Style: melodic death metal
Thoughts: There are few bands that I have a longer relationship with than Dark Tranquillity. This band is the one that got me back into extreme metal after I was trending more towards the main stream sound. This is the band that taught me many things within the metal scene: evolution, melody with brutality, beauty in violence, just to name a few.
For the longest time I had been dropping off with the band. All the original members left except Mikael of course. The music was becoming stale with album after album sounding similar - mid paced melodic death metal with no real speed changes or significant differences between songs. Both Atoma and Moment were pretty much the same album for me... the last album I truly enjoyed from front to back was Character.
When Endtime Signals came out I didn't think anything of it. The lead single was just more of the same Dark Tranquillity that we had seen for the past decade. Then I saw someone online say that this was the best album they had released in a long time. Ok fine, that's one person... but then another person said it, and another... and more. I finally started taking note.
One cloudy afternoon I sat down and put the album on, front to back, no breaks and took it all in. What I heard was way more varied than I thought. Of course there were songs that had the Atoma and Moment feel in them: that drudging same paced melodic death metal that is content to simply exist and not stir any emotion whatsoever. But there was more than just that.
There were songs on here that showed life! Even on some of the more mid-paced songs the band has more emotion and passion than they have had in a long time. There are some songs on here that display even more than that, Drowned Out Voices has a near death metal riff to open the song. The band is back to playing fast... and dare I say brutal as well. Hell, Unforgivable even features a blast beat at one point. Who would have thought that Dark Tranquillity in modern times would be using a blast beat?? Not me.
So is this a full return to form? No, but it certainly is a step or three in the right direction. The band is showing that they have life again, a passion for the music that was once so lifeless. It gives me hope, like seeing an old friend return after many years away. So yes... in many ways this is the best album they have created... likely since Fiction.
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