DARK TRANQUILLITY – We Are The Void

One of the most important bands of Melodic Death Metal are back with a new album, their ninth offering so far.

Dark Tranquillity, along with In Flames and At The Gates, defined the amazing sound of Swedish Melodic Death Metal back in the early 90’s. Those three great bands stood tall almost throughout the entire 90’s era displaying another dimension in Death Metal that wasn’t heard of before.

However, as time marched on, so did the bands. At The Gates crippled at the end of the 90’s and its current status is unknown, In Flames, over the years, became less a Melodic Death Metal band and more of a modernized Metalcore outfit (very similar to the New American Metal movement). In Flames’ case was turned into a small outbreak in the worldwide Melodic Death Metal scene. Nevertheless, you can still be proud nowadays that at least one of the forefathers of this melodic extreme music stayed mostly loyal to its foundation. Dark Tranquillity, with the rise of new extreme sub-genres, never backed down from their true sound, style of playing and writing so that today they are a leading team in the Metal world and the Swedish Melodic Death Metal scene. Their new album, We Are The Void, is practically another example of good Melodic Death Metal (even if the bands used modern elements, but those were only used for enhancement and not permanent features that controls their music).

It can be portrayed that since the coming of the band’s Friction in 2007, made the feeling surrounding DT’s as darker and colder, even though it was filled with warmer melodies and fired up solos. Stepping back to the theme behind Friction, DT maintained the similar lines of both music and depressive like themes on We Are The Void.

Beautiful and emotional, yet harsher, songs on the album as “Shadow In Our Blood”, “In My Absence”, “Her Silent Language”, “I Am The Void” and “The Fatalist”, expressed hard negative feelings that were always a central discussion for this band. The exploration of sadness continues, will some positive thoughts be included this time around? Don’t worry, your positive notions will come out from the music’s quality and from the firm hand of the idol among Death Metal vocalists, Mikael Stanne. Once a rhythm guitarist, after the band’s debut album he became one of the best, if not the best, growl vocalist of extreme Metal music. Many vocalists of the same sub-genre were attracted by this guy’s abilities of performing. Moreover, don’t you forget his awesome clean vocals. With Stanne’s role, DT prevail on their stacks of strong riffs, heated melodies and top of the line solos, used, rather extensively, the keyboards (manned by Martin Brandstrom, who is also in charge of the few electronic reminders on the band’s latest albums). With the power of their keyboards, which the band started using almost ten years ago, We Are The Void turned to be even more melodic as the aura surrounding it became more majestic. The riffs, with the coverage of the keyboards, received an additional tone as if a softer hand touched them. In overall, DT should have used those keyboards earlier on their career as it only made them better.

From slow tempo doomers to faster paced demons, DT kept on supplying what many bands of Melodic Death Metal had forgotten and that is what this sub-genre is all out to be – melodic. Join the new descending darkness of DT as they are out again to explore darkened pain. If you loved Friction, this album is the continuance. Check it out, you won’t be disappointed.