to his unhappiness with the recent musical direction that Renkse was pushing. Even as a casual Katatonia fan, this departure did not come as a shock. Nyström had not contributed to the last couple of albums from a songwriting perspective, and his contributions before that had been declining for a while. I think he wanted to pursue heavier music again, and this clearly not something which Renkse wanted. Given the recent departure of guitarist Roger Öjersson, too, this new album features two new guitarists in the form of Nico Elgstrand (Terra Firma; Entombed; Entombed A.D.) and Sebastian Svalland (In Mourning; Pain) - both of whom have played live with the band on and off over the past few years. Funnily enough, though, Nightmares as Extensions of the Waking State is a little heavier compared to the last few Katatonia albums - with a few more riffy and lead guitar moments than has become average. The overall style is very similar, though, with Renkse writing everything and delivering another slab of sombre, gothic-tinged, and atmospheric prog metal.
Bassist since 2009 Niklas Sandin and drummer since 2015 Daniel Moilanen complete the current Katatonia line-up, with Renkse handling the keyboards. That heavier feeling is present from the very opening seconds of Thrice, as a tough riff opens the album, but the feeling is short-lived - and melodic clean guitar melodies soon take over, with Renkse adding his mournful vocals over this guitar and synth backing. Renkse may not have the biggest range, but he has always managed to inject plenty of emotion into his delivery. As such, he really suits this sombre approach - and he delivers again throughout this album. The clean guitars and this sombre vocal approach characterises the song's verses, but the heaviness from the intro does return - with the chorus being pretty intense in the context of the band's recent sound. Soaring lead guitar moments sit atop heavy riffing as the chorus is approached - whilst the drum sound really punches through whilst retaining an organic feel that is not always present in metal. Renkse does not really change his vocal style against these heavier sections. There is not much grit to his delivery, but the smoothness and mournfulness works well against the crunchy and gothic guitars - similar to how the guitar leads are used elsewhere. Later portions of the song retain a heaviness, too, with a groove-laden riff-led section forming a strong instrumental break - whilst stark synths add subtle leads and depth. It is perhaps the heavier chorus which brings the best out of the band, though, and the song comes to a hard stop following its final reprise. The Liquid Eye also opens with a slight crash of heaviness, but it is less pronounced than Thrice's opening - with percussive drumming and prominent bass playing forming the basis of a smooth verse, over which clean guitar melodies and Renkse's voice shine. Whilst the last song revisited some of the band's past heaviness, this track overall feels more akin to their more recent approach. There is still a dynamic approach taken, though, with the big drumming bulking out the verses nicely - whilst the chorus is a little more hard rocking with some subtle guitar leads and crunchier chords. It feels more cinematic than heavy, though, and the song is not as a driving as the previous one - but Renkse's voice soars atop this cinematic chorus, and there is another heavier section which also features a melodic and emotional guitar solo. Wind of No Change is a bit more of a driving rocker, at least in the context of Katatonia's mournful approach, and it opens with some strident bass playing - over which some choral vocals and a mid-paced mechanical guitar riff soon add some weight. The verses remain melancholy, although Moilanen's drumming feels busy and the bass is high in the mix, but the choral vocal depth from the intro gives the song a different feel - and it returns during a gothic-tinged chorus. The drumming during this chorus is slow-burning yet heavy, whilst guitar crunch and busy leads flesh things out - with Renkse adding his mournful voice against the choral majesty. Dense piano later forms the basis of a bridge section, which leads into a spacey guitar solo - with the track overall being a good mix of gothic melodrama and atmospheric prog.
Lilac opens with some quite mechanical riffing. It does not sound especially heavy, but there is a certain groove which is sat upon early which helps to set it apart from what has been heard up to this point. That being said, though, arrangement-wise the song is quite typical of the pattern of the album. This opening riffing injects some weight and groove, but the verses are generally quite slow-burning. There is clean guitar depth and synths, but there is also a little of the intro's crunch retained, with snaking guitar melodies sitting behind Renkse's voice. A more expanded version of the mechanical intro is later repurposed to create the chorus - although the riffing feels a bit busier and more typically metal here. Guitar leads are sometimes used to add melody instead of the vocals - but generally Renkse sings against this riffy backdrop, his smooth melodies a nice counter to the groovy riffing. Temporal opens with some chiming clean guitar melodies, which soon morph into a cinematic bed of crunchy guitars and synths - culminating in a soaring guitar lead. It is the most sweeping song intro here yet. It lacks some of the heaviness of the general song openings here, but it feels big thanks to the guitar melodies. These melodies are later repurposed during the chorus, which also feels cinematic thanks to a similar overall crunch and Renkse's vocal melodies, but the verses are some of the most sombre on the album in my opinion. The drumming sets a mournful beat thanks to Moilanen's slow pace, whilst the guitars are not busy at all - with dense synths filling in all the gaps. These verses help the chorus to really pop when it kicks in - and the song also has one of the longest and busiest guitar solos on the album up to this point, which even indulges in some brief moments of shredding. The song then crashes to a bit of a close and Departure Trails takes over with its mix of clean guitar and piano melodies. There is no heaviness to kick this one off, with this intro easily morphing into a similar-sounding verse which is set apart from the rest of the album by the piano. It sounds like an electric piano from the 1970s, which gives the song a real rooting in the prog rock world - which is later reinforced by some Mellotron-esque keyboards adding a shimmering halo. There is no riffing at all here really, with clean guitar melodies and leads weaving in and around these various retro-sounding keyboards as Renkse adds his sombre vocals over the top of this intricate mix. The rhythm section ground everything, but there is little weight here overall - and this is a true ballad with a strong prog vibe and a spacey guitar solo. Warden actually opens in a similar manner, with no heaviness and some stark guitar melodies - but the prog keyboards are largely absent this time, with Sandin's bass instead taking on a more prominent role. Hypnotic clean guitar melodies and the rumbling bass form the basis of the track, whilst Moilanen adds some intricate drum grooves, over which Renkse sings in his inimitable manner. Unlike the previous song, though, the chorus feels much weightier - with it picking up the pace and going for a much more metallic feel with crunchier guitars, even if the clean guitar melodies can still be heard in the background. The song is a bit more dynamic than the previous one, then, although is generally retains a more atmospheric sound - which is exemplified by a handful of guitar breaks featuring delicate melodies.
The Light Which I Bleed opens with some discordant guitar melodies, which sit somewhere between clean and distorted to create a strange sound. Moilanen's drumming here is quite different from the norm, too, with his busy hi-hat work giving parts of the song a shuffling feel - which again adds to this overall strange sound. There is something quite unsettling throughout the whole song and it does not really sound like anything else here despite a pretty typical arrangement being followed. The verses are slower and more stripped back and the chorus feels weightier, which is typical of the rest of the album, but the discordant nature gives the piece an edge - and there are later moments which feel quite symphonic, with some of the synths used here adding a grandness to parts of the track. This is how the ending of the song is characterised, and it does feel heavier than the norm, but overall the song is more restrained - which allows that strange vibe to permeate. The penultimate number Efter Solen is sung in Swedish - and it opens with Renkse at the piano and singing the opening lyrics alone against rumbling chords and subtle synths. This sparse vibe continues for quite a significant period of time and it is a while before anything changes. The piano and synths create quite a dense bed over time, though, and there are what sound like some programmed percussive noises at times - which fade in gradually and are easily missed unless listening closely. A strange programmed drum beat later joins in, and it reminds me of those initial comparisons to Anathema I had - as the programming really reminds me of the Anathema song Distant Satellites. The electronics slowly grow in stature as the song progresses from here, too, with more synths and strange beats giving depth to Renkse's emotional vocals and piano. It does not really sound like anyone else was involved in this track - but as a piece of gothic and downbeat electronica it works well to provide a different vibe. The album then comes to a close with In the Event Of, which returns to the album's core sound of a mix of heaviness and melancholy. The second half of the album is certainly less heavy than the first - so the opening riff and driving drumbeat which opens In the Event Of comes as a bit of a shock after the ballads and electronica which came before. The song is typical of the album's core sound, though, with slow-burning verses and a more cinematic chorus which builds on the opening riffs. Crunchy riffs and powerful drumming give Renkse's voice a strong bed during the chorus, whilst a stark guitar lead adds a countermelody, but the verses are typically low-key with plenty of synths and gothic overtones. A slow-burning guitar solo later adds some additional melancholy and melody to the piece - and it is nice that the album returns to its core sound to close things out, going slightly bigger again after a few smaller and more experimental pieces. It ends the album well, with Renkse even pushing himself a bit vocally during the last moments of the piece. Nightmares as Extensions of the Waking State is the first Katatonia album that I have truly digested, and each listen has improved my opinion on it. I like the slightly heavier feel in places compared to the band's other recent work, and the two new guitar players have acquitted themselves well here. It is very much modern Katatonia in style, though, and that core gothic and atmospheric sound feels fresh thanks to the riffing elsewhere.
The album was released on 6th June 2025 via Napalm Records. Below is the band's promotional video for Lilac.
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