Katatonia – "Nightmares As Extensions Of The Waking State"

"Dammit, Jonas. Go get a guitar, three chords, and a depression."

(Guest reviewer: Magnus Jørgensen)

Sweden's Katatonia took me by storm around the turn of the century. Or maybe not by storm, but I'm not sure you can take someone by ceaseless, cold rain from a gray sky. The doom/black metal of their first two records was exceptional, and the metal-meets-The Cure of "Discouraged Ones" ('98) and "Tonight's Decision" ('99) dragged me into a wonderful swamp of apathy.

Fast-forward: Guitarist Anders Nyström has left, leaving only Jonas Renkse's one-and-a-half-octave vocal range from the original band. And without his musical partner of around 35 years, Renkse has had a mountain to climb.

Opener "Thrice" brings back memories of "Forsaker" from "Night Is the New Day" ('09), but the chugging riffing and dynamic drumming take us through a song structure that is going... absolutely nowhere. Two minutes in, a quiet, atmospheric part leads into a chug-n-drum part before culminating in an almost comically weak refrain. And that's the fucking opener.

The second track, "The Liquid Eye", is even weaker. The vocal melodies are almost wilfully random. There's a lot going on behind the singing, though, and it's all played with the intensity of someone desperate to inject content into this non-song. The Katatonia of 2025 has wound up sounding like a bad copy of itself. But hey, solid drumming!

These aren't songs. They are musical fragments haphazardly put together, and I have no idea why I or anyone else should waste our time listening to them.

And with that, we drudge on through an album charged with exactly zero inspiration. "Wind of No Change" is probably the best (or should that be only?) composition here. There's a neat bass line and an attempt at a catch-phrase, and the inclusion of a choir is refreshing, even if it is as half-hearted as anything on this record. But at least something's happening.

I'm pretty sure that if you asked Jonas Renkse to sing any refrain from this album, he would have no idea what to do. The melodies are weak; the songwriting uninspired. Not a riff, not a melody, not a vocal line amount to anything. The endless, calm verses all build up to what could be a study in anticlimaxes. It's not like watching paint dry – at least that has a purpose. It's more like watching water evaporate.

This album has never been played by a band. Any rehearsal room would chew it up and spit it in the bin. And any band would see that these aren't songs; they are musical fragments haphazardly put together. And I have no idea why I or anyone else should waste our time listening to them.

Attempting a solemn, dignified conclusion to the utter mess he's made, Renkse closes things with a piano-ballad in Swedish. It's... nice, I guess, but at this point, "nice" seems like flattery. Dammit, Jonas. Go get a guitar, three chords, and a depression.

Rating: 2 out of 6

Genre: Alternative / would-be progressive / gothic metal / whatever
Release date: 6/6/2025
Label: Napalm
Producer: Jonas Renkse