Album Review: Katatonia – Nightmares as Extensions of the Waking State (Napalm Records)

Swedish masters of melancholic metal, Katatonia, will release their new album ‘Nightmares as Extensions of the Waking State’ on June 6th, 2025, via Napalm Records.

It’s quite something to hear a band consistently reinvent themselves, but it’s even more impressive when the band in question is so well known for a specific style of music. Folks, Katatonia are back, and back with something more experimental, and with that, more challenging. Yet, alongside that, is something more accessible too. Especially as far as traditional metal fans and old school Katatonia fans go. It turns out that there’s a little something for everyone here.

So, let’s talk about the most notable thing about this record first. It’s a heavier Katatonia then we’ve had in recent times, and this seems to have come with the arrival of two new guitarists. This is an album with riffs, big riffs that give the album an overall ‘thicker’ sound, but rest assured, it’s also an album with tons of melody too. As melancholic as ever, but as everyone knows, it’s the way in which Katatonia twist these ideas that leaves the mark. Expect misery, beautiful misery, but expect the unexpected too.

Setting the experimental bar high with the dramatic Thrice, Jonas Renkse’s vocals are as stunning as always. Yet, it’s the progressive curves, the punchier guitars, and the burgeoning cinematic stylishness that ensures this opening track has staying power. Whereas The Liquid Eye is covered in syrupy gloom that feels so Katatonia but has bursts of rockier pace that creates more vibrant shades.

How about Wind of No Change though? Katatonia casting a warm eye over their darker and devilish past to offer up something with substance. It might be an odd comparison to make, but this track is like a heavier Ghost track, but that might be more because of the way Jonas’ croons the words ‘hail Satan’. It is very cool though.

Do you know what else is cool? Exceptional consistency, even when there’s nothing revolutionary going on and that is what Lilac offers. A gargantuan example of melancholic progressive power coming from a place of anguish. Matched only by the richness of Temporal and the emotional heft of Departure Trails. It’s like having a cool breeze wash over you, a storm is on the horizon, and the clouds are rolling in, but in this moment, there’s a freshness that takes the breath the way and leaves you feeling comforted.

Which isn’t normally a word that comes to mind with Katatonia, but that’s what they offer on this thirteenth album. Although your personal mileage may vary in this regard depending on your proclivity for dramatic melancholy with metallised edges. Still, it’s hard to believe that everyone who hears it, won’t find themselves enthralled by the likes of Warden and its peppier moments. Or the proggy excitability of The Light Which I Bleed, a track with a delightfully doomy riff, and the haunting ambient effort that is Efter Solen, which is sung in Jonas’ native language.

Finally, it’s In the Event of, and it’s suitably epic sounding, filled with all manner of traditional Katatonia soundscapes, errant melodies, blooming melancholy, and dense heaviness. The encapsulation of who this band is, stronger then ever, and still able to surprise.

Katatonia – Nightmares as Extensions of the Waking State Track Listing:

1. Thrice
2. The Liquid Eye
3. Wind of no Change
4. Lilac
5. Temporal
6. Departure Trails
7. Warden
8. The Light Which I Bleed
9. Efter Solen
10. In the Event of

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