Dark Tranquillity We Are the Void
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Lelle
August 23rd 2024


2803 Comments

Album Rating: 3.5 | Sound Off

^the issue I have with this is that there seems to be an implicit assumption that "less guitar driven and riff centric" = "less good". I do not agree with this. I don't care if the guitars play one note throughout the whole album if the result is enjoyable. But sure, I get why some people who were fans of DT primarily due to the guitar work could be turned off if its role is reduced.



Still, there is some dope riffage on this too.



Also, I seem to be the only person on this site who likes songs such as Dream Oblivion. Sure guitar work is toned down but the song taken as a whole is still dope.

XfingTheSullen
August 23rd 2024


5390 Comments

Album Rating: 3.5 | Sound Off

There are some semi-duds on this album for sure, but there's nothing particularly wrong with any of the songs if you think about it, and several are real hits plain and simple



but there's something about the production and execution that makes it feel dunno, cheaper than fiction I guess

hexfix93
August 26th 2024


2874 Comments

Album Rating: 3.0

Having great guitar work is definitely an essential part of good melodeath, but I wasn't trying to imply that being less guitar driven = less good. I was mostly just talking about the shift in style on this album. DT does have some more keyboard-driven songs on other albums that are just as great as their more guitar-driven songs. Haven is also a fantastic album despite toning down the guitars and having a heavy keyboard presence.



My issue with this album isn't that it's less guitar-driven, but the fact that the guitar that is present is pretty weak and forgettable. The keys are good, but not good enough to drive those songs / make up for the lack of memorable riffs/leads. DT is usually very good at guitar/keyboard interplay, with guitars complementing the keys or vice-versa, but I find that lacking here as well.



Of course, that doesn't apply to to the whole album. The Grandest Accusation, Surface the Infinite, In My Absence, Iridium, etc. are great songs that seem to excel at the sound they were aiming for here. I said this somewhere, but personally I think that if songs like Shadow in Our Blood, The Fatalist, etc. were replaced with the songs on the Zero Distance EP, this album would be much better, probably more like a 4 for me.

hexfix93
August 26th 2024


2874 Comments

Album Rating: 3.0

After writing that, it occurs to me that a 3 might be a bit harsh, since my complaints really only apply to a few songs on here. Think I should bump to a 3.5, but gotta spin this again first.

artiswar
August 26th 2024


14913 Comments

Album Rating: 5.0

@Lelle I like Dream Oblivion, it sounds like it was ripped right from Fiction which is always a good thing.



Surface The Infinite is so addictive

alamo
August 26th 2024


5793 Comments

Album Rating: 4.0

"the closing half of the album brings a small flicker of hope"



*small flicker of hope* is such an understatement when arkhangelsk, infinite and iridium are literally career highlights

artiswar
August 26th 2024


14913 Comments

Album Rating: 5.0

last 4 tracks on this are insane

hexfix93
August 26th 2024


2874 Comments

Album Rating: 3.0

Yeah it is. I must have glossed over that part when I pasted it, cuz I thought it said those songs breathed life back into the album lol

XfingTheSullen
August 26th 2024


5390 Comments

Album Rating: 3.5 | Sound Off

well, RYM also has this as their lowest rated album right up to this day, wonder if that'll change in time



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