Niklas Sandin – Katatonia

I’ve said it once, I’ll say it again and again, there is something in the waters of Scandinavia because that region of the world puts out some of the best metal bands known to mankind, one of them being Sweden’s Katatonia. A band renowned for it’s dark, atmospheric and cathartic music, the six piece death/doom outfit are musical alchemists of sorts, proven once again by their latest offering ‘The Fall of Hearts’. Katatonia will be here soon and Metal Obsession had the pleasure of a quick chat with Niklas, the bassist. We talked about everything from the new album to the band’s live performances and inspirations ahead of their Australian headline tour which kicks off tomorrow!

“Last time we were on tour Down Under my head was in a constant haze becuase of the rough trip from Sweden. I think I was up for a total of 35 hours before we entered the stage of the first show haha. But I remember it to be a really nice trip with lots of good food and laughs, since we were supporting our friends in Opeth. I can´t wait to get back there and create some new memories!”

Katatonia last came here in 2013 in support of the mighty Opeth and still have a few good memories. “For one it’s quite of a luxury to go from the dark and cold Sweden in the month of December to rock out in sunny and beautiful Australia. Besides that there have always been good crowds that give you lots back when standing on stage. Can’t remember one bad gig.”

So what can fans expect from the band’s set list? “There´s always golden classics in our set since that´s key in every bands set list. Even though people are hungry for the new stuff, they want those olden goldies as well they have loved and cherished for years and years.” All too true!

25 years and 10 albums  full of some of the most captivating music you’ve heard, Katatonia have achieved quite a milestone releasing ‘The Fall of Hearts’. “Well I’m fairly new in this band, soon pushing seven years, so I can only be happy that it’s still going strong and I believe that the records just get better and better. It also keeps the strong red thread with the signature Katatonia sound even though the soundscape in itself changes a bit from record to record.”  This trademark if I could call it that, that has made Katatonia stand out from the crowd is something I’ve always loved about their music, as the band keep progressing with every release, adding new sounds and elements to their music. “It’s a constant evolution in the Katatonia sound which is not neccesarily planned or schemed out. It’s just something that happens naturally with what inspires the band at the moment and that changes from record to record. I can’t pin point to anything specific that made the sound to go from a heavier to an atmospheric music. The atmospheric element has been a part of the bands sound for many years now and tha’s something I think will stick.”

Four years stand between their last release ‘Dead End Kings’ and ‘the Fall of Hearts’, which is the longest gap between two albums for Katatonia and Niklas does feel like quite a bit happened in that period of time.  “There’s been lots happening in the Katatonia camp between the release of Dead End Kings and The Fall Of Hearts. The biggest impact I’d have to say were the line up changes. We saw the departure of both Per Sodomizer and long time drummer Daniel Liljekvist at the end of DEK´s touring cycle. We didn’t even have a chance to fullfil everyting we wanted because of this. We also went out to do an acoustic tour in Europe which also ended up as a live DVD named ‘Sanctitude’. So it hasn’t been completely dead, but maybe the most active between two releases. Now we have Roger Öjersson and Daniel Moilanen in the line up and we’re stronger than ever.”

Putting together a Katatonia record seems like a complex process but Niklas explains it simply enough. “It always starts with Anders and Jonas spawning the ideas in their own homes by themselves. After that they pitch the ideas to each other and later on it gets presented to us. They’re not 100% strict about us playing exactly how they wrote it. They’re actually trying to make us come up with our own flavor to the music.” The production was done by Anders and Jonas as has been done with the previous two albums and I wondered aloud to Niklas as to whether this was beneficial for the band. “I think this just works perfect for this band to do it this way since Jonas and Anders have their clear vision about how they want it to sound when the album is ready. Except the earlier mentioned about us putting our own little touch to the gem, they know from the beginning what they want and how it should be presented.”

Just as the music, Katatonia’s live performance is haunting, emotional, majestic….I could go on. They have the ability to send fans, listeners and the like in to a trance of sorts. “We aim to play and get the listener to go through a truly dark and melancholic experience through a beautiful sound scape. This goes both for the record and for the live performance, where we enhance this with doing our very best to make the audience satisfied. We don´t want any one not to feel like their visit to the show was worthwhile. Creating such intense, intricate and beautiful music, I was also keen on finding out whether the band write their songs with the live performance aspect in mind given the layers and textures in the music. “We have a sixth member on stage called ”MacBookPro”. That’s the only way we can get the full soundscape from the records to come with us on stage. It works really good and he seems to be happy to join the ride. Jokes aside it’s challenging though and there´s so much music in just one song that needs to come out just right for the audience.”

A band that has been around for 25 years and is still going strong, Niklas shared the band’s mantra to success and longevity as well as conveying one last message to the Aussie fans ahead of Katatonia’s Australian headline tour. “Stay true to yourself and don’t listen to trends going on in the music industry. If you write music for the purpose of being the very best in your own opinion, you´re gonna be the king in our own domain. Keep on keepin´ on and come out to the shows!”

Katatonia kick off their Australian Headline tour this week! Be sure to grab your tickets to what is promising to be one of the best tours of 2016.

Tickets from: www.metropolistouring.com/katatonia

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