Review Summary: With the release of We Are The Void, Dark Tranquility’s foundation which their music has built upon is starting to wobble.
For 20 years now, Dark Tranquility has made music without the help of mainstream success. They have managed to stay firmly planted on the top of the melodic death metal pack. With the release of We Are The Void, Dark Tranquility’s foundation which their music has built upon is starting to wobble.
We Are The Void is by no means a radical step backwards or forwards for the band but it is a step back. This is Character part 3. Character was an album which to me had a sense of cheerfulness and happiness, Fiction was darker and heavier and now we have We Are The Void which is darker than fiction and MUCH more keyboard assisted. Take Fiction and add in the keyboards of We Are The Void and that pretty much sums up the sound of the album. Despite the samey music, We Are The Void still has it's tracks that stand out amongst the rest. But anyhow, let’s start from the beginning.
The tracks opener "Shadow In Our Blood" starts off with the centrepiece of the album, keyboards. The intro to the song sets a certain mood which I cannot explain to the song and then changes into a thrash metal-like guitar riff. This song though doesn't boast much confidence in the album but luckily the bad parts of the album are mostly found at the beginning. "Dream Oblivion" is next and it isn't that different from the previous. If anything it shows that Mikael's death growl is as strong as ever. The first two songs aren't anything to shout about but the next song is. "The Fatalist" again starts with slow keyboards and then a guitar riff and then into the singing. The keyboards kick in to prepare the listener for the impending chorus which is brilliant. The last minute and twenty seconds are easily the most enjoyable of the song. That's not to say the rest of the song is poor, but you just don't want it to end.
Sadly, Anders Jivarp's drum-playing isn't much different from before, it's a strong foundation for the rest of the music to build on, but not groundbreaking. Perhaps in the next album Ander's drum kit will be more used like Martin Brandstrom's keyboards were in this album?
The next song is “In My Absence” which starts off with a nice guitar riff and the typical Dark Tranquility drum work. Lyrically, this song is one the album’s best and the chorus is filled with emotion. When I listen to this, I get the sense that Mikael is looking for someone he cares for deeply but he can never be there for that someone. Again, the keyboards are strong here, but it’s the guitars and drums that shine here along with Mikael’s vocals. “The Grandest Accusation” starts off with some atmospheric synthesizers until they are taken over by the keyboards. Again, this song has lots of emotion and fantastic lyrics: The new loneliness/your name on the door/just like a diagnose/for venomous disease
This portion of the album impresses a lot with emotional songs which continues with the more upbeat and melodic “At The Point of Ignition”. Synths and keyboards are heavy here as well as is the bass. It’s just a shame that Martin and Daniel’s guitar work was overshadowed by everything else on the album. Or perhaps you just don’t recognize the awesome riffs and chords they unleashed on Damage Done, Character and Fiction.
The emotion continues with a change of vocal direction for Mikael. “Her Silent Language” is heavy on Mikael’s clean vocals which are actually very good here. The lyrics are still brilliant as well: Why do I see her/the never-ending nights/why do I see her/wearing nothing but the dark/have you come here to warn me/a warning I cannot see/you want to tell me something/but you do not have the words.
The keyboards are fantastic here and it sets the mood and emotion perfectly. Easily one of the best songs on the album if not the best.
The emotion is mostly abandoned in the last third of the album beginning with “Arkhangelsk” which begins with; yep you guessed it- keyboards. Some of the best drum work is found here and easily one of Dark Tranquility’s most epic and fearsome songs they have recorded. “I Am The Void” is the weakest song on the album I find. It has it’s good points but the opening guitar riff seems out of place with the rest of the album. The next song is a song that I can’t quite put my finger on. “Surface The Infinite” seems more of bridge between “I Am The Void” and the closing song to prepare you for the closing song. Speaking of “out of place”, the final song “Iridium” is very out-of-character with the rest of album. Perhaps this is a good thing but it’s a song I like and dislike all at the same time. It starts off with a slow guitar solo and Mikael sings slowly until the chorus takes a bite out your ears. Until there is a massive explosion of guitar riffs and drum work with the small dosage of synths with Mikael’s growling. Some may claim this song to be one of Dark Tranquillity’s strongest. Musically it is but I feel this should have been put on Damage Done which is a much heavier album than this. “Iridium” seems to me that it’s out of place in this album where the keyboards dominate and there is a strong reliability on emotion.
We Are The Void is a step backwards in the career of Dark Tranquility but it’s still worth a listen.
Recommended tracks:
-In My Absence
-The Grandest Accusation
-At The Point of Ignition
-Her Silent Language
-Arkhangelsk
