Great, grazie!
Here's the only one (until now) from metal-archives:
Dark Tranquillity experiments with black metal
- 90%
Written by The_Wanderer on February 21st, 2010
When I heard Dark Tranquillity was coming out with a new album, I wasnt entirely sure what to expect. Like many fans, I have always viewed The Gallery as the pinnacle of their career, but I have also enjoyed every album since. After the highly experimental Projector, the band began a gradual stylistic evolution to which Fiction seemed the inevitable conclusion. Projector began an emphasis on a dark futuristic atmosphere which has been a consistent theme in the modern DT sound, slowing the tempo down and showcasing Mikael Stannes gothic-styled clean vocals. Haven was the debut of keyboardist Martin Brandstrom, which continued the mid-paced atmospheric sound of Projector with more industrial elements and without the clean vocals. Damage Done was a return to more conventional melodic death metal, but with the gothic/industrial elements of the previous two albums replacing the neoclassical and folk elements present on the first three. Character continued this trend, but with a significant boost of aggression and technicality. Fiction combined all of these sounds into a diverse yet focused masterpiece of modern melodic death metal, featuring the return of Stannes clean voice alongside the atmospheric industrial elements of Haven, and without a lack of the aggression and technicality found on Damage Done and Character.
Which brings us to 2010, and We Are The Void. 21 years into their career, Dark Tranquillity proves able to do what few bands can, bringing in fresh new elements to their sound without changing it at the core and losing their identity. I feared Fiction II, an inferior clone of the previous album, but Fiction II this is not, thanks to the subtle addition of an influence I found slightly surprising - black metal.
The black metal elements are made clear in the very first track, Shadow In Our Blood. Beginning with a haunting keyboard melody, the song proceeds into technical thrash-influenced melodeath riffage typical of Dark Tranquillity, except that the melodies and harmonies being used are less typical of Gothenburg than they are of black metal. The keyboards in the chorus descend in chromatic minor chords, another very typical black metal move resulting in a dark and eerie atmosphere. The song climaxes with an aggressive drum fill leading into two nicely done eastern sounding guitar solos. Dream Oblivion is notable for its use of black metal elements alongside progressive tendencies that have always been present in the bands sound, beginning with dark chords on the keyboard coming in on odd beats. A black metal atmosphere is also quite noticeable on Arkhangelsk (named appropriately after a city in the far north), and the closing track, Iridium, which proceeds along at a relatively slow pace, featuring some very well done clean vocals from Stanne and a haunting but beautiful industrial outro.
Aside from the new black metal elements which should be obvious to the longtime Dark Tranquillity fan as something quite new for them, another notable feature of this album is that Stanne has not abandoned the clean vocals he brought back for Fiction. For people who despised Projector, this could be bad news, but personally, I have always been a fan of them, and I actually think theyre better than they ever have been. Aside from the previously mentioned Iridium, they are also quite well done in the other two songs they appear in, The Grandest Accusation, and the beautiful semi-ballad Her Silent Language.
So whats the verdict? Its a great album. For those new to Dark Tranquillity, I would suggest getting Fiction first as essentially the epitome of their modern sound, and if you like that, you will certainly like this. I would only suggest staying away from it if you hate Gothenburg or keyboard metal, but even if that is the case, this might just be the band that changes your mind.
Standout Tracks: Shadow In Our Blood, Her Silent Language, I Am The Void, and pretty much every other.
Weak Tracks: None
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