Album Rating: 3.0 | Sound Off

The atmosphere seems completely different between the two I think, but you have a point. Slaughter Of The Soul is grossly overrated, though.

Album Rating: 3.2

I agree that Slaughter of the Soul is totally overrated, but the average fan shits themselves over that album. The hype around that album could have been enough for Dark Tranquillity to alter their approach. Especially since, in hindsight, they were looking for a new sound (just look at The Mind's I, Projector, and Haven -- they were trying to find a new direction).

Album Rating: 3.0 | Sound Off

Yeah they definitely were, probably in an attempt to differentiate themselves in the scene, or the fact that they were sick of straight-up melodic death... surprisingly I never actually thought about why they changed their sound.