Featured review by:
UG Team, on april 17, 2007
5 of 5 people found this review helpful
Sound: Dark Tranquility continues its reign as one of the pioneers of melodic death metal, with its latest CD Fiction showing off its ability to walk the fine line between metal and classical. You’ll have to listen to Fiction a few times over to hear all of the different layers in the 10 tracks on the album, but each time is a pretty fascinating experience. While not all of it seems cohesive, the band deserves credit for taking chances musically -- not to mention throwing down some incredible solo work.
The first track “No One To No One” does a great job of incorporating multiple different instruments and sounds, giving each one their moment in the spotlight. At first, it seems a bit disjointed because there is such a contrast between the sweet, melodic keyboard (which has a very clean tone like an acoustic piano), the double-bass of the drum set, and the guitar licks woven in and out of the song. Not that it sounds like a jazz song by any means, but it actually has that experimental, improvisational feel that you often hear in the jazz genre.
“Icipher” doesn’t go to quite the extremes of “No One To No One,” but it is actually a bit more effective in the end. All the instruments seem to be on the same page musically, and at the same time they don’t get muffled by each other. “Icipher” is a great example of quality mixing and solid songwriting on top of it. From the guitars’ fantastic pinch harmonics in the intro to the beautiful piano breakdown towards the middle, the entire song just flows.
The main problem -- which will probably be no problem at all for some listeners out there -- is the monotonous vocals of Mikael Stanne. His throaty, restrained delivery adds the right mood for much of the record, but his tone doesn’t deviate much of the time and can get dull at times. In “The Mundane And The Magic,” there are some strong vocals with the guest appearance of female singer Nell Sigland, and even Stanne shows off his depth as well. It would be great to have a few more moments where Stanne stretches his talents a little bit further because it brings a whole new energy to the band. // 8
Lyrics and Singing: Although you might not be able to make out all of the lyrics by just listening to the vocals on Fiction, it’s worth checking out the accompanying lyric sheets. Dark Tranquility’s lyrics really do fit with how the musical composition underneath it and brings the songs together nicely.
The first single “Focus Shift” is one of the strongest lyrically, using some great metaphors to relay the song’s meaning. Stanne sings, “Your face is a map I fail to discover; Drowned in the sound, so lost in the order; It's an understated word, the unbreaking knowledge; Interlocked and holding, a stalemate to break.” You don’t get a lot of the run-of-the-mill lyrics you hear in some songs today when you listen to Dark Tranquility, and that is a very pleasant change. // 9
Impression: While the album has a few slow moments in it, longtime fans of Dark Tranquility should still find Fiction enjoyable. You immediately see why the band has endured so many years when you hear the unbelievable solos on the album. Even when all the instruments are playing together, the sound of each is distinct enough to jump out and take on a life of its own.
Fiction has plenty of memorable moments, usually coming when the guitarists and keyboardist are allowed to just go all over the place with their solo work. A prime example comes in “Empty Me,” which is a great song even without the solos. It’s one of the best tracks on the album with its epic, larger-than-life sound and the fantastic harmonized guitar work of Niklas Sundin and Martin Henriksson. It’s toward the end when the real pinnacle comes, with keyboardist Martin Brändström playing a Dream Theater-esque solo. It’s during these moments that the band really and proves while they are still strong after almost 20 years. // 8
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listening to it very often.