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Dark Tranquillity > We Are the Void > Reviews
Dark Tranquillity - We Are the Void

Another brilliant Effort From the World's Greatest Melodeath Band - 86%

darrenmcowan, May 28th, 2022
Written based on this version: 2010, CD, Century Media Records

Often seen as the “other” band (In Flames, At The Gates, Dissection) that helped form the Gothenburg, Sweden melodic death metal sound, Dark Tranquility has remained the most stable of the pack. Numerous high-profile tours including stints with Opeth, The Haunted and Killswitch Engage has changed this perception of the band. Those in the know recognize Dark Tranquility’s bi-polar attack of melody and aggression as pure brilliance. We Are the Void, DT’s latest recording, reveals more quality and consistency by this legendary group.

With We Are the Void, Dark Tranquility once again displays the slick Gothenburg-esque guitar fretwork and straight-ahead drum work that the group first created twenty-plus years ago. Mikael Stanne projects his voice with familiar, decipherable agony. In addition, the group includes a myriad of keyboard-laden atmosphere that traces back to the Projector album.

“In My Absence” and “I am the Void” showcase a fierce, speedy attack that harkens back to the troupe’s first three, death-metal related recordings. “Surface The Infinite” even includes a blistering, blast-beat drum assault. “Shadow in Our Blood” and “The Fatalist” feature an electronic ambience not seen on early releases. “Iridium” finds a balance of clean guitar harmonies and nightmarish key passages.

“Iridium” also opens to Stanne’s often hidden smooth singing voice. Stanne received much criticism for adding this voice to his repertoire on the Project album, but mostly that was due to listeners misunderstanding his dark genius. “The Grandest Accusation” includes more of his soft crooning. This track is perhaps the album’s most diverse cut, moving between emotive guitar harmonies, swift tempo changes and even nu metal-like groove. These bouncy rhythms paired with moog-like synth recall industrialized nu metallers Static-X during their classic song “Cold.”

We Are the Void shows Dark Tranquility at the top of its melodic-death-metal game. The group manages to incorporate elements found throughout its illustrious career. While We Are the Void may not quite stack up to The Gallery and The Mind’s I albums, mostly because those albums were revolutionary and the emotion displayed just can’t be duplicated, but the album is definitely a highlight in the band’s career extensive.

Originally published on en.metalship.org

An arrow laced with liquid darkness. - 70%

Diamhea, February 27th, 2014

While clearly not as deficient or meager as the album that directly followed it, We Are the Void shows various signs of decline and decay in the formula the band has utilized with reasonable success starting with Damage Done. At the same time, it exhibits a few areas of marked improvement that could have truly gone somewhere special if the band continued in this vein. This is essentially Fiction all over again, and while Construct can be viewed in a similar light, Dark Tranquillity was still mostly there at this point.

What doesn't work needs to be addressed immediately, and is mercifully shoved out of the way fairly early in the album's procession. The first two tracks, especially "Dream Oblivion" are totally out of character and inert attempts at adding a dissonant, dark edge to the atmosphere. On past albums like Damage Done the cybernetic, barren landscape painted by the melodies was endearing and came as an end, not a means, of the quality songwriting. The band tries breaching that point by force here, and the songs suffer as a result. In fact, We Are the Void's biggest fault may be centered around this aspect, because when it plays the familiar cards we have grown accustomed to it passes muster if not excels.

Snip off the first two songs alongside most of "Arkhangelsk" and you are left with a number of quality, if not redundant, tracks well worthy of the Dark Tranquillity name. As such, they still have the proclivity to sound a little samey and faceless if tackled in a single listening session. Regardless, "In My Absence" and "I am the Void" are both spectacular scorchers that run parallel with classics like "Dry Run" and "Blind at Heart". We Are the Void features the most crushing, bottom heavy guitar sound the band has ever committed to disc, with a tone as solid and tempered as the futuristic metropolises the band so proudly flaunts on many of their album covers. Jivarp likewise thunders by with a deep, cavernous thump to the bass drums and a balanced sheen to the top end of the kit that helps make up for a relatively understated percussive performance on the whole. The sterile, organic aesthetics of Fiction are also discarded for a roomier, more engrossing sonic palette that helps sell the opaque atmosphere evoked by the stabbing synths.

Some of the other songs are neither here nor there from a memorability standpoint, not necessarily falling through the cracks but getting hung up in the purgatory in between all the same. The band takes two more stabs at the "Misery's Crown" approach with "Her Silent Language" and closer "Iridium". The former is considerably less offensive thanks to Brändström's ever-poignant piano textures, but "Iridium" is overlong and far too meandering to be considered a success. The aforementioned "Arkhangelsk" sounds like the second coming of "Lost to Apathy" until the faceless stop-start riffing and Stanne's parched roars pull everything eternally downward. As with all Dark Tranquillity compositions, most of We Are the Void consists of short, accessible slabs of modern Gothenburg with a penchant for searingly memorable melodies and ambiance. While there are a boatload of bonus tracks amounting to nearly half of an album, I regret to say that the only one truly worth any time is "Out of Gravity". Track this one down if you can, as it features the greatest solo the band has executed since I can't even remember when.

I can't help but feel that We Are the Void's lackluster public opinion is the main reason the band took such a drastic stylistic turn on Construct and subsequently fell to the greatest depths since Haven. It wasn't warranted, as this sits quite nicely next to Fiction and Character on my shelf, rarely accruing any modicum of dust. A more than worthy final chapter to Dark Tranquillity's post-millennial dominance.

Inner Void Exposed - 80%

eyes_of_apocalypse, February 24th, 2014

What a frustrating album.

Realistically, I'm well beyond "late" in reviewing this album. I'm so late to the party all the guests have left and I'm practically breaking and entering into the host's condo while our generous host is in bed making passionate love to one of the guests. He's full of vigor, life, and feeling, openly expressing all of his emotions in the most honest and endearing experience he could possibly muster. Then he embarrassingly finishes early, weeping and apologizing, "This has never happened before!" But you know it has. Oh, you know it has.

And that, folks, explains this album. Mikael is screaming his lungs out about his inner void and it truly shows. "The Fatalist" clear through "Arkhangelsk" are full of such turmoil and passion you can feel it seeping off the harrowing, gothic-tinged keys and the guitars bellowing out in pain. It's the Dark Tranquillity style of raw intensity, but it's a different kind of intensity. It's not unadulterated rage unlike the three albums prior. It's sorrow. It's a sorrow that was hinted at multiple times (hello, "Format C: For Cortex," "My Negation," and "Inside the Particle Storm"), but they didn't feel like they could truly express it. After years of trying to repress it, it's exploded perhaps a bit too suddenly.

There's an intense atmosphere I can't deny. Along with the synth-laden gothic vibe and overall plodding pace when compared to typical DT work, there's an increase in soft bridges and Mikael's beautiful baritone voice showing up periodically in a way not heard since Projector. The album strides along a progressive, uphill slope, the heavy atmosphere becoming increasingly prevalent until it hits its peak in "Her Silent Language" and "Arkhangelsk." The former sees Stanne taking his cleans to full force, producing a heartfelt, balladesque track, while the latter skyrockets the intensity and takes a few notes from Norwegian black metal in its dissonant rage. In a sense, they're polar opposites, yet they both encapsulate exactly what sets this album apart: feeling, passion, and strength, and they are without doubt two of the best songs this band has ever done.

The problem isn't in the album's middle, no, it's in the album's beginning. The first two tracks - "Shadow in Our Blood" and "Dream Oblivion" - are utterly pointless. They're not even B-sides to the album. They're like Character B-sides, and Character is already my least favorite DT album since The Mind's I. They're intended to be more aggressive, but in reality they're generic melodeath tracks with tacked on, boring riffs, and they feel completely out of place with the rest of the album. The most they bring is a couple slick choruses that give you a glimpse of the album's coming content. They're like the newbies at a self-help seminar, too afraid to let out how much they hate their lives and instead mumbling here and there while constantly being talked over by the veterans who are openly expressing themselves and feel much better for it. Ironically enough, the title track is the third orphan in this group, fitting alongside "Shadow in Our Blood" and "Dream Oblivion." Of course, right after that momentary dip, the album picks right up where it left off and crescendos to another emotional peak through "Surface the Infinite" into "Iridium" - both stellar tracks, dank and dour, and fitting right along the album's middle.

Okay, so, maybe that previous analogy should've been reversed. It's more like a guy who has trouble getting started, has a small hiccup, but then explodes in a grand finish. Nah, that's less accurate, because Dark Tranquillity have been throwing out filler tracks in every album since Haven. It's happened before, dammit.

If the first two tracks and the title track had been lopped off, this easily could've been my favorite Dark Tranquillity album and straight up one of my favorite albums period. These guys aren't at their best when they're trying to churn out generic melodeath riffs with no feeling. They're at their best when they sink into their mellow side and let their passion swallow them, just like they were trying back with Projector (and, to a lesser extent, Haven), before their ignorant fanbase ostracized them and forced them to regress into their Gothenburg aggression.

And I think they were really trying to bring a bit of that back here in this album, but... well, the damage was done.

Boring and without any creativity at this point - 38%

The_Ghoul, October 9th, 2013

When I review music, there's 2 habits I am definitely trying to avoid nowadays, and they are reviewing albums from genres I don't even like, and not giving the music a fair chance. While some might know that I have never traditionally liked Gothenburg melodeath, I also have always made an exception for Dark Tranquillity. I got into the band via Projector, but after that tried (as I usually do) to listen to the albums in chronological order. Up to and including Projector, I find the band to be quite exceptional. While I found that Haven was a bit "same-y", I still enjoyed Damage Done, although I could hear the signs of decay in the album Character. There seemed to be an ever draining well of creativity, and I wondered how much longer their creativity would last.

Which brings us to We Are the Void. I can sum up the entire issue with We Are the Void like this: if you just listen to one or two songs off this album, you'll probably like them. I did. The signs of commercialism were obvious and all over the place, but let's face it, Dark Tranquillity are still able musicians and are still able to make their songs sound enjoyable. The problem lies in trying to listen to the whole album. I put it on, and rocked out for about 2 songs. I still soldiered through, but by the song "In My Absence" I really started to lose interest. This is because every song IS IN THE SAME KEY, HAS THE SAME TEMPO, AND THE SAME CHUGGING GUITARS! Seriously, any riff, on any song, would not sound out of place on any other song, and they're all crap riffs! Seriously, the good riff:mindless chugging ratio must be close to 1:100 or something like that. It's ridiculous. Hell, all the songs are even 3-4 minutes, except the closer, which gives this album an even more monotonous feel.

Before the reader brings up the point that Projector had a lot of chugging, let I remind ourselves that Projector had a lot of things going for it, and the guitars really weren't the centerpiece of the album. We Are the Void, unfortunately HAS no centerpiece. In a way, this is almost a creeping nu-rock (I refuse to call it nu-metal, it's not metal) influence, in that there is some use of electronics (which, in it of itself, I'm in NO way opposed to) coupled with mid-tempo chugging and angsty lyrics. What makes that even more grating is that they are Swedish and this was made in 2010. well after nu-rock lost its popularity. But to the pain of my ears, this is nauseatingly radio friendly.

However, I can't give this a complete zero because while this is blatant radio crap, it's HIGH QUALITY blatant radio crap made by a former death metal band from Sweden. At some level, that counts for something. Because like I said, if you listen to an individual song, and ignore all the blatant cheese and radio friendliness, it's a good mindless song to blast at full volume. But perhaps the reader of this can stand a whole album of nothing but midtempo drop B chugging with angsty lyrics, and after all, Dark Tranquillity always had emotional lyrics, but I cannot stand listening to such an album all the way through. I soldiered through, but it was no easy task. Needless to say, this album's not going on any future playlists of mine.

Mediocrity yields some hidden gems - 62%

MaDTransilvanian, September 7th, 2010

After 2007’s very impressive Fiction, Dark Tranquillity seemed to have reached a culmination of the modern sound that they had adopted ever since 2002’s equally solid Damage Done. This sound revolves around a very well-produced, keyboard-based and extremely catchy variation of the traditional melodic death metal they had been playing since their beginnings. They were basically on top of the world with that sound, and had to find a way to adapt it for the next chapter of their existence: We Are The Void. And, I’m afraid to say, We Are The Void is a major letdown as an album, with too much filler and too much inconsistency. That said, the album has a core of five godly tracks which redeem it from being a complete trainwreck to being a strategically enjoyable album.

On the surface, this album is deceptively similar to its predecessor. Pretty much the same elements are there, but their arrangement is what causes most problems. The guitar playing is essentially the same, with the exception of a somewhat greater number of solos involved, which unfortunately seem pretty out-of-place on the album due to the simple fact that they’re not compatible with the new Dark Tranquillity sound: the guitar playing sometimes comes out at the forefront of the sound with relatively technical riffs and solos but without the songwriting context to make them seem good. It’s like the band decided to add some more technical stuff to make a more “metal” album without adapting the whole structure to the changes. And that’s what we get in pretty much all of the weaker tracks: the keyboards are neglected for more traditional metal instruments, which would be fine with most bands but new Dark Tranquillity lives and breathes keyboards; it’s the only thing, along with Mikael’s vocals, that makes the band truly unique.

The result is an utterly dry and misplaced sound on many tracks, including the first two: Shadow in Our Blood and Dream Oblivion, which sound like parodies of previous aggressive tracks from around the Character era. The choice of production does little to help here, with everything being tuned quite low. The title track is perhaps the greatest offender, in that it’s the most aggressive track here, and should be good, but isn’t because it sounds generic as hell. The keyboards are almost left out and some simplistic chugging riffs drive the music, with disastrous results. The drumming is competent throughout the album, but often contributes to that feeling of extreme dryness in the sound that plagues the more fast-paced tracks.

That was the bad part. However, there’s fortunately also a good part: the five consecutive godly tracks, starting with the epic The Fatalist and culminating with the sublime Her Silent Language. The very first seconds of The Fatalist are a sign of things to come: beautiful piano-imitating keyboard strokes that are a perfect sound to accompany the rest of the song, turning an otherwise ordinary track into a masterpiece. This sound culminates in the extremely epic and memorable chorus, where Mikael’s harshest of harsh vocals really work well to create a contrast with the soft, very melodic keyboard lines. This is the missing element that ruins the other songs and that makes these five incredibly good. This is the element that makes Dark Tranquillity what they are today, love it or hate it, and they lose the uniqueness of their sound without it! Similar patterns are at work on the following triad of songs, making each one of them excellent, if not necessarily that different from one another.

The last song in this streak of excellence is Her Silent Language, and it’s basically the album’s ballad. Continuing where Misery’s Crown left of, it greatly improves upon it. Mikael’s clean vocals here are simply perfect, creating one of the most powerful atmospheres when contrasted with the harsh vocals of the chorus; the keyboard lines work to seal the deal of what is undoubtedly the best Dark Tranquillity ballad and probably the best track on this album (The Grandest Accusation is close). Even the solo here is good, not suffering from the delusions of technical grandeur that others (Shadows in Our Blood) seem to have. It works perfectly with the rest of the song’s elements, notably the omnipresent keyboards.

Even the keyboards aren’t used perfectly, however, as the disappointing Arkhangelsk reveals: it begins with a wonderful keyboard line that promises another great song, but then loses itself in a mess of harsh yells and a go-nowhere structure. This song just tries to be extremely heavy while being slow and it kind of fails. Surface the Infinite is another attempt at making a song like the good part mentioned above, but the guitars are slightly misused here, resulting in a decent but not great track (the solo is good though). The pace is a bit too slow for what it tries to accomplish and seems a bit plodding. The same can be said of Iridium, which tries to be very epic but just crashes and burns as a nearly seven-minute bore fest that pretty much sounds alike from beginning to end.

We Are The Void could have been such a powerful album, but it’s plagued by massive amounts of filler and so many incoherent ideas that it turned out to be the band’s weakest in at least a decade. However, at the core it has five tracks which represent the very best of modern Dark Tranquillity, so no fan of the era can simply ignore this. What could have been a perfect EP has been turned into a mediocre album.

Aren't We the Autopilot ? - 70%

Alchameth, July 29th, 2010

Things seem to be getting a little bit complicated. As a Dark Tranquillity fan, I usually get somewhat frustrated while reviewing underwhelming releases by these guys. After “Fiction”, many fans (including myself) probably thought (or hoped) the Swedish sextet would once again try to reinvent their sound, but alas, it didn’t happen. “We are The Void”, their 2010 release, is strange album that takes some time to fully appreciate. First, let’s go through the bad aspects of their most recent output.

At first listen, it may sound like a slightly more hollow-sounding version of ‘Character’, but the fault should not fall entirely in the band’s hands. The production is similar to Fiction’s; thin-sounding and kind of sterile, probably made to augment the natural metallic sound of the B-tuned guitars. For those who are still not familiar with such tuning, well, it’s low. Low enough to force newcomer bassist Daniel Antonsson to play almost nothing but boring root notes (and at a very low volume), lest the whole thing become and unbearable mush of growly, bottom-end sounds. I’m aware that after “The Mind’s I”, this band kind of forced the bass guitar into playing a weaker role, but I expected things would be different with the new bassist. Unfortunately, I was mistaken.

Sundin and Henriksson do their thing once again as they’ve been doing for the past decade. They play Gothenburg riffs (sometimes interspaced with tremolo riffing), some vaguely thrash-sounding passages, some Maiden melodies and that’s pretty much it. Anders’ drumming is still competent, but it lacks flair and variation. It’s like he’s playing because he needs to, and not because he’s enjoying every minute of what’s being played. I don’t know if I’m asking too much, but the man is a good drummer and I wish he could show more excitement or variation.

Martin attempts to mix the styles he used in ‘Character’ (more inspired by electronic music) and ‘Fiction’ (more organic, classical) to varying degrees of success, and Mikael’s vocals – by far my favorite aspect of this band – seem to be showing signs of weakness. While still not bad, his voice is far from the great performance showcased on Damage Done, Character and Fiction; also, distortion effects are being used at some parts to augment an aggression his natural technique seems to be unable to sustain any further, which is sad for a singer that is usually pointed as one of the best of this subgenre. Clean vocals are also back, which fortunately is a plus because Mikael has a beautiful tone.

However, despite this lengthy rant, “We Are the Void” still has enough redeeming values to please Dark Tranquillity fans. While “Fiction” received some flak for its overall lack of interesting lead guitar parts, WATV makes up for it by having both guitarists play varied and interesting solos in almost every song; of course its no Tipton and Downing, but its good for what its worth.

Opener “Shadow in our Blood” begins with an ominous (yet unnecessarily distorted) bass line that segues into your standard Gothenburg fare (Or did you expect anything different?). I kinda dig the little scale descent at 0:57, the solo is cool enough (should be a tad longer, in my opinion) and the chorus is acceptable. This first song somewhat represents what the album means to me: it’s good and very well-played, but it’s not a graceful atmospheric rocker like "The Lesser Faith" nor it grabs you by the balls like "The New Build".

Dark Tranquillity is a band that simply cannot be led to run on autopilot or set a standard and stay in it forever. This band’s entire career is based on the fact that they always found a way to reinvent their sound; THIS is what makes them so special. What I see here is stock-standard DT fare, strong and competent, but not interesting enough. There’s no suspense, there’s no "Oh, what the hell they’re going to do next?" (Like we’ve experienced on Projector, for an example), it’s just "Riff one, riff two, Atmospheric/Solo break, Chorus, rearrange everything and ok guys, next song!" This is not the Dark Tranquillity I’ve come to respect and admire.

Of course, however, this album is not devoid of good ideas and some spark of interesting songwriting. “The Fatalist”, for an example, is a very strong song with a great verse and powerful, fist-pumping chorus that will become a live staple in no time, and “Surface the Infinite” gets the ‘best chorus’ prize here. Listen to the beautiful melody underlying it and try not to sing along. Also, this song features Stanne’s best performance on the album, check out how he briefly returns to his “Damage Done” roars at 3:06.

“Arkhangelsk” and “Iridium” are odd songs focused on atmosphere. The first one tries a little bit too much to be a successor to “Inside the Particle Storm”, probably due to its gloomy, dark nature. Thumbs up to Stanne here, the man sounds like a doomsayer on crack and it works wonderfully. The latter is slightly more boring but once again benefits from Mikael’s riveting, spine-tingling vocals and a good chorus.

Another reviewer noted a resemblance between “Her Silent Language” and Fiction’s “Misery’s Crown”, and I agree. Both follow a very similar structure and have a poppish feeling, especially with those lyrics. Could be a much greater song, but it’s dragged down by an overly simplistic build-up, despite its relaxing lead work and Mikael’s great cleans.

However, the best song is undoubtedly ‘I Am The Void’. Holy shit, if the whole album was like this I would be going nuts. It just grabs you and doesn’t let go until the very last note !

Beginning with an attention-grabbing thrash riff, it then goes into this album’s most interesting Gothenburg riff/Tremolo transition and all of a sudden Sundin and Henriksson remember how to make an interesting staccato section again; being rhythmically significant and highlighted by the keyboard work, it doesn’t become a throbbing mess. “I am the call, I speak inside of you!” Stanne says with a more subdued and sinister growl on the chorus. After the second chorus, the staccato riff comes back briefly and offers a little suspense, then greeting us with an excellent and very well placed solo section, and then it thought “Ok, now they’re going into one of those boring electronic, guitar-less breaks and it will completely crack the song’s flow” only to have the thrash riff come back suddenly and punch me in the face. Now WHY can’t they write more songs like that? This is true Dark Tranquillity, and not boring, overly keyboard-driven stuff like “At the Point of Ignition”.

While it may seem that I hated this album, it is not the case. I still hold much respect for these Swedes and I just hope they can come back with a more interesting output next time. Dark Tranquillity must realize the fact that they’re loved not just because of their near-flawless chops, but also because of their soul and inventive character. This group is capable of renewing its sound like few others can, so it is sad when such a great skill is not put to good use.

Optimistically speaking, a lackluster but good album is still a good album, unless of course they decide to sit down and keep writing the same thing over and over again, which will erase any positive outlook even from the most diehard fans. Let’s all hope for the best.

Highlights; "I Am The Void", "The Fatalist", "Surface the Infinite", the chorus and solo section to "In My Absence".

DT's We Are the Void - 77%

MystifyXD, April 15th, 2010

Among with In Flames and At the Gates, Dark Tranquillity is one of the founders of the Gothenburg death metal scene. Their 9th album, “We Are the Void”, got me excited for I feel this will sound as good as their last album three years ago, “Fiction”, although a very melodic album, the band has managed to use the melodic elements for the better. Will this album live up to its expectations?

The musicianship, first of all, is what you’ve expected: very professional. It’s no surprise for these guys have already made 8 full-length albums prior to this one and because of their fame nowadays it’s not a surprise that the production is polished, making the bass silent. The music has a dark and a very melancholic atmosphere, although this album is what you will call a “Fiction Pt. II”. The vocals, which are raspier than the average melodic death vocals, sound very graceful indeed. The guitars and the keyboards sound like the ones on “Fiction”, but more melodic.

“Fatalist” is the first good song here in the vein of “Fiction”. Although the chorus is somewhat annoying, it makes it up for the atmosphere. “At the Point of Ignition” is one melancholic song with a very melancholic atmosphere that is bound to keep you from boredom. “Her Silent Language” is the album’s ballad, again with clean vocals. The singing performance on this song adds more melancholy to the song. “Arkhangelsk” has a good build-up of its very dark atmosphere, albeit the weird title. “I Am the Void” is the only aggressive song in the album that reminds me of “The Gallery”, but still manages to keep the album’s melancholy by slowing down during the chorus. “Iridium” being the last song, suits to end the album for being more melancholic than the rest of the songs.

The album’s problem lies on two things alone: first, as I’ve told you earlier, being “Fiction Pt. II”. Even from the very first time you hear this album, you’ll notice that this album has little, if not none, difference compared to “Fiction”. And second, this album is too radio-friendly. All the songs here have the keyboards as the main instrument. Well, this is death metal, only melodic, so basically you’ll need the force and the power that the guitar gives. Although it’s not bad to let the keyboards be the main instrument on the chorus or some other part, the band should know that too much keyboards is bad, especially on a death metal record.

Despite the negatives, this is still a very solid release nonetheless. Dark Tranquillity is indeed a band excellent at delivering you melancholic songs to your mind, ever. Just get this one if you like “Fiction”.

Originally made for http://mystifymyserie.blogspot.com

Don't know what the hell happened.... - 40%

Pratl1971, March 19th, 2010

Perplexion. Total perplexion.

My first exposure to Dark Tranquility was way back in 1996 with the Enter Suicidal Angels EP and I thought it was brilliant, thereby leading me to The Gallery, The Mind’s I, and Skydancer, all of which I found equally good. When I hear the term “melodic death metal” I think of some emo kids in the mall playing two chords and screeching into microphones at ear-splitting volume. It’s sad but true. DT had once owned that particular subgenre and kept it somewhat pure and unsullied, but I’m still not sure what to make of We Are the Void to be perfectly honest. It’s a good album to listen to, but I would think that aside from the vocal delivery the “melodic death” tag no longer applies here. My only fair comparison is Metallica’s Load: it’s a fine album in and of itself, but not a Metallica record, plain and simple. I think the same goes for We Are the Void. I’m sorry to say this is as close to mallcore music as one can get without flopping one’s hair into only one eye.

On the surface it appears that DT has progressed, yes, but there’s progression and then there’s the foregoing of your own self, which has happened here. As I say, the album sounds pretty good for some “groove metal” that is somewhat enjoyable and well-crafted within its parameters, but as far as a Dark Tranquility CD it’s short of that former acceleration and flexibility that made them so good once upon a time.

The songs are well-structured, nicely played, and abound with somewhat memorable, albeit transparent melodies. Still, it’s very difficult to render this album high praise simply because the transition from one sound to another is almost too drastic. If not for the vocals a couple of the tracks actually sound radio-friendly, even power metal with heavy keyboards and melodies more akin to Nightwish or Rhapsody than the band that once issued “Zodijackyl Light.” I must admit the keys on this album utterly killed me! They are far too prevalent and I keep imagining power metal bands all over the place, a very unpleasant occurrence for me.

I hasten to use the term pedestrian as I seem to use the word a bit when describing something not up to par with a band’s ability or past achievements, but this release is so commercially-geared it’s almost saddening. The track “Her Silent Language” sounds like a bad Bauhaus-meets-extreme-vocals hybrid to be taken seriously. In my opinion it reeks of a go-with-the-flow mentality, one that should never have been realized considering the band’s past successes. The closest track to the old feel is “I Am the Void,” which manages to blast the ears like a sledgehammer, but right as you’re getting into the feel of Dark Tranquility the way they deserve to be heralded the keyboards come in and dismantle the aggressive emotional knot just as quickly.

While musically brilliant in its own way, We Are the Void spans too far an emptiness to be called a simple void. The leap here is more like an infinity journey that doesn’t fare well for the long haul.

(Originally written for http://www.metalpsalter.com)

That we resist your pale attraction - 70%

autothrall, February 24th, 2010

I really feel that Dark Tranquillity peaked with their 2002 album Damage Done, which was basically flawless, each track loaded with good hooks, and an excellent fusion of the bands keyboard-heavy atmosphere, driving inspirational guitar lines and Stanne's heavy (if not brutal) delivery. It more than compensated for the half-mediocre albums the band had been releasing like Projector or Haven. Since that time, Dark Tranquillity have remade Damage Done in 2005 and 2007, calling it Character and then Fiction. Granted, the riffs were not always exactly the same, and the production was arguably superior, but just listen through the chugging and the tempos of the tracks in general and it becomes clear that the magic of Damage Done was the formula that the band wanted to relive.

Here, eight years after the fact, we have the bands 9th album, We Are the Void, and once again, I am reminded very closely of Damage Done. Stanne's vocals seem to have a blacker edge to them, more of a vicious rasp which I actually don't think even borders on improvement. The band still experiments a little with the writing, but most of the album does feel as if you've already heard it. That being said, there are about 3-4 tracks on this which do stand out pretty far, amidst a crowd of filler that feels like it was already perfected earlier in the previous decade.

We Are the Void feels as much modern as the past few releases, opening with the booming bass and synth-driven mystique of "Shadows in Our Blood", which has a few decent thrashing melodic death rhythms and acceptable lead work, but doesn't feel all that remarkable. "Dream Oblivion" has a huge groove hook not unlike something Soilwork would have written during their 2000-2003 period, with a bouncy bridge over which the proggy electro keys strafe. "The Fatalist" has some resonant electric piano strikes over a generic chug, and then a melodic pick me up riff which isn't far from Damage Done, though the synth line there gives it an enhanced atmosphere. "In My Absence" is the first track on the album which I felt compelled to listen more than once, with a great chorus and some nice charging segments that shift into breakdowns.

And that's the story here: you go through a couple of filler-feeling tracks to get at the meat of the album. "The Grandest Accusation" and "At the Point of Ignition" went straight in one ear, and out the other, but "Her Silent Language" is fairly poignant and memorable through its goth vocals and gorgeous melodic mute pickings. Of course, if you don't like a mix of clean and melodeath vocals, stay clear. "Arkhangelsk" borders on symphonic black metal, not unlike Dimmu Borgir or Moonspell, but it's not all that great. "I Am the Void" is another of the album's strongest tracks, with a rousing rhythmic pulse that veers between dense thrash and layered synthesizer atmosphere. "Surface the Infinite" is similar if less interesting, but the closing track "Iridium" is possibly the best on the entire record, with a massive wall of ringing pianos and a highly melancholic riff sequence.

It's a fairly good album, and I'd expect no less from a veteran band such as this, but it just doesn't have that level of songwriting which evokes any desire to play it through in its entirety. If you think Character and Fiction are the be all end all of this band's catalog, then I can't imagine you'd find this disappointing. Nor did I, since I haven't exactly built any expectations around the band in years. There are a few songs here I'd certainly incorporate into an iPod playlist of the band's material, but the rest simply feel too average to revisit.

Highlights: In My Absence, Her Silent Language, I Am the Void, Iridium

-autothrall
http://www.fromthedustreturned.com