Dark Tranquillity
Construct
Century Media
Street: 05.27
Dark Tranquillty = In Flames + Insomnium + Soilwork
The Gothenburg Swedish melodic death metal style may be a shadow of what it originally was. It’s arguable that Dark Tranquillity, considered pioneers of style, have retained the spirit of what that early ‘90s movement in metal was about. Dark Tranquility, these days, are more melody than death metal, though the band does strike a good balance of heaviness and catchy melodies. Construct reminds me a lot of the band’s 2002 album Damage Done in production tones, and just the fact that it’s a very guitar-oriented record—where the last felt like they were doing too much to be more modern like their peers—notably, In Flames. There are some haphazard-feeling guitar breakdowns on a few of the tracks that seem unneeded, considering the wealth of pretty good guitar work. The record is better than a poke in the eye, but there are bands doing things much better in the melody and death realm that I’d rather listen to than anything DT has done since the late ‘90s. –Bryer Wharton