THIS WEEK I’M LISTENING TO...DARK TRANQUILLITY – Endtime Signals (Century Media)

One of the creators of the Gothenburg sound alongside At The Gates and In Flames Dark Tranquillity have been at the forefront of the melodic death metal scene since they opened their account with ‘Skydancer’ back in 1993. Never afraid to tinker with the formula, on their thirteenth studio album ‘Endtime Signals’ they continue to tease and captivate with endless twists, trading melody for power and vice versa. So while opener ‘Shivers And Voids’ is a low-key slow burner adorned with Mikael Stanne’s harsh vocals but blessed with an intensely memorable motif, it’s immediately followed by the hard as nails battering ram of ‘Unforgivable’. The more things change, it appears, the more they stay the same, although quite suddenly ‘Not Nothing’ is a punchy beast which out of nowhere shows just how easily the band can throw a curveball into the mix.

photo by Krichan Wihlborg

But the middle order is really where the album starts to develop a character of its own. ‘One Of Us Is Gone’ is a maudlin – but extremely potent – testament to friends who’ve died and could easily pass for a Lord Of The Lost tear-jerker; a couple of tracks further in ‘Our Disconnect’ highlights Martin Brändström’s keyboards over the heavy riffage courtesy of Johan Reinholdz, who then gets a chance to bathe in the spotlight with an intricate solo, and with its clean and extreme vocals ‘Wayward Eyes’ is about as catchy as they come.

There’s a lot going on here – some familiar, some based more on the band’s approach to pushing boundaries – and although reading too much into the title might lead you to conclude that ‘Endtime Signals’ marks Dark Tranquillity’s conclusion, this has been denied in interviews. This is a band with plenty more to say yet.

Video clips:
‘Unforgiveable’ - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=quMj6DDDZPE
‘Wayward Eyes’ - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u9NAqPr40VU
‘Not Nothing’ - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pBsVsLRSgfE

John Tucker August 2024