Fiction by Dark Tranquillity

[lugaru]

Well Dark Tranquillity is back with a new album after a couple of years of touring. So who are they you ask? They are one of the longest running bands from the Gothenburg death metal scene, characterized for tempering its brutality with some outright beautiful melodies. That might seem a sharp contrast with Gothenburg's other musical exports (Ace of Base anyone?) but seriously within the Metal Scene the international influence that this Swedish city has had is huge. Think Seattle had grunge never imploded under the weight of MTV. 

Their most recent album is one step forward and two steps back, not in quality but in sound. While their compositions become more cutting edge and the synths/electronic element becomes more prevalent the guitars have been blasted back in time to the days of early dark tranquility, hell, they sound like AT THE GATES sometimes. This is great; one thing that characterizes the best metal bands is an ability to move forward and backwards at the same time, becoming more classical and more progressive at once. 

Fiction opens with some great thundering drums and heavy yet somehow delicate guitar work, giving way to Michael Stanne's brutal yet coherent growling of poetic and well written lyrics. All this is to be expected from them of course, their intelligent song writing and heaviness have been two of this bands strongest assets over the years. But creeping in from the edges you notice the keyboards and synth become more and more prominent, and by the time 'The Lesser Faith' picks up steam you realize synth is now as big a part of the bands sound as the guitars are, but don't expect a Stratovarious style keyboard coup, heaviness is still king over melody in this band.

From there the songs are all reminiscent of the bands recent albums such as Haven and Character. But once you reach Miseries Crown you get a feeling that the band has finally licked its wounds and gotten over the huge fan backlash to Michael Stanne's clean vocals in the brilliant Projector album. This is good, as much as I love Dark Tranquillity to be brutal they also have a knack for composing songs that combine the best elements of goth, rock and metal. While Miseries Crown is not my favorite song on the album something tells me that after a few more listens I will have its catchy chorus stuck in my head for a long period of time.

Focus shift is a really well balanced song and a great choice as a single, since it's easily accessible and representative of the bands current sound yet heavy enough to make the most jaded metal fan salivate.

Another thing re-instated in Fiction was their guest female vocalist of the album. Earlier albums such as Skydancer, The Gallery, Minds I and Projector had a song with a guest female vocalist but this was put on hiatus with their more serious and heavy post Projector releases. The Mundane and The Magic returns to this tradition but changes the format around and greatly limits Nell Sigland's participation making it almost feel wasted. It's a shame since her sexy and ethereal voice would have been a great asset had she been allowed to sing some of the actual verses instead of only a fraction of the chorus. What has made past collaborations work is the balance between heavy and beautiful and Nell is buffered by Stanne doing clean vocals around hers. While this is one of my favorite albums this year I hope to see a little more variety in the next album and maybe some projector style songs that better suit the bands versatility.

http://www.youtube.com/v/yCeRS3nhSKE

[Spam]

Sounds good, Lug.

I have their Gallery album, and I must say, those guys are friggin' swedish death metal geniuses. I only wish I could get more of their albums, along with At the Gates.

And I had no idea that they came out with a new one... But then again, it just came out four days ago, so I'm not surprised I haven't heard of it yet. Can't wait to get this one. :)

FORIAMSPAM!