Just a few weeks ago we can enjoy the new job of Katatonia, ‘The Fall of Hearts’, which signifies their tenth studio album and a new brick in the musical progress of the Norsemen.
Taking advantage of the release of this new album and that the band will be back in our country in August, we had the opportunity to interview the guitarist and co-founder of Katatonia, Anders Nyström.
Katatonia was formed more than 20 years ago. In the early years, they used to have a totally different sound than the one they practice now. Do you think this is due to having acquired over the years a musical knowledge that has led them to say: "This is our style"?
It is true that Katatonia sounded very different when we started. In fact when I and Jonas formed Melancholium, we talked about musical concepts very different from those of today. Actually and although it sounds cliché, we have aged in all these years and our tastes have been changing. Obviously we have learned to play better, but the point is that everything changes and it doesn't have to be due to a revelation.
With this major change, did you take influences from other bands or experiment with sounds that have made you what you are today?
We did a little bit of everything. Anyway, Katatonia has always sounded like Katatonia, at least that is what we have tried. I think the biggest influence for us has been ourselves.
There are many people who say that there are certain parallels between Opeth and Katatonia. What is your personal opinion about it?
It is obvious that Opeth is a great band that has stood out above the rest for having its own sound. It is also obvious the respect that we have towards Mikael Akerfeldt and his way of expressing himself through his art. That is the greatest parallelism that I see with us, having been able to stand out above other bands of the style and in a totally defining way. It is important that a band can develop their own personal brand through their sound and their attitude or personality. Opeth they have without a doubt.
They have grown a lot musically in recent years and this has allowed them to give an extra dimension to each of their How would you describe “The Fall Of Heart”?
It is an album that marks the stage that we opened with "Night Is The New Day" and that we continued with "Dead End Kings" or "Dethroned & Uncrowned". In those records we used other types of instruments and samplers, except in "Dethroned ..." where we wanted to give a more acoustic touch to those songs from "Dead ...". At that time we had many problems with members of the band who had to leave it for various reasons. They were difficult moments, but little by little, everything returned to the stability we needed to work on this new album. "The Fall Of Hearts" continues the progressive metal legacy that has fueled this last stage of our career. An album that is still depressing and melancholic.
“Me enorgullezco de lo que hemos logrado como banda”
How was the process of composing the album until it was taken to a conceptual field? Where did you find your inspiration?
Me and Jonas have composed practically the entire album. At that time we suffered the loss of our previous drummer and also the incorporation of the new member Daniel “Mojjo” Moilanen, with whom we connected very quickly. The songs emerged spontaneously and naturally and inspiration is reborn in our own personal character and visionary concept in a depressing and romantically dark atmosphere.
In addition to concentrating new technological elements that have made this album something more distinguished and innovative, how has joining forces with the new values of the band Orjesson and Moilanen turned out?
It has been very positive, although I do not entirely agree with you that this album is excessively innovative. I think it is an album that reflects very well the current spirit of our artistic maturity, but we have not used too many resources with which we were not widely familiar. Orjesson and Moilanen have been the perfect counterpoint to our manifestation of creativity, perfect squires for times to come.
Personally, I love "Last Song Before The Fade", it is really powerful and with progressive touches. Do you think this song represents all the elements of Katatonia?
I'm glad you like it. It is a great song with a lot of emotional charge, that piano beginning, the energetic and powerful rhythm and the open way in which the lyrics are interpreted. It also includes those usual guitar touches in our songs. And yes, it is definitely a song that faithfully represents Katatonia's current style and values.
My impression of the single “Old Heart Falls” translates into a very captivating feeling of depth, darkness, and atmospheric tone. Do you think it will be difficult to extrapolate it to live with the same feeling?
It is indeed a song that brings together those values that you quote. We have tried the songs in our rehearsal room and we have worked on all the aspects that could somehow limp live, in fact we always do it even from the moment we compose, that is, we are not conditioned by it at the time to create, but we do have an eye on the resources that are within our reach so as not to exceed ourselves in claims.
If Katatonia split today, would you be satisfied with everything accomplished in the band's two decades of career?
I certainly look back and take pride in everything I have accomplished with this band, but a musician does not live from the past, but from the present. The way we manage to make records that remain in the memory of the fan, is to think that it is the next thing we can do to go one step further. It would be very comfortable to think that with what we have done until now we would become part of a legend that will be remembered for decades, but even if it were, within the musician's internal jurisdiction, there is an endless desire to recreate and try to surprise again.
Have you recently been drawn to play songs from his early years again?
Not for our current stage. The band today is not reflected in those songs, at least not in all of them, although obviously I am very proud to have composed them and that they have served as an unquestionable pillar of everything we have achieved since.
¿Te gustan las bandas de la “nueva ola del metal”?
I do not usually listen to new metal bands, except at festivals with which we can share a poster and the truth is that I do not usually pay attention.
They will be in Mexico in the month of August, what will the fans who are going to see them find? Do you already have a setlist prepared?
The truth is that we do not have a fixed setlist. In fact, in the last shows we have done in Tuska, Hellfest or even in Metaltown Indoors last March, it has varied. Obviously there will be songs from the new album and classic songs in the band's current repertoire.
