ANDERS NYSTRÖM Says ‘KATATONIA Is Doing A Terrible Job Of Keeping In Touch With The Past’

Because of how things have been interpreted, speculated, and even officially manipulated, here’s a follow-up to my last statement and this will be posted here, because I feel the current Katatonia social media channels is no longer my place.

Regarding the scenario about Katatonia’s “new vs old” material being blown up as a main reason for my exit. I didn’t say (and never have) that I wanted to bring back the old direction and make a new album in that style with the current line-up. Some people are too quick to project their assumptions into some kind of pseudo-reality. Listen, I have been saying all along, provided Katatonia remains a touring act, that we should have included parts from all chapters in our live sets to respect our history. That’s also an honorable thing to do for our fans in each respective era. Furthermore, I wasn’t kidding myself, pretending the setlist would suddenly turn around only for the old stuff. Obviously, the majority of songs would always stay in line with the contemporary cycle, but Katatonia is doing a terrible job of keeping in touch with the past. Therefore, I even suggested an alternative idea of just doing a special old-school set now and then, or putting on ”an evening with…” type of show, where the setlist would exclusively focus on the old era and allow us to include much more of that material in one go, similar to what it’s like playing full album anniversary shows. But bringing that up was like talking to deaf ears. The status of the old stuff remains at 0%, and frankly, I’m sick of rooting for it. So why is this really that much of a big deal? Well, seemingly unlike others, my integrity is still ”connected” with our past, because I value each step that led to another. You can’t erase where you came from! As for people who only care for the new stuff and couldn’t give a s**t about the old, or vice versa, that’s fine, but as far as I’m concerned that’s more your loss than mine. I was lucky to be part of it all and continue to be passionate about it.

Now, there have been claims I’ve been out for too long already, and haven’t contributed to the band in the last decade, so “nothing I say really matters anymore”. Ok, let me try to break that down. I’ve indeed been sitting out the live activities for a good while now, that much is true. Complicated as life can be, it turned out I couldn’t do the first two tours in 2023, so I fixed a stand-in to cover for me on the first one, but failed to do so for the second run, so I can rightfully be blamed for putting the band in a difficult situation at that time, as they ended up relying on backing tracks to replace my parts. I remember we had the same thing happening a few years earlier when Roger was sitting out a tour, which ended up with only me on guitar and his parts put on backing tracks. Sure it was weird and compromising, but served as a temporary solution instead of canceling the tour. Anyways, before the summer of 2023, when the festivals were waiting around the corner, I was informed that “the band had decided to continue using backing tracks instead of bringing me back in”… Did that mean I was still to be held accountable for the band deciding to continue down that path? Could there have been another solution? At the very same time, Jonas quit Bloodbath right out of the blue, and with all those gigs also coming up I devoted my time and energy to make sure things would hold up on my side. With a busy live schedule for both bands in front of us, we fulfilled all commitments on our own ends. Much time came and went until I discovered Roger had been forced to leave the band, and he and I (or the backing tracks in my case) had been replaced by new touring guys. I reached out to Jonas to say I wanted to pull the break on the whole situation, but I got no response. Our dysfunctional communication was already a fact and was handled poorly, by all. Maybe due to the complex nature of our relationship (we’re both in the right and wrong no matter what), or the undiagnosed personal traits that linger in the whole band, or simply all of that and much much more, we struggled and grasped at the beginning of the end several times before. The Katatonia curse.

So, for the second part about ”not contributing to the band in the last decade”. Let me give you some plain insight into what it’s been like being in a band for as long as we have. Any rough estimate of how much time and effort, or even sacrifices I’ve made to make the band always my priority in the last three decades? Just because I don’t have a writer’s credit for a certain song/album, do you really think that’s all there is to it? You don’t know what workload and distractions I’ve taken off Jonas’ shoulders so he can focus on doing what he loves the most. Do you have insight as to which decisions I’ve taken while recording and producing our music (including Jonas’s great songs) and how that process intertwines creatively and artistically? Is there any significance in having art-directed and helped design most of our albums and merchandise and the band’s themes since the very start, including Katatonia’s logos and symbols? How does one validate my efforts of handling most of the tireless communication, negotiations or even being the one who always have to look like the bad guy in the band when facing conflicts that the others were too uncomfortable to confront? I’ve made the band save so much money by not shrugging my shoulders or put my head in the sand when things gone south. Most of it has just been taken for granted. All these things that happen behind the scenes aren’t deemed to be put into credits in a booklet nor on a Wiki page for your reference, but likewise it’s all chained together. So besides writing songs, there are many more wheels in the machinery spinning in the background that contributes to an artist maintaining a professional career.

I don’t claim to have perfected this band by myself at any point; I never could! Each member had a stake in that over the years, but I always went the extra mile for Katatonia when no one else would. Nobody can argue that a management helps with administration or that a road crew helps the band while out on tour, so think twice before you question anyone’s relevance. Is it just by a fluke that people who mainly discovered Katatonia first in our late career fail to understand the third of a lifetime had already come and gone before they even knew who we were? We have a history that led us to where we are now. If you only perceive what or who Katatonia is based on Jonas being the frontman with sole writer credits on the last couple of albums, then go ahead and enjoy living in that bubble! But don’t think for a second that I’m downplaying his role or importance for the band because he is both an original co-founder and currently the primary writer and rightfully celebrated as such by all. I’ve always encouraged him to be our frontman. 20 years ago I even demanded him to step up and claim that position! Nothing is gonna take that away, but despite all his talent and dedication to songwriting, it doesn’t mean he has sovereignty over our band name no more, and no less than I do. It’s our call since day one and that’s the main point of all of this.

So, legally and spiritually, the conclusion only gives us two alternatives. Either the name goes into hibernation which gives anyone the freedom to go his own way and move on under a new moniker or we mutually agree that we both have the right to keep using our name. By the fact that Jonas is now releasing a new Katatonia album on his own, it seems the second of the two alternatives has indirectly been chosen and in that case, I’m no stranger to look at what can be done with the neglected stuff. In this weird situation we’ve put ourselves in, before our fate and business have been settled, continuing playing live is one thing, but planning and writing a brand new album in stealth, bringing in a new line-up to record it, do photo sessions and shoot videos with no one telling me about any of it? On top of that posting a new official biography full of contradictions… What more can I say?

Bear in mind that just a few years ago,’ City Burials’ was originally planned to be Jonas’s first solo album and not to be released under the Katatonia flag, at all. I was convinced to transform those songs into a Katatonia comeback album that would effectively put an end to our previous hiatus, but up until that stage, Jonas’s had every intention for it to be his solo debut. So, what exactly makes that theoretically any different from the situation we’re in now? I thought this was perhaps going to be another shot at making that solo album after all, and for that, Jonas certainly wouldn’t need to ask and wait for my permission. I’d support that through and through, but as it turns out, it will now be released yet again under the Katatonia flag and exercised under the same contract my name is on. I also couldn’t help but notice the bird in our current logo has now been removed, and the font has been tweaked, but for what purpose? Artistically? Or was it just to try to draw another line…?

Not once during all this time did I ever say that I’ve decided to quit or give up Katatonia and neither has anyone asked me to, until last month when I was told that ”the band wants me officially replaced”. People have asked me ”but you must have known…?” Well if silence can effectively phase you out as a legit way of communication, I guess that’s how this story ends. Although I have now officially agreed to part ways with the current version of the ”band”, I will never part ways with my legacy within Katatonia, which follows my soul beyond the grave.

Always looking for the alternate ending,

Anders ’Blakkheim’ Nyström

“Anders Nyström and I are going our separate ways. A decision not taken lightly, but for everyone to thrive and move forward with their own creative preferences as well as personal schedules this has become the realistic option.

“Anders and I started the band in 1991 and his impact on the band’s trademark sound is undeniable.