KATATONIA

To the chagrin of some and the surprise of few, KATATONIA have not taken the bait and released a "return to form" album. Granted, a "return to form" would comprise a number of options for the long-running Swedes: from their death-doom beginnings to the hypnotic, melancholic glory of "Brave Murder Day" (1996) and "Discouraged Ones" (1998) to the metallic singer-songwriter angle of "Last Fair Deal Gone Down" (2001) and "Viva Emptiness" (2003). KATATONIA, or, instead, lone remaining original member, frontman and songwriter Jonas Renske, is not wired that way, which explains the band's regular expanse that heralds their 13th studio opus, "Nightmares as Extensions of the Waking State".

The notable change here is that co-founding guitarist Anders Nyström is out, as is fellow guitarist Roger Öjersson. In their place are Nico Elgstrand (ex-ENTOMBED A.D.) and Sebastian Svalland (HYPOCRISY),both of whom color well within the lines of KATATONIA's prescriptive sound. Of course, it is Renkse writing the songs, and with that comes the always well-placed and necessary amount of space and atmosphere. Renkse remains fond of thick, burly riffs to work alongside clean guitar peddling and pensive dropouts, which serve as the foundation for the album's first three songs, "Thrice", "The Liquid Eye" and "Wind of no Change", the latter highlighted by the unsettling Renkse line, "Hail Satan".

Lead single "Lilac" is likely a future live staple thanks to its curling, drifting verses and the stray melody that, only for a moment, recalls the band's yesteryears. The same bodes for the excellent "Temporal", a cut that unfurls a quick but effective opening lead guitar line before descending into anxious, ominous territory. From there, "Nightmares" is sequenced to where a run of now-standard reflective and/or soft numbers fill up the middle part of the running order, including "Departure Trails" and "Warden".

The appropriately downcast "The Light Which I Bleed" hits upon the unheralded talents of drummer Daniel "Mojjo" Moilanen, whose shuffle beat in the verse and heavy-handed groove is helped by a natural drum production captured in a church. Following that is the experimental "Efter Solen", which is only the second time KATATONIA have recorded a song in their native tongue.

"Nightmares" ends on a grand gesture with "In the Event of", a swooning, fully encapsulating cut of where KATATONIA are circa 2025. It's an album with more than its share of both familiar and eyebrow-raising moments, many of which are welcome reminders of KATATONIA's need to evolve, all the while remaining one of metal's most reliably dark and brooding bands.