Katatonia

‘Stagnation’ is not a word in the Katatonia dictionary. Since breaking through as masters of death/doom, Stockholm’s freethinkers have transcended genre, consolidating goth, shoegaze and prog into bleak, melodic songs. Now, after three decades of invention and reinvention, “Nightmares as Extensions of the Waking State” (2025) marks another bold leap. Following the immediate anthem-making of City Burials (2020) and Sky Void of Stars (2023), Katatonia’s 13th album gets more experimental and more metal without holding back on catchiness. The dark hooks and tender vocals remain, yet the band also drive in unpredictable directions while delivering their hardest riffs in years.

Now more than a dozen albums deep into a 30-year-plus career, Katatonia’s well of inspiration still hasn’t run dry. If anything, Nightmares… is one of the bravest and most vulnerable releases to bear their name. And, going forward, the band’s confidence will only continue to grow, thanks to the new blood in their ranks.

Their long way out of the darkness and into our hearts has taken up many shapes ever since their first two genre-bending milestones: Dance of December Souls (1993) and the unforgettable and oft-copied classic Brave Murder Day (1996). Whatever you might call their artful and soul-searching tunes ever since these records, they have always remained true to the very principles of musicality over scene, progression over deadlock, and collective over ego.