Dark Tranquillity - We Are the Void (2010)

I really feel that Dark Tranquillity peaked with their 2002 album Damage Done, which was basically flawless, each track loaded with good hooks, and an excellent fusion of the bands keyboard-heavy atmosphere, driving inspirational guitar lines and Stanne's heavy (if not brutal) delivery. It more than compensated for the half-mediocre albums the band had been releasing like Projector or Haven. Since that time, Dark Tranquillity have remade Damage Done in 2005 and 2007, calling it Character and then Fiction. Granted, the riffs were not always exactly the same, and the production was arguably superior, but just listen through the chugging and the tempos of the tracks in general and it becomes clear that the magic of Damage Done was the formula that the band wanted to relive.

Here, eight years after the fact, we have the band's 9th album, We Are the Void, and once again, I am reminded very closely of Damage Done. Stanne's vocals seem to have a blacker edge to them, more of a vicious rasp which I actually don't think even borders on improvement. The band still experiments a little with the writing, but most of the album does feel as if you've already heard it. That being said, there are about 3-4 tracks on this which do stand out pretty far, amidst a crowd of filler that feels like it was already perfected earlier in the previous decade.

We Are the Void feels as much modern as the past few releases, opening with the booming bass and synth-driven mystique of "Shadows in Our Blood", which has a few decent thrashing melodic death rhythms and acceptable lead work, but doesn't feel all that remarkable. "Dream Oblivion" has a huge groove hook not unlike something Soilwork would have written during their 2000-2003 period, with a bouncy bridge over which the proggy electro keys strafe. "The Fatalist" has some resonant electric piano strikes over a generic chug, and then a melodic pick me up riff which isn't far from Damage Done, though the synth line there gives it an enhanced atmosphere. "In My Absence" is the first track on the album which I felt compelled to listen more than once, with a great chorus and some nice charging segments that shift into breakdowns.

And that's the story here: you go through a couple of filler-feeling tracks to get at the meat of the album. "The Grandest Accusation" and "At the Point of Ignition" went straight in one ear, and out the other, but "Her Silent Language" is fairly poignant and memorable through its goth vocals and gorgeous melodic mute pickings. Of course, if you don't like a mix of clean and melodeath vocals, stay clear. "Arkhangelsk" borders on symphonic black metal, not unlike Dimmu Borgir or Moonspell, but it's not all that great. "I Am the Void" is another of the album's strongest tracks, with a rousing rhythmic pulse that veers between dense thrash and layered synthesizer atmosphere. "Surface the Infinite" is similar if less interesting, but the closing track "Iridium" is possibly the best on the entire record, with a massive wall of ringing pianos and a highly melancholic riff sequence.

It's a fairly good album, and I'd expect no less from a veteran band such as this, but it just doesn't have that level of songwriting which evokes any desire to play it through in its entirety. If you think Character and Fiction are the be all end all of this band's catalog, then I can't imagine you'd find this disappointing. Nor did I, since I haven't exactly built any expectations around the band in years. There are a few songs here I'd certainly incorporate into an iPod playlist of the band's material, but the rest simply feel too average to revisit.

Highlights: In My Absence, Her Silent Language, I Am the Void, Iridium

Verdict: Win [7/10] (that we resist your pale attraction)

http://www.darktranquillity.com/

Dark Tranquillity - Fiction (2007)

This is one of those few albums that manage to sneak up on you, draw you in, and get stuck in your car's CD player for months on end. The first track, "Nothing To No One", starts innocently enough but about half a minute into it the track changes direction and from that point on your stuck. Not until the last note of "The Mundane and the Magic" do you even consider lowering your volume to pick up the kids from school, driving by a funeral at a church, or even passing a cop at three in the morning.

Dark Tranquillity have always released very, very good albums but not until Fiction have they hit their mark. Their past two efforts, Character (2005) and Damage Done (2002), added more of their original death metal roots to their music but each album never had much punch to it. There were definitely some good tracks on them but also a good amount of filler songs. Fiction (2007) fixes this. Whether it be "The Lesser Faith", "Blind Heart", or "Icipher" with their explosive choruses, or even "Nothing To No One", "Empty Me", or "Focus Shift" with it's heavy punch, this album doesn't stop. Where this album really shines though are it's four more oddball songs. "Inside The Particle Storm" is one of those tracks where the title explains the exact feeling of it. With a couple simple guitar chords that seeminglessly blend right into an huge sound and amplified into your ears, it does the trick. "Misery Crown" and "The Mundane And The Magic" highlight Mikael Stanne's clean vocals, the former even being complimented by with Threate Of Tragedy's female vocalist, Nell Sigland.

Now, "Terminus (Where Death Is Most Alive)"? That track has everything a melodic death metal fan will want from a band. Honestly, if someone made top 15 list of melodeath songs, and this wasn't on there I'd be pissed. An awe inspiring keyboard intro, to some heavy guitar chords, to an explosive chorus... ugh, just go listen to it already.

Verdict: Epic Win [9.5/10] (if I could merge the mundane and the magic)

www.darktranquillity.com