KATATONIA's JONAS RENKSE On 'Nightmares As Extensions Of The Waking State': You Can Find 'New Stuff Every Time You Listen To The Album'

In a new interview with Flying The Metal Flag, vocalist Jonas Renkse of Swedish masters of melancholic heaviness KATATONIA spoke about the band's latest album, "Nightmares As Extensions Of The Waking State", out now via Napalm Records. Asked how the record came together, Renkse replied (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "Well, I think it came together in parts pretty much, because we did a fair share of touring for the previous album, [2023's] 'Sky Void Of Stars', but I already had some music written even before that. So, when we got home from the touring cycle, I just started working immediately on the new album. And usually I just keep working until I have what I feel is a number of good songs, and I send the demos out to the other guys and they come with their input. And then that's how we usually do. So it's done a little bit in parts, writing-wise, and then we just sort of agreed to a recording date and we started recording the album October last year. So, it was a very smooth process."

After the interviewer noted that "Nightmares As Extensions Of The Waking State" takes the listener on a really good journey, Jonas concurred. "Yeah. And that's what we like to do always," he explained. "I mean, there's a lot of layers, there's a lot of stuff happening that you might not hear the first couple of times you listen to it. And I love that… When I listen to albums myself, I really like sort of finding new stuff every time you listen to the album. So, I think we achieved that in this record too. And I'm really happy with it."

Renkse previously discussed his songwriting process this past June in an interview with New Noise Magazine. He said at the time: "When I'm writing music, I constantly look for these little extra things: a hook, a vocal melody that I think it's helping the song so much that it's making it stand out, or sometimes it's just a sound, a keyboard sound that just makes the song pop in a way. So there's a lot of music that I throw away because they don't have that glean to them. [Those special moments are] not always about what you maybe expect, and you have to know how to look for other things that will make or break the song."

"Nightmares As Extensions Of The Waking State" marked the next step in KATATONIA's evolution, building upon the foundation of "Sky Void Of Stars", and also is an introduction to the band's two new guitarists. KATATONIA in 2025 is composed of Renkse, bassist Niklas Sandin, drummer Daniel Moilanen and guitarists Nico Elgstrand and Sebastian Svalland. The album was produced by Renkse, recorded by Lawrence Mackrory at NBS Audio and The City Of Glass, mixed by Adam Noble, and mastered by Robin Schmidt at 24-96 Mastering.

KATATONIA's founding guitarist Anders Nyström left the band in March 2025 after 34 years and 12 albums.

KATATONIA recently announced a 2026 North American headlining tour. The trek will immediately follow the band's previously announced run supporting fellow Swedish metallers OPETH, kicking off February 27 in San Francisco and wrapping up March 12 in Brooklyn, New York.

Photo credit: Terhi Ylimäinen