Dark Tranquillity have been deemed pioneers of the gothenburg genre along with other classics like In Flames and At the Gates. However, Dark Tranquillity took a bit of a different road than the other two bands by adding keyboards to their music, providing some almost techno like beats and effects to the music. With their eight album, Dark Tranquillity definitely don’t explore any new ground. However, it is indeed one of their best releases, very closely rivaling their previous release, Character. Both albums don’t contain many differences; they both start fast and heavy, both end on a somber, emotional note, and both have stronger first halves than second halves imo. The general sound featured in both is very similar as well. The riffs are fast and heavy, the aforementioned keyboard provide some techno like atmospheres, and the drumming is delivered at breakneck speed.
But which of the two are the better album? Both are quite easily my favorite two Dark Tranquillity releases, but is anyone particularly stringer than the other? Quite honestly, I find that immensely hard to say. Both are incredibly strong releases composed of ten (or eleven in Character’s case) melodic treats. I feel that Fiction may be a little more solid as a whole, while Character has my favorite Dark Tranquillity song ever in “Lost to Apathy,” though it has the worst song out of the combined twenty one songs on the two albums as well, in the still great “Am I 1?”
So though it’s a tough choice, I feel that Character is just a little better than Fiction, mostly because of the crushing force in “Lost to Apathy.”
But alas, this is a review of Fiction, not Character, so on with the reviewing.
Now, since there are no tbt’s for this album yet, I’m going to resume my older style and write a tbt for this album.
Nothing to No One: This song starts with an amazingly catchy bass and drum and intro before the crunchy guitars come in and play a very speedy riff. As most traditional openers, this is one of the faster paced songs on the album, and the verse supports the power that should be in an opener with aggressive guitars and some lightning fast drumming. The pace surprisingly changes for the chorus to a much slower tempo. In the chorus, some lone piano is heard, followed by some on and off heavy riffs by the guitars. The bridge starts at around 2:25 with some nice piano rhythms, followed once again by the opening guitar riff. The third verse then ensues and the chorus ends the song. A very powerful opener that grows on me with every listen. 9.5/10
The Lesser Faith: This is probably the most underrated song on the album. It starts slower than the previous track, and is focused a little more on melody at first. However, it soon grows to a heavier sound for the verse, and one of my favorite riffs on the album is played at 44 seconds into the song. It’s a simple, yet incredibly heavy riff, perfect for moshing. After the manic riffing, the more melodic chorus comes in, with some audible piano adding extra atmosphere. The rest of the song is basically a continuation of crazy riffs and drumming. A very atmospheric and clean guitar interlude is played from 2:14 to 3:06. More heavy riffing follows. (including that amazing riff mentioned before) The chorus ends the song once again. Not quite as good as the opener, but almost as good. 9.5/10
Terminus (Where Death is Most Alive): Starts with the keyboards performing a techno beat, and a very catchy on and off riff follows. At 3o seconds into the song, the highlight riff of the album comes in. It’s much more of a melodic than heavy riff, unlike the previous songs, yet it proves to be incredibly catchy and memorable. The verse is much like the opener, with intense riffing and drumming. The choppy opening riff is played before the majestically aggressive melodic riff comes in, which ends up being the riff to what I consider one of the best chorus on the album. It’s hard not to headbang to the sheer fury put behind such a well constructed, almost beautiful riff. A short solo is played from 3:14 to 3:23, followed by....you guessed it...the final verse. Predictably, the chorus is played again, and the song ends the same way it began with the techno effects. This song reminds me a great deal of the song “Monochromatic Stains” off “Damage Done” in that it features a very melodic riff and a powerful chorus. This is my favorite song on the album by a hair. 10/10
Blind at Heart: Starts immediately with an extremely heavy riff reminiscent of “Damage Done” yet again. This song ends up being the heaviest on the album, and much like the previous track, it is incredibly catchy. The verses are nothing ne, though they are even more well executed than the first two tracks, and even heavier while the chorus proves yet again to be very catchy and hard to not headbang to. The lyrics on this song are among the strongest on the album, with the chorus containing some powerful lyrics:
“Within this hour we forget ourselves
we’re in the fire that consumes itself”
(actually, for some reason, no site online that i’ve found has the lyrics to this song, but that’s what i believe Stanne is screaming)
At 2:55, a nice and melodic solo is played until 3:22, and it is probably the most well executed on the album; it’s fast and aggressive while staying very melodic. The song ends just like the other songs do. This is a close rival to “Terminus” to being the best song on the album. 10/10
Icipher Starts with a slower, yet still heavy riff. This song is much slower than the previous four tracks, and it contains some semi-cheesy lyrics that almost resemble....love!? These are the lyrics to the emotional chorus:
“Well the thing that scares me most
is the fear I see in others
And the thing that really frightens me to the core
is the fear I see in you”
The lyrics are actually one of the better ones on the album, despite being a little cheesy. This is one of the most emotional songs on the album, and probably the mos emotional song without clean vocals on the album (except for maybe the next song) Overall, this is one of the weaker songs on the album but is none the less nothing short of great. 8.5/10
Inside the Particle Storm: This is the longest song on the album at 5:29 and has what I believe to be the best lyrics on the album:
“Inside the Particle Storm
Where clouds of napalm shimmer
with the promise of one final dawn”
The song starts with a rather infectious clean riff, before exploding to one of the albums heavier riffs. The song has an almost doomy atmosphere, unlike anything Dark Tranquillity has done in quite some time. The middle of the song is all a clean interlude, which last about a minute and a half. This song has no chorus, but is still very powerful in it’s brutal beauty. This may be my least favorite on the album actually, but it’s still a not miss. 8/10
Empty Me: This song lasts just under 5 minutes, and it resumes to the ruthlessness of the first four tracks. It’s pretty similar to “Blind at Heart” in that it’s made up of some of the albums most aggressive riffing, and it features a strong and catchy chorus. Some more techno elements are added in this song, especially at around mid point, in which the keyboards yet again provide song interesting techno beats. At 2:46, a nice picked guitar interlude is played with ominous piano in the background. The verse returns, and big surprise, the chorus is repeated. The song ends with a 30 second somber piano interlude with some softer guitars in the back. Sure, the song structure on this album is predicable but it doesn’t prove to be a downfall by any means. 9/10
Misery’s Crown Now this song is finally brings back some of Stanne’s clean vocals featured on Projector. The song starts with an incredibly emotional riff that reminds me of the song “Single Part of Two” off “Damage Done.” The verse features clean guitars and clean vocals, before exploding with the intro riff with perhaps m favorite chorus on the album. Stanne Screams:
“Don’t bring it, don’t bring it,
Don’t bring your misery down on me”
A nice melodic solo is played from about 2:40 to 3:03. This song took a bit to grown on e but is now one of my favorites on the album. 9.5/10
Focus Shift: This is the first single off the album and the only song on the album under four minutes in length. The opening riff is very heavy and catchy as usual, and the verse is similar to track one. That is, it’s very fast and aggressive. The chorus is another gem here (as expected with a first single) with some nice piano behind spectacular riffing. This song features a melodic treat of a solo from 2:40 to 2:53, and is one of the best featured here. This song is amazingly catchy, and an easy one to get into. However, due to the briefness of it compared to the other tracks, it ends up being one of the weakest on the album, despite the fact that it’s still on of Dark Tranquillity’s best. 8.75/10
The Mundane and the Magic: This song is no doubt the most melancholic on the album, and is emotional in an entirely different way than “Misery’s Crown.” While Misery’s Crown had an almost upbeat form of sorrow fit into it, this song is for doom sounding, and features more clean vocals. However, these vocals are in the chorus, which actually consists of a female vocalist and Stanne trading off lines in the chorus. The verse is slow and creeping, with some highlighting piano work throughout. Took time to grow on me once again, but the chorus is amazingly powerful. This song reminds of “My Negation,” which was the closing track of “Character.” Both are slower and very emotional, and i’ve had quite trouble deciding which of the two is better. Yet, this proves as a great closer to a great album. 9.25/10
So while this album does not come close to breaking any ground, Dark Tranquillity still proves that they can still create some damn awesome songs. This is a vital album to any Dark Tranquillity fan, hell, and metal fan’s collection.
