Dark Tranquillity

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Skydancer
1993 Spinefarm Records 

Skydancer
  1. Nightfall by the Shore of Time
  2. Crimson Winds
  3. A Bolt of Blazing Gold 
  4. In Tears Bereaved
  5. Skywards
  6. Through Ebony Archways
  7. Shadow Duet
  8. My Faeryland Forgotten
  9. Alone

Line-Up
Anders Freiden - Vocals 
Martin Hendriksson - Bass 
Anders Jivarp - Drums 
Mikael Stanne - Guitars 
Niklas Sundin - Guitars 
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Evan's View
 
One of the major players in the "Gothenburg Sound" Dark Tranquillity consistently release intelligent, finely crafted musical artistry. On their first full length release, Dark Tranquillity incorporate melody, operatic themes and huge waves of emotion to form an ocean of sound which swallows the listener whole. While this album may not be as tight as The Gallery, or as focused as The Mind's I, there are moments of unparalled brilliance here. Interestingly, Anders Frieden vocal style on Skydancer is incredibly similar to Mikael Stanne, and his performance on In Flames' Lunar Strain, the subsequent band for Anders. The entire album flows together, almost thematic at times. An excellent first release. A re-issue has the Chaos and Eternal Night E.P. included. 

8 1/2 out of 10

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Of Chaos and Eternal Light
1995 Spinefarm Records 

Of Chaos and Eternal Light
  1. Of Chaos and Eternal Light
  2. With the Flaming Shades of Fall
  3. Away, Delight, Away
  4. Alone 

Line-Up
Mikael Stanne - Vocals 
Martin Hendriksson - Bass 
Anders Jivarp - Drums 
Fredrik Johansson - Guitars 
Niklas Sundin - Guitars 
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Evan's View
 

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The Gallery
1995 Osmose Records 

The Gallery
  1. Punish my Heaven 
  2. Silence, and the Firmament Withdrew
  3. Edenspring
  4. The Dividing Line
  5. The Gallery
  6. The One Brooding Warning
  7. Midway through Infinity
  8. Lethe 
  9. The Emptiness from which I Fed
  10. Mine is the Grandeur...
  11. ...Of Melancholy Burning 

Line-Up
Mikael Stanne - Vocals 
Martin Hendriksson - Bass 
Anders Jivarp - Drums 
Fredrik Johansson - Guitars 
Niklas Sundin - Guitars 
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Evan's View
 

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The Mind's Eye
1997 Osmose Records 

The Mind's I
  1. Dreamlore Degenerate
  2. Zodijackyl Light
  3. Hedon
  4. Scythe, Rage and Roses
  5. Constant
  6. Dissolution Factor Red
  7. Insanity's Crescendo
  8. Still Moving Sinews
  9. Atom Heart
  10. Tidal Tantrum
  11. Tounges
  12. The Mind's Eye 

Line-Up
Mikael Stanne - Vocals 
Martin Hendriksson - Bass 
Anders Jivarp - Drums 
Fredrik Johansson - Guitars 
Niklas Sundin - Guitars 
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Evan's View
 
My initial reaction is that DT have tightened things up considerably. Songs are shorter, and more identifiable. As usual, excellent guitar work and lyrics. The only flaw that I could make with Dark Tranquillity is that, although consistently great, each album does not contain any distinguishing characteristics. You know what to expect from them, and they deliver top rate material, but it is very similar to their past releases. Now, this may not exactly be a flaw, as I stated, each record is an excellent display of artistry, both musically and lyrically. In some respects, The Mind's I is incredibly poetic. Unlike Skydancer, however, there really isn't anything that stays with me from this album. This may indeed be due to the fact that I have not heard this as much as the others. All things considered, this is another strong release from a masterful band, and fans of their previous releases will be pleased. For first time listeners though, I would suggest starting with either Skydancer or the Gallery before this one. 
8 out of 10

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Projector
1999 Century Media Records 

Projector
  1. FreeCard
  2. ThereIn
  3. UnDo Control
  4. Auctioned
  5. To a Bitter Halt
  6. The Sun Fired Blanks
  7. Nether Novas
  8. Day to End
  9. Dobermann
  10. On Your Time

Line-Up
Mikael Stanne - Vocals 
Martin Hendriksson - Bass 
Anders Jivarp - Drums 
Fredrik Johansson - Guitars 
Niklas Sundin - Guitars 
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Evan's View
 
The mighty Dark Tranquillity make their move to superlabel Century Media and produce one incredibly mundane album.  Now, I'm not the only one to notice the 
alarming style change that many bands undergo after signing up with CM, but I'm not going to stick the label with the blame here.  For instance, check out Cryptopsy's latest release and tell me they went soft, and Arch Enemy had recorded Stigmata before laying their signatures down.  This leads me to believe that bands decide to "mature", and then pick CM as an appropriate label to shift to.  A shame really, as older DT material contains some truly classic moments in the realm of melodic metal.  I have to admit that my patience for the band has waned
over the years, as Skydancer is by far my favorite, with The Gallery coming in a close second.  I never really got into The Mind's I like I thought I should, and after hearing three seconds of those meloncholy male vocals, I'm ready to give up. When they retain their roots, things come together, but there's too much pomp in this circumstance for me to ignore.  Am I disappointed?  Not really, as I didn't expect all that much after The Mind's I, but it's hard to see bands do this... I wish I could pick out the 15 awesome minutes of this disc and leave all the crap out, but life's not exactly fair, is it?  Actually, I just wish that they'd ditch the new vocals and get back to some serious ass-kicking, but that's just my opinion.
5 out of 10

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Haven
2000 Century Media Records 

Haven
  1. The Wonders at Your Feet
  2. Not Built to Last 
  3. Indifferent Suns
  4. Feast of Burden
  5. Haven
  6. The Same
  7. Fabric
  8. Ego Drama
  9. Rundown
  10. Emptier Still
  11. At Loss for Words

Line-Up
Mikael Stanne - Vocals 
Martin Hendriksson - Guitars 
Anders Jivarp - Drums 
Martin Brandstrom - Electronics
Michael Niklasson - Bass
Niklas Sundin - Guitars 
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Evan's View
I've had some time now to come to terms with my disappointment with last year's less than heavy Projector, preparing me somewhat for Haven.  What this really means is that, to me, anything heavier than Projector will suffice, for I know know that the days of Skydancer or
The Gallery are loooong gone.  Here's also where I will draw a timeline comparison to In Flames, for both bands have progressed at roughly the same pace, with both bands also pushing out releases for this year which are more comfortable in their changes, and a notch heavier than their 1999 albums.  Which does not mean that I am now a converted fan of post Mind's I DT, I'm not, but Haven is definitely more of a return to form for these guys, one that is appreciated by me.  Wanna know the weirdest thing though?  I prefer Mikael Stanne's earlier, more abrasive vocal work (in IF and DT) than what we've been hearing on the last two albums, and these Depeche Mode aural stylings (again, see In Flames) leave me cold.  In fact, there's a whole "electronica" thing going on here, and call me one of  the older fans now alienated by a band's change in direction, because I don't get into it here, almost annoyed at times by the cybernetic rhythms.  The most frustrating thing here is that there are some really serious moments of Dark Tranquillity here, but these flashes are easily overshadowed by the newfound love of all that is digital.  For all the negative I find though, the band can still create (maybe even more so now) an incredible sense of atmosphere, and while I prefer the earlier material for all of its intracacies, one could argue that Dark Tranquillity now makes better songs.  At the end of the day (or review), I'm relaly riding the fence on this one, finding more to love than last time, but still frustrated by the electronic intervention.
7 out of 10

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Links
The Official Dark Tranquillity Home Page
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All text copyright 2000 Evan Howell
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