PlanetMosh Keeping it Metal
Dark Tranquillity prove why the’re the best in the buisness.
The now well known tag of ‘Gothenburg sound’ exists primarily because of the groundbreaking music produced on a consistent basis by Dark Tranquillity, sometimes complex, sometimes alarming but always meaningful and thought provoking.
In ‘Construct’, the band have produced an album that eclipses all their previous releases, a much more rounded and complete body of work than the previous offering ’We Are The Void’. Whilst previous releases have been excellent, ’Construct’ is simply stellar.
From the opening strains of ’For Broken Words’, you immediately know that you’re in for an absolute treat, where as ‘We Are The Void’ may have been aimed towards the more extreme end of the DT spectrum, ‘Construct’ is a much moodier and Gothic tinged affair. A feature I particularly liked about this album was the much more liberal use of the deep clean vocal that graced earlier releases, giving a real Jekyll and Hyde feel to the vocal delivery of Mikael Stanne.
Fans of the extreme DT sound need not be worried though, tracks like ’Apathetic’ fly along at fast pace, driven by a whirlwind of screaming demonic vocals and tight riffs and many others bear similar traits as well. However, when you come across a track such as ‘What Only You Know’, which has the complete range of everything that is good and unique about DT, it is a genuine pleasure to listen to, making you realise how important this band are in the Death Metal genre.
Production wise the album is top drawer, so it should be I guess, this after all is the bands tenth album but it just has a vibe of a band that are on the crest of a creative wave, the sound being beautifully balanced between polished and raw. The twin guitar of Niklas Sundin and Martin Henriksson never sounded better, indeed, all band members contribute in equal parts to make this album something special, ’State Of Trust’ must be one of the finest songs the band have ever composed and recorded and considering the depth of the bands back catalogue, that’s some achievement.
‘Construct’ in some ways is unlikely to sway you if you’re not already a fan of the band albeit it is perhaps more accessible and melodic than some previous albums, what it will do though is cement the bands reputation as one of, if not the most important and influential bands of the genre. A glorious, faultless demonstration of how Death Metal should sound, one of the albums of the year, without doubt.
Track Listing;
1. For Broken Words
2. The Science Of Noise
3. Uniformity
4. The Silence Inbetween
5. Apathetic
6. What Only You Know
7. Endtime Hearts
8. State Of Trust
9. Weight Of The End
10. None Becoming
Dark Tranquillity are;
Mikael Stanne – Vocals
Niklas Sundin – Guitar
Martin Henriksson – Guitar
Martin Brändström – Keyboards and Programming
Anders Vivarp – Drums
‘Construct’ is out now via Century Media Records
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