A band that certainly doesn’t need an introduction at this stage of their career, Katatonia have provided a gloomy and atmospheric walk through their time in the metal space. Their newest album, Nightmares as Extensions of the Waking State, is notable in that the guitar section of the band (including Anders Nyström) parted ways last year so it’s entirely new. Thus ushering Katatonia into a new era once more. One that’s promising with emotional resonance and atmosphere. We discussed all of the changes in the band with new guitarist Sebastian Svalland, who gave us his view of the long-standing act, the new album, his approach to playing in numerous acts over the years, and even what he enjoys outside of music.
Dead Rhetoric: How do you best describe Nightmares as Extensions of the Waking State, as the latest Katatonia album?
Sebastian Svalland: I would describe it as something different, something darker. The sound is incredible, I think. I don’t know how far back you have to go in order to not have an amazing sound on a Katatonia record. It’s always been great, sound-wise. But if you compare it to others. It’s a little different. It’s more straight-forward as an album. It’s deeper, darker, and I think it’s a grower. I think the songs are growers too.
Dead Rhetoric: What did you enjoy most about the writing/recording process for the album? How involved were you in it this time? It was a bit of a mystery when I was trying to find information about who was on the recording online.
Svalland: It’s a big change as a band, and when the songs were written they were trying out new members. I was one of them. During the time last year when I was trying out and playing festivals with the boys and hanging out, I got to listen to the songs. I was asked, “would you like to have a solo here?” On a number of the songs I had a solo. With some parts, the more I got into it, the more I tried to learn the songs in order to get into recording, then I would suggest things to make different parts better. So I wasn’t really involved in the writing, but more of the fine tuning of it.
Dead Rhetoric: When you were auditioning and touring with the group, how did it feel to come into Katatonia at that point?
Svalland: If you click, you click, and you feel right quickly. The more time you spend with someone, you start to see their darker colors [laughs]. But it feels good. I tend to also not want to take someone’s place within a group. I try to have a good time. I feel good if everyone else feels good too. It has been really easy, actually. From the get-go it was good. It felt good.
Dead Rhetoric: If you had to describe the atmosphere and mood of the new album, what are the words that come to mind? Those two things seemed to be the first things I thought about with the new album.
Svalland: When we talk about mood and atmosphere, I think that’s what Jonas [Renkse] does really, really well. He does it weird and unique. There are chords and notes, that you don’t necessarily know where it comes from. Maybe it comes from a more proggy sound, but he makes it flow in the music so you can understand it. I think I’m really inspired by that. To be so wild with choices but still keep [the music] very reasonable, so to speak.
Dead Rhetoric: Given the injection of new blood into Katatonia, do you feel this is starting more or less a new phase for the group?
Svalland: I think so, I think both myself and Nico [Elgstrand], the other guitarist, they knew Nico for a while because he had been doing some other tours and standing in for Anders [Nyström]. Nico and I are very different in terms of our style of playing and so on. I think that’s good. We are kind of the opposite of each other. I think if we get everything balanced between all of us, I think we have a great mixture potential. I think we have a very good mixture now, but I want that to be bigger as we continue.
Dead Rhetoric: I think that develops over time. Like you said, the more you get to know somebody…
Svalland: Yeah, exactly. You have to give it all, in my opinion. Then you see what happens. If we all try our best to do what is best for Katatonia, for our relationships, and for each other, I think that’s the way you are supposed to do it. If that fails, it fails. You can only do the best you can.
Dead Rhetoric: What drew you towards Katatonia? I know you are involved with other bands and have been in others before. What made you say, “I’d like to join Katatonia?”
Svalland: I listened to Katatonia for a long time. I have had friends who have been in the band – I am coming from a region where you have old members like Daniel Liljekvist and the Norrman brothers. I knew the Norrman brothers, and I played with Daniel in another band before, and other bandmates that play with them now. So I had more knowledge of Katatonia than just listening to it, there was this feeling to it because I knew some of the members that had been involved. When I got the question, I was hired because it was something within my style, and I felt like I still had a lot to learn. This was the perfect band. They are great musicians. I didn’t have any hesitation about joining apart from ‘if we don’t click as humans.’ It felt right up my alley.
Dead Rhetoric: Given your knowledge of the band, do you have any favorite songs or albums? I know you have toured with them already but is there anything you really would like to play live?
Svalland: The favorites that I have, there’s a bit of them. I love The Great Cold Distance, Dead End Kings, and The Fall of Hearts. Those might be the three albums I like the most. I’ve been requesting the guys to play some songs from Dead End Kings that I really like, so we are going to play a song on Saturday in Belgium. That’s fun. There’s a lot of eras within the band. The sound has been constantly growing into different places. I am one of those that enjoy nearly all the places that Katatonia has touched on. There’s a lot to like, in my opinion.
Dead Rhetoric: I can agree with that. I’ve listened to the band since the late ‘90s and just kind of grew with them and enjoyed all of it. I know some people have their preferences for eras, but I have just kind of enjoyed the ride.
Svalland: It changes – at a certain point it got a bit more proggy. If you are not into that at all, I could see and understand how a listener would like it less. It’s all in the eye of the beholder. It’s great, as a band to have this catalog if you like that. For me, it was just ‘great, great, a new album!’ The changes, like when The Fall of Hearts came out, I was just like, “yes, I fucking love this!’ As I understand it, it can be a little bit polarizing.
Dead Rhetoric: Looking at the band from the outside, what is your perspective on how they have changed over the years?
Svalland: I think that it’s always a bit challenging. It is hard to nail it down completely, I think it’s important that if you write music, I think it’s important that you try to push yourself and not to be comfortable. You try to do something new and push your boundaries. I like when bands do that and not sound the same all the time. It becomes boring. That is always for better or worse. You can have hit or miss albums, but if you really try to push yourself, you can also come up with anything. It can give you the best and worst results.
Dead Rhetoric: It’s always better to be challenged than to just remain the same.
Svalland: I think so too. You only live one life, so why not try to give it your best.
Dead Rhetoric: Like I already mentioned, you’ve been involved with a number of bands over the years, such as In Mourning and Letters from the Colony, as well as some live work for Hypocrisy/Pain. What do you feel that you’ve picked up from these experiences and musicians?
Svalland: It’s very different with any band. Everyone is different. I have played different instruments. I played with the old drummer from Katatonia in In Mourning, and I played bass. I didn’t play bass before that, just to record for myself. I tried not to think like a guitarist there, which was easier said than done. When you are around new people, if you are not willing to have the biggest ego, you have a lot to gain. In terms of the way you play or the way you try to do a show, or whatever. Since I have been doing live stuff, especially Pain, I have gotten to see and look at a show with newer eyes. It’s more of a show than say, just playing. It gives that aspect – I now see everything through that lens as well. In my opinion, it has been good to play with all of these different people because I gain knowledge from them.
Dead Rhetoric: In terms of playing a ‘show’ as you just said, versus playing a concert where you are just playing the music, what is the appeal for both of those?
Svalland: Before I was more happy to just go out and play, and that was it. I didn’t think about it, really. Now I look more into it, it should look as good as it sounds. It’s a hard thing. You need to have lights and everything needs a bit of work as a band. It can be achieved in so many different ways. Some bands just go up and do their thing, and that’s the best show. You have to find what is best for the show. I always try to see what I can do better. If I can see something that could be done better, I always open my mouth about it. So I’m really annoying to have in a band!
Dead Rhetoric: What inspires you from the metal scene and keeps you a part of it?
Svalland: There’s a lot of things that brought me to metal itself. The scene has had a lot of individuals and bands that push the limits. Maybe it’s different now, I don’t know. But for a long time, it’s been an evolving genre. All of metal has evolved in a sense that I have been drawn to it – let’s say you are taking stepping stones between bands that go more brutal, or faster, or goes into different aspects. For example, I hated growls and screams for a long time. Then I realized that it was more energy – it gives the music more energy. So I went down that path. It’s just constantly growing as a style of music. Maybe it’s a bit different now than before, but everything is. There’s constant pushes on social media, where before you just bought a cd and listened to it.
Dead Rhetoric: What do you get excited about, outside of music?
Svalland: I used to play soccer as a kid. I do enjoy practicing that and watching games. But it’s been a long time. This is my passion, so I put so much of my thoughts into music. If I do something else that I really enjoy, it might be traveling with my wife to somewhere I can just leave my phone and not get hooked on the internet. To just be a little bit human again.
Dead Rhetoric: What are your plans for the rest of this year?
Svalland: We have some festivals in the summer in Europe. The rest of the year – we are putting a lot of our eggs into the basket of touring Europe in November and December. It’s going to be the first one as the new group. We want some time to plan that and have a nice package. I”m hoping to come to the US. I hope we get some plans there. As far as I understand, Katatonia has been going to the States regularly with each new album. So I’m looking forward to that since the other guys have been talking about how much they enjoy coming over.
Dead Rhetoric: Have you been over to the US to tour before?
Svalland: The only thing I have done is the 70,000 Tons of Metal cruise, which we land in the States, but then we are off to the boat. So I haven’t. We have had big plans in other bands over the years, but there’s been a dark cloud that hasn’t allowed them to happen. The stars haven’t aligned.