Katatonia/Nightmares As Extensions Of The Waking State/Napalm Records/2025 Full Length Review

 

  Sweden's  Katatonia  have  returned  with  a  new  recording  which  shows  the  music  going  for  a melancholic  and  progressive  mixture  of  alternative,  gothic  and  post  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2025  album  "Nightmares  As  Extensions  Of  The  Waking  State"  which  will b e  released  in  June  by  Napalm  Records.

 

   A  very  heavy  and  atmospheric  sound  starts  off  the  album  before  adding  in  some  clean  playing  and  synths  while  the  vocals  are  done  in  more  of  a  clear  style.  When  guitar  solos  and  leads  are  utilized  they  are  also  done  in  a  very  melodic  post  metal  style  and  all  of  the  musical  instruments  also  have  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them.

  

  A  lot  of  the  music  also  brings  in  elements  of  gothic  metal  while  also  adding  in  a  lot  of  alternative  rock  touches.  Some  of  the  tracks  also  bring  in  a  small  amount  of  back  up  vocals  along  with  the  album  also  getting  very  progressive  sounding  at  times  and  most  of  the  album  sticks  to  a  slower  direction.

  

  On  this  recording  Katatonia  expands  on  the  progressive  mixture  of  alternative,  gothic  and  post  metal  from  the  last  few  releases.  The  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  cover  dystopia,  inner  demons  and  purity  themes.   

  

  In  my  opinion  this  is  another  great  sounding  recording  from  Katatonia  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  this  band,  you  should  check  out  this  album.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Thrice"  "Lilac"  "The  Light  Which  I  Bleed"  and  "In  the  Event  of'.  8  out  of  10.

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Katatonia/Sky Void Of Stars/Napalm Records/2023 Full Length Review

 

  Katatonia  are  a  band  from  Sweden  that  has  had  music  reviewed  before  in  this  zine  and  started  out  as  being  a  blackened  doom/goth  metal  band  in  the  beginning  but  over  the years  have evolved  into  into  more  of  a  progressive  mixture  of  alternative,  post  rock  and  goth  metal  over  the  years  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2023  album  "Sky  Void  of  Stars"  which  will b e  released  on  January  20th  by  Napalm  Records.

  Clear  vocals  along  with  some  heavy  and  melodic  riffing  starts  off  the  album  along  with  some  clear  vocals  a  few  seconds  later.  Elements  of  goth  and  doom  metal  can  also  be  heard  in  the  slower  sections  of  the  songs  while  the  solos  and  leads  are  also  add  in  a  great  amount  of  melody  and  all  of  the  musical  instruments  sound  very  powerful.

  Touches  of  indie,  alternative  and  post  rock  can  also  be  heard  quite  a  bit  throughout  the  recording  while  the  clean  sections  also  gives  the  songs  more  of  a  progressive  feeling  along  with  the  music  sticking  to  either  a  slow  or  mid  tempo  direction  as  well  as  capturing  a  very  melancholic  atmosphere  at  times.

  On  this  recording  Katatonia  goes  into  more  of  a  progressive  mixture  of  alternative,  post  rock  and  gothic  metal.  The  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  cover  melancholy  and  depression  themes.

  In  my  opinion  this  is  another  decent  sounding  recording  from  Katatonia  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  this  band,  you  should  check  out  this  album.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Colossal  Shade"  "Drab  Moon"  "Sclera"  and  "Absconder".  7/5  out  of  10.

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Katatonia/Discouraged Ones/CenturyMedia Records/1998 CD Review

 Katatonia are a band from Sweden that started out as a black/doom metal band but went into a more gothic direction with this album and this is a review of their 1998 album "Discouraged Ones" which was released by Century Media Records.

Drums are mostly slow to mid paced playing with no fast drumming or blast beats present on this recording, while the keyboards are very dark and tragic sounding, as for the bass playing it has a very dark tone with riffs that follow the riffing that is coming out of the guitars and at times they sound very powerful with some bass leads.

Rhythm guitars are mostly slow to mid paced gothic metal riffs that also have an indie rock feel to them as well as a doomy edge, while the lead guitars are very depressing and sounding guitar solos, as for the acoustic guitars they bring a very haunting and tragic sound to the music.

Vocals are all clean singing with none of the growls or screams that where used on previous albums, while the lyrics are very poetic and sad, as for the production on this recording which was recorded and mixed at sunlight studios during July and August of 1997 sounds very professional and you can hear all of the musical instruments that are present on this recording.

In my opinion this was a very good album from Katatonia and while some fans did not like this album because they dropped the heavier vocals, I still liked this recording a lot. RECOMMENDED TRACKS INCLUDE "I Break" "Relention" "Cold Wags" and "Saw You Drown". RECOMMENDED BUY

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