Dark tranquility we are the void tour edition

On Projector, things started to slow and become more accessible.

You remember this style, right? Aggressive, speeding riffs and drums, juxtaposed with well-timed melodic passages, all paved with harsh vocals that border on black metal shrieks. I have not listened to them since 1999вЂ™s Projector album, which marked the first semblance of the shift in their sound away from the original Gothenberg melodic death metal they pioneered along with In Flames & At the Gates back in the early-90s. IвЂ™ve ignored Dark Tranquillity for the last 15 years. Am I biased because IвЂ™m a fan? Maybe, but great metal can not be denied. These guys will continue to create great new music because itвЂ™s who they are. They were one of the trailblazers and they are still on top. They have their legions of fans for a reason.

вЂњFaithless By DeafultвЂќ is another song that does not stand up to the better moments on this album but itвЂ™s still a good song.ДЄt this point in their career, Dark Tranquillity have nothing to prove to anyone. It has some great moments but seems to plod along in places. вЂњMerciless FateвЂќ is not a bad song, it just could have been much better if it were a bit more coherent. Even the weakest songs on this album have enough substance to make them interesting. I even defended the latter because it seemed apparent to me what the band was attempting, they just missed the mark a bit. We Are the Void and itвЂ™s follow up, Construct, were decent albums but were lacking a lot. I think this song is the defining Dark Tranquillity sound for where they are in their career. It has some nice riffs, a really nice solo and the cleaner parts are really well done. вЂњForward MomentumвЂќ is another song that seems to have that вЂњFreeCardвЂќ vibe. There are no clean vocals here and itвЂ™s possibly the heaviest song on the album. The album opener, вЂњEncircled,вЂќ is a prime example of how they mix great riffing with a strong keyboard atmosphere. I actually wish that they included more guitar solos because when they do add them they are well done and add another layer to the songs. Instead itвЂ™s a mix of of riffs, keys, clean and death metal vocals, and great soloing. I think this album will still divide because itвЂ™s not the return of Character, nor is it a complete transition to the Projector/Haven era. It took a few tries but it seems that they were able to mix the best of what they have done throughout their career into a sound to create an album of great songs. What were they thinking? With Atoma, it has become apparent what they were thinking. Then with We Are The Void it seemed like they were going back to that Projector era sound that seemed to push a lot of fans away. I still consider the latter to be a melodic death metal masterpiece. This seemed to be a temporary thing since Damage Done and itвЂ™s flawless follow up, Character, were heavier with little to no clean vocals and the keys played less of a role. With 1999вЂ™s Projector, vocalist Mikael Stanne began to experiment with clean vocals while the band added more keyboards to the songs to provide more atmosphere and melody. The reason why is because they have a strong songwriting unit and even though they may stray away from what one might consider a true melodic death metal sound, they have a strength in being able to create catchy songs. We all know where In Flames ended up and At The Gates are still hanging on but itвЂ™s Dark Tranquillity that remains on the top of the heap. As one of the pioneers of the Gothernburg sound, along with In Flames and At The gates, they helped create the explosive sub-genre melodic death metal. I think one reason is because they seem to be able to experiment with other sounds without forgetting their roots.

Dark Tranquillity are one of my favorite bands for a multitude of reasons.

Dark tranquility we are the void tour edition