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Dark Tranquillity: We are the void

08/10/10 || Altmer

The day has come. A new Dark Tranquillity album. A new release. A new occasion for all the fans in the room to drop their panties and undo their flies. A new Dark Tranquillity album is always worth a mini-celebration: this band is the sole most consistent Swedish melodic death metal band. Dark Tranquillity were obviously around in the beginning of the Swedish scene, but much like In Flames they ended up doing something totally different. Like In Flames, they started fucking around with keyboards, but in a totally and completely different way. The band doesn’t sound nu-metal whatsoever – they are still firmly a metal band with growls, only the keys add a delicious melodic edge to it. They’ve been doing that for the past few albums and on the last one, “Fiction”, they pretty much perfected their own niche.

The truth is that this album doesn’t really live up to the billing of the previous three albums. “Damage Done” and “Character” were more furious affairs, even featuring blastbeats, and this is a shade or two lighter. It’s still heavy and firmly metal, don’t get me wrong, but there is very little blastbeating to be found and the “romantic” clean vocals of Mikael Stanne have returned for a few songs again, like on “Fiction”. This album is pretty much a continuation of that album plus the lighter elements of “Haven”. And it is also not as good as either of those albums.

You see, something’s just off with some of the songs. Dark Tranquillity have a knack of being able to use atmosphere to the most meticulous degree, but on this here album, some of it just doesn’t make me feel anything. Material like “The Fatalist” is still absolutely beyond fantastic, but shit like “Surface the Infinite” doesn’t make me want to jump around. For every “Shadow in Our Blood” there is a “Her Silent Language”. This album is a bit patchy and although some of the strong songs blow my head clean off, it’s just not the same as the Dark Tranquillity I’m used to. It’s a step down. A small step down, but a step down nonetheless, and from a band that usually delivers perfection, that is a bit disappointing.

The best part of this album remains the key use – one of the things about Dark Tranquillity is their reliance upon keys, but they never manage to turn that abuse into CheeseVille™. It is a mystery why I am not repulsed by the keyboards in for example “At the Point of Ignition”, but it may be because the keys are not used as either a) swelling chords to heighten anticipation or b) surrogate guitars. They serve a purpose all their own and in that sense they manage to do more in one Dark Tranquillity song than in some bands’ entire careers.

This album should be an instant buy if you are a fan of this band, as it features everything you’ve come to expect from this band, but the amount of autopilot material means that this album should not be a first purchase for those new to the band. If you haven’t heard this band before, do “Fiction” or “Damage Done” instead (and if you enjoy the older style more, do “The Gallery”). It’s a solid release, but I expected more.

Recommendation: Switch off the Cruise Control button in the Dark Tranquillity cockpit.

Information
Released: 2010
Label: Century Media
Website: www.darktranquillity.com
Band
Mikael Stanne: vocals
Niklas Sundin: guitars
Martin Henriksson: guitars
Daniel Antonsson: bass
Martin Brandstrom: keyboards
Anders Jivarp: drums

Tracklist
01. Shadow In Our Blood
02. Dream Oblivion
03. The Fatalist
04. In My Absence
05. The Grandest Accusation
06. At the Point of Ignition
07. Her Silent Language
08. Arkhangelsk
09. I Am The Void
10. Surface the Infinite
11. Iridium

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