ANDERS NYSTRÖM: “KATATONIA Could And Should Have Been Mutually Laid To Rest”

On March 17, co-founding Katatonia members vocalist Jonas Renkse and guitarist Anders Nyström went their separate ways. Renkse is set to continue with Katatonia, while Nyström is off to do whatever else he’s doing. At the time, Renkse issued a statement thanking Nyström for his time in the band and everything seemed like it was good. Turns out that’s not totally the case.

In a new statement from Nyström published roughly one day later on March 18, Nyström said one chief complaint he had about modern Katatonia was that they ignored their early material live. Which is fair – a quick look at the band’s recent live activities on Setlist.fm shows that Katatonia really leans hard into record from 2006’s The Great Cold Distance onward live in recent years. On that, Nyström stated in part: “I can’t help feeling adamant that songs from our early-mid discography deserve to be equally acknowledged and likewise targeted for our live show repertoire, the essential medium where the past should always be alive!”

Nyström later plainly states “Katatonia could and should have been mutually laid to rest while exploiting the freedom to continue in any desirable direction under a new name. But with Jonas now regrouping with new members and navigating further in his own direction, I no longer need to wait and see which way the wind is blowing to enter that void and grab hold of what’s been abandoned.” So it’s pretty clear that Nyström and Renkse have two very different ideas of what Katatonia should be in 2025.

Nyström‘s full statement is below.

“Avowed, with one of us gone, After all, Katatonia‘s legacy is resting on both ends of the timeline.

“Sad but true. The time has come for me to confirm that the roads ahead Jonas and I have chosen for both Katatonia and ourselves have grown too wide and far apart, and as a result, our long-term collaboration has drawn to a close.

“With him and I being the duo that founded Katatonia almost 35 years ago, and owing to the fact that we managed to take our mission this far, it’s inevitable that our band’s legacy will continue to play a huge role for both of us and always live on, albeit in a different light either captured by our past, future or the many chapters in between.

“To each our own, we may all have our own preferences and different levels of appreciation for either the early, mid or later Katatonia eras, but it seems like any willingness to embrace them all, in order to honor our history through live activities, has unfortunately failed to sustain. Needless to say, I still love ALL our albums, but with the early stuff being neglected for so many years, a feeling of having ‘unfinished business’ with a style that goes far back to our roots has just grown stronger and stronger. I can’t help feeling adamant that songs from our early-mid discography deserve to be equally acknowledged and likewise targeted for our live show repertoire, the essential medium where the past should always be alive! Unfortunately, that door has been kept shut and left everything we did pre-millennium in a void.

“Avowed, with one of us gone, Katatonia could and should have been mutually laid to rest while exploiting the freedom to continue in any desirable direction under a new name. But with Jonas now regrouping with new members and navigating further in his own direction, I no longer need to wait and see which way the wind is blowing to enter that void and grab hold of what’s been abandonded. After all, Katatonia‘s legacy is resting on both ends of the timeline.

“Come what may, I’d like to thank Jonas and the rest of my ex-colleagues for the incredible ride we shared through four compelling decades. Blessed be!”