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Dark Tranquility - Fiction

Rating

RIYL

Mors Principium Est
Insomnium
In Flames
Detonation

Label

Century Media

Tracklist

1. Nothing To No One
2. The Lesser Faith
3. Terminus (Where Death Is Most Alive)
4. Blind At Heart
5. Icipher
6. Inside The Particle Storm
7. Empty Me
8. Misery's Crown
9. Focus Shift
10. The Mundane And The Magic

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Recent Ratings
Rick Gebhardt

The release of Fiction marks the 8th full-length album from Swedish melodic death legends, Dark Tranquility. The fifteen plus years of hard work leading up to this disc haven’t slowed the boys down a bit - they sound as energetic and vital as ever. A model of consistency, death metal fans always know they are in for a top-notch effort every time a DT release looms on the horizon.

Per usual, you can expect a focus on heavy rhythmic riffing with a lot of intense thrash-based picking patters that don’t come off as overtly technical, yet when the occasion calls for a lead or solo, the boys are very capable of rattling off a flurry of notes. It’s not all about speed though, and Dark Tranquility is well aware of that, mixing their trademark mid-paced headbangers alongside the tunes with higher BPMs. Mikael Stanne hasn’t made a dramatic shift with his vocals, so you can also expect a heavy helping of his mid-range, slightly blackened rasp. Stanne has also cut back on the clean vocals that now only make two appearances on the disc (“Misery’s Crown” and “The Mundane and the Magic”), so you mercifully don’t have to endure his flat baritone too much. And just for good measure, its completed by a clear, crisp Studio Fredman production and a well-balanced mix that could stand a little more bass presence, but is otherwise great.

There are a few shortcomings and missteps throughout the disc. Aside from the above-mentioned clean sung passages, the band also employs a female singer for “The Mundane and the Magic” that will probably turn a lot of folks off (myself included) and their continued use of synth/piano lines are a little off-putting as well. They never add anything to the songs except cheese, occasionally fruiting-up an otherwise decent moment (Just rip a sweet guitar lead instead of that sissy piano crap for crying out loud).

Minor (and expected) gripes aside, this is really a damn solid disc full of memorable riffing and intelligent songwriting. It has a good mix of tempos and moods, and ultimately doesn’t disappoint. Fiction probably won’t reach the classic status of The Gallery or some of their other seminal back catalog, but is vastly better than Projector and Haven, so you should definitely give this a try.

--Tyler Wagnon