Founded in Stockholm in 1991, Katatonia emerged as one of the defining voices in the Scandinavian metal scene, evolving from their early death-doom roots into a more atmospheric and progressive sound.
At the heart of that evolution were co-founders Jonas Renkse and Anders Nyström, whose musical partnership shaped the band's identity for over three decades. Now, as the band moves forward without Nyström, Renkse is opening up about the guitarist's profound influence on Katatonia's journey in a new interview with Sinusoidal Music.
"He's been a super important person for many years in the band," said Renkse. "I mean, we started the band together. He was the main songwriter in the beginning. And obviously, his presence and the songs that he made, you know, made the whole foundation of the band. Yeah, I mean, super important person."
Renkse went on to describe their unique creative chemistry and collaborative songwriting process, especially during the formative years of Katatonia: "I mean, we've always worked on the music sort of together. Even when he was writing more of the music, we would sit down and go through everything and say—because we had the same kind of inspirations—we had like a musical language that was very intricate with how we wanted things to sound. And we seldomly had a fight about it."
While Renkse eventually grew into a central creative force, he acknowledged Nyström's instrumental role in shaping their early material: "So, I think it's been a joint effort. But he was obviously more… he was a talented guitar player. I couldn't really play guitar in the beginning. So I had to tell him what to play and how to play it, you know. So yeah, definitely very important in that sense."
With landmark albums like Brave Murder Day, The Great Cold Distance, and Night Is the New Day, Katatonia carved out a sound both melancholic and expansive. Much of that legacy is tied to the synergy between Renkse and Nyström – one that helped the band continually evolve while staying emotionally resonant.
Katatonia split with founding guitarist Anders Nyström earlier this year after founding the back with vocalist Jonas Renkse way back in 1991. It didn't seem like Nyström and Renkse saw eye to eye about things at the time of the split, considering the vast differences in their statements.
At the time, Renkse said the split was the best option "for everyone to thrive and move forward with their own creative preferences as well as personal schedules this has become the realistic option."
However, Nyström's statement was a little more acrimonious as he noted "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."
