Katatonia - Nightmares As Extensions of the Waking State (Album Initial Thoughts)

This album obviously deserves multiple listens and I want to break down all the lyrics once I figure out my schedule. I'm trying to do too many things at once...

I've started Lilac, but I've been stuck for like two months...

Wind of no Change is surprising. Jonas is an atheist, but has said he doesn't like how Christianity is often being put down in metal. He's just not religious himself. And now he has lyrics like "Jesus, or whatever his name was?" (or something like that) and "Hail Satan"? I NEED to see these lyrics. Their music always trancends me to this place where words have no meaning, where I just exist in a protective bubble with the music... Kinda like my safe place.

-- Edit (June 24th), correction: Vanishers has the line "burning like Bibles".

Spotify doesn't have the lyrics, but a couple of other websites do (Genius, The Metal Archives), that's good. Sure, they're not official sources, so the lyrics might be inaccurate, but... It's better than typing them from the audiotracks by what I hear.

It's a very soft and melodic album. I like it. Not my favorite album from them, Viva Emptiness, The Great Cold Distance and Dead End Kings are better, for example. This is kinda similar to Dead End Kings, actually. Stripped back and melodic. And better than their last album, Sky Void Of Stars. I love everything they've done since the late 90s/early 2000s, but some of it's just more perfect than the rest.

Comparison aside... Nothing measures up to Katatonia. They are me, in a music form. Words are not enough to describe what this band means to me. I would not survive without their music in my life. Some days, they are the only thing that calm my anxiety and turn my overwhelming depression into melancholy. They make my mental health problems not only manageable, but inspiring, so I can pour my feelings into my own art.