Katatonia bring dark melody mastery to Auckland

Swedish metallers Katatonia returned to Auckland last night after several long years away, bringing their haunting and melodic songs to the Powerstation, Auckland, with support from Checaine

October 5, 2026

It’s been a long time since I last saw Katatonia, that being 2010’s “No Sleep Til Auckland” festival date at the ASB Showgrounds on the back of the “Night Is The New Day” album, and whilst they weren’t the biggest act of the festival, they were by far the main drawcard for me.

Since then, the band has grown both in sound, production, and popularity – gaining fans from multiple genres beyond their death metal roots.

To say I was both excited and nervous taking photos tonight was an understatement, when it’s an artist I have a deep connection with it always feels, on some level that I don’t want to let them down, even if I don’t know them personally – maybe I’m just weird that way?

Kicking off tonight’s show is long-standing alt rockers Checaine – it’s been a long time since I’ve heard the name mentioned; I didn’t realise they rebooted themselves, but it’s was great to see them performing again – personally I’m not entirely sure they were the right match for tonight’s bill, but the crowd seemed to enjoy them (esp. the bus load of Chechaine supporters up from Hamilton!)

With the Power Stations upstairs area closed, the show started out feeling both intimate and casual, like old friends continuing a conversation long held in stasis. Then, after a long 16-year wait, Katatonia hit the stage to an unfortunately sparse but eager crowd.

Basked in hues of blue and red, we’re thrown into Thrice, Birds, and Rein – and whilst I was more focused in capturing images at this point, my long familiarity with them had me entering that flow zone, the lens being pulled and controlled by the music.

“My Twin” yielded a minor mellower moment to the set, if mellow meant spacious verses mixed with riff heavy breakdowns interwoven like childsplay.

That’s something I’ve always loved about Katatonia, blending styles reminiscent of Opeth and Tool with doses of doom, covered with Jonas Renske’s unmistakable voice.

Closing out the night is Untrodden – a sombre mid tempo piece whose solo winds us up for investable crowd chants of “encore!” – and what band could resist? Not these Swedes – In The White and Forsaker take us out to an early 10pm home time (a pleasant surprise for the older generation of fans.

Review and photos by Mark Derricutt