(((O))) Review: Katatonia – Nightmares as Extensions of a Waking State

At this point in his career, it is increasingly obvious that Jonas Renkse is perfectly happy to settle down and write the same album, over and over again. Since 2006’s The Great Cold Distance, the Katatonia template has not varied much – calm introspection colliding with anthemic prog metal, layered with Renkse’s melancholic vocal glaze. It is a formula that has served them well; the success of albums such as Night is the New Day, Dead End Kings and Sky Void of Stars have seen the Swedes become mainstays on the scene, and Renkse himself become a household name.

So is the mouthful that is Nightmares as Extensions of the Waking State a departure for the band? Not particularly, although there are certainly new elements at play here. The big cloud hanging over the album is the departure of founding guitarist Anders Nyström, supposedly due to his preference for the band’s earlier, more doomy output, largely cast aside in recent years. Announced earlier this year, his absence casts a large shadow over Nightmares… and makes it clear that this album, and the band as a whole have shifted to become solely Renkse’s baby.

Yet, perhaps out of sheer spite, this album quite often feels heavier, and more guitar-driven than a lot of the band’s more recent output. Opener ‘Thrice’ begins with an explosion of metal drumming, before giving way to perhaps the most anthemic opener the band have released since ‘Forsaker’. ‘Wind of no Change’ rumbles along with menacing thunder, with cries of “Hail Satan” veering closest to the band’s earlier more extreme period than they have done in quite some time. At the opposite end of the spectrum, the beautiful lead single ‘Lilac’ showcases the talents of new boys Sebastian Svalland and Nico Elgstrand very nicely, with it’s poignant guitar-led outro.

Another highlight is the glitchy trip-hop of ‘Efter Solen’. Sung completely in Swedish, it initially seems like a gentle piano-led ballad before morphing into something else entirely. It’s an album highlight and seems like it belongs to a completely different band.

Which is good, because elsewhere, the band plays it a little too safe. The likes of ‘Departure Trails’, ‘Warden’ and ‘In the Event of’ are pretty standard Katatonia offerings, and ultimately feel rather forgettable due to it. ‘The Light Which I Bleed’ fares better, largely due to an earworm of a chorus, yet it all still feels rather safe.

Indeed, a lot of Nightmares… feels like echoes of Katatonia past, for better or worse. For fans of the band’s recent output, rejoice! Everything you would want is still present and correct. Yet, it would be nice to see Renkse truly flex his progressive muscles. If he is refusing to look backwards, then surely it is time to look forwards? Perhaps, when his new members are bedded in a bit more we will see him break free of his rut, but for now, Nightmares as Extensions of a Waking State is another perfectly serviceable collection of progressive melancholy.