Disobedience Webzine – European hardcore / metal / metalcore webzine

It’s always a pleasure to see that a few Swedish melodic death pioneers are still alive and well. Entombed are taking things very slowly these last years.

In Flames are now on a very different road than they used to be on. Bands like Unleashed and Dismember are in my opinion declining.

On the other hand, Dark Tranquillity seem to play it as their name suggests it: they keep on going through the years without lack of quality or inspiration, and this new offering should once again please all amateurs of the genre.

Fiction is in my opinion a bit better than its predecessor Character, which was lacking…character, yes. DT were apparently much more inspired on this new album, which is also more direct and riff-driven. The band unquestionably has nothing to prove anymore in terms of music writing: they’ve helped defining melodic death metal back in the early nineties (you know, the “Gothenburg” sound) and there’s no doubt these guys rule over this genre like only a few others can.

I think the sound on this new record is fantastic and particularly appropriated to DT’s music (hats off to the amazing Tue Madsen mix!). I’ve always liked Mikael Stanne’s vocals and this is no exception: his screaming is very clear and articulate, which is something pretty rare in that music style.

So I think you got my point: Fiction is a great album, and DT fans can buy this one blindly, they won’t be disappointed. But in my opinion this is still a very “safe” album, and I regret Dark Tranquillity didn’t take more chances. It’s classic DT but I believe the band has now gathered more than enough credit and respectability to at least try a few experimentations.

I think they have a lot of talent and that’s why I wouldn’t like to hear them sitting too comfortably in something which is of course very effective and enjoyable but is also starting to become a bit predictable. I know, they struggled hard to win this recognition, but I still expect a little more from these guys. Don’t hold back, go wild!

_{Released : 24/04/2007
Style : Melodic Death Metal
Country : Sweden
Label : Century Media
Website : www.darktranquillity.com}

This entry was posted on Wednesday, April 25th, 2007 at 2:18 am and is filed under Reviews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.