KATATONIA
Sweden’s melancholic masters successfully navigate recent choppy waters to deliver their lucky 13th album.
Words: Dom Lawson
Illustration: Matthew Holland
Edited by Dave Everley prog.reviews@futurenet.com
A fter 34 years of quietly going about their business, Katatonia finally succumbed to the lure of drama earlier this year, when co-founding guitarist Anders Nyström announced his departure. A respectful, but melancholy announcement by the band was followed by a slightly terse statement from Nyström, in which he bemoaned singer and decades-long songwriting partner Jonas Renkse’s reluctance to revisit earlier, heavier parts of their catalogue in the live arena. “That door has been kept shut,” he mused, “and left everything we did pre-Millennium in a void.”