So I've noticed that a great many bands that came in the 90's and 00's were influenced chiefly by In Flames, whom, in my opinion, haven't aged horribly per se, but not as graciously as the other surviving King, that being Dark Tranquillity, whose music is far more interesting in a sort of almost-progressive-but-not-quite sort of way. I can't explain why I find them completely different from every other melodic death metal band in existence, but they just... are. Maybe it's the keyboards, liberal use of synth, and/or Mikael Staane's vocals, though none of those answers seem to describe it adequately.

Are there any melodic death metal bands (or really, any kind of band) that take more influence from them instead? Especially if the influence stems from their Fiction era?

I doubt there are any notable bands who would be influenced by the Fiction era, it's a relatively new album. I can recall a couple of bands that are leaned more towards that kind of sound, yet having an entirely own thing going on: Be'lakor and later Omnium Gatherum (edit: paid more attention to your username just after submitting ).

BTW, these boards have an entire section dedicated to band recommendations, you might see this getting moved over there.

Oh, my bad. You're right. Wasn't paying attention. Requesting move.

Insomnium seems like a logical progression of early melodeath, a damn fine one at that

Aye, I do have Insomnium, though they actually come across as more folkish to me, although without the folk instruments. They're definitely a good melodic death choice for the death/doom aficionado.

Omnium Gatherum, I have, but have not gotten around to listening to much. I'll probably take a closer look at both them and Be'lakor later.

Even still, neither of them really remind me of DT. There's something futuristically dreamy and esoteric about them that I can't describe because it doesn't stem from some predilection toward electronic or industrial music. I haven't heard it really espoused by any other band.

Of course, it's fine if DT turn out to be completely unique to me. Perhaps I'm just delusional.

Is scar simmetry too obvious? They have keybords, solid vocals, catchy riffs and the latest album is a blast, you could check them out, if you allready havent...

also kalmah or norther maybe...?

i dont think the in flames sound is all that dominant, i hear mostly at the gates and some more in flames than dark tranquility in melo death but i can still think of several right now which are more DT than those others like Battlecross or the aforementioned insomnium.

A couple more that lean towards that more progressive style would be Dark Lunacy and Mors Principium Est. I'd suggest looking into them if you haven't already.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6FIe1DbzZtI
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KBX4_UzgHFc

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WKuzhIQ_wNE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XY8ZQ8bN ... re=related

Maybe Skyfire as well? Assuming that they wouldn't be too obvious of a mention.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dp0-bNmC ... re=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dgaqYKPz ... re=related

Lastly I'd suggest looking into Words of Farewell. Fairly new band, blends the styles of Insomnium, DT, Omnium Gatherum, etc. Just released their debut this year.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5YA_W2_A ... re=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j3luc5HMCbg

Hmm. The intro to Dark Lunacy's "Play Dead" reminded me of DT somewhat. I may have heard scant elements here or there from Mors Principium Est as well.

...You know, I think I know what it is: maybe Dark Tranquillity seem so different to me because they don't drive with their songs. It's not as if they lack anything that their contemporaries do, because they have all of the blast beats and the speed and what have you. But their songs don't give me that righteous, hurrying feeling, as if I am running and have no time to think. Instead, they demand that I contemplate and dream and imagine the collapse and reform of the universe and spacetime into something new. They seem to exude this everywhere from the music itself to their art. It's weird, I know.

"The Endless Feed"
"Terminus (Where Death is Most Alive)"
"Inside the Particle Storm"
"Iridium"

That, or maybe all my favourite songs by DT happen to be those in which they take it down a few paces and make it spacey, something they've been doing with increasing frequency on recent works, and a lot more than most other acts. Funnily enough though, they don't sound doomy to me.

Regardless, the bands you guys have mentioned and linked are quite remarkable in their own rights, and I am very appreciative simply because of the sheer quality apparent, DT-like or not. Thank you.

Keep 'em coming though.

to be honest Skyfire reminds me more of old-school Children of Bodom than it does Dark Tranquillity. . . . just sayin'.
In fact I plan to purchase a Skyfire shirt soon just because of that fact. I'm a big fan of Hatebreeder and Follow the Reaper.

I've been trying to figure out Dark Tranquillity's sound as well, and your description makes sense...Well I'm gonna go out on a limb, and recommend Obsequiae. They're not spacey or futuristic, but very, very relaxed without playing slowly. You did mention Insomnium and say they were too folky, so maybe this isn't the best recommendation as Obsequiae is heavily influenced by Medieval music. You may, just may, like it though.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K0w3VYzG6lw

Well, I'm goddamn convinced. This so is stunningly awesome!

No, not very DT-like, but nothing wrong with it. I'm not very much into folk metal save for Agalloch (where they tend to be entirely different, I know), and I only compared Insomnium to it because, especially on their earlier albums, they did a lot of plucking (or what I thought was plucking):

"The Day It All Came Down"

Hear what I mean?

Nevertheless, good stuff.

Eternal Tears of Sorrow have been compared to Dark Tranquillity for a long time, though the comparisons are mostly to the mid-era of DT. They use keys and synths a lot more heavily, which is something DT moved to later on, so you might like them. The vocalist is similarly emotive in mixing cleans/growls too.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oeZ9FOCV_M8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gspFyiWX6AI

Kalmah are also very similar to older DT:
Older: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t0-Ox-yozeY
Newer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5HGdNf0tee4

Detonation are a lot thrashier but share many melodic aesthetics with DT. No keys.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xHg9Ma5FV-g
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a3aZ4HVbadY (huge old DT vibe here)

Dark Lunacy sound a lot like DT sometimes, and nothing like them at others.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=he9E_Mweyzo

I think most of the obvious and dead-on recommendations have been made, unless you want to get into lame stuff like Children of Bodom and Norther. I'd say most of these are more influenced by DT well before "Fiction", so the synths aren't as prominent. I'll make a few recs that aren't 100% on, but have some strong similarities (as does a lot of Finnish keyboard metal).

Before The Dawn are a mix of a DT clone and a standard Finnish keyboard metal band. The vocalist isn't nearly as emotive and diverse as Stanne so his cleans are pretty sterile, but the rest of the music may be to your liking. This might not be the best choice of their tracks, I don't remember them very well.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MAhoKunFeqc

The mainman of BTD has a bunch of bands that sound pretty much the same. You can really hear him trying to emulate Stanne with his growls on this one:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ko2Ei4HZYzY

Ablazer are another Finnish band who have a similar feel but don't quite match up to DT. They're like a mix of Norther and Sacrilege.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2CyONJNnNZk
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-4-0vWSEadA

Perhaps you may like what Stefan Hertrich has to offer. His imagination is nothing short of outstanding.

Spi Ritual - Symphony of Life (Godlike solo near the end!)
http://youtu.be/wfWdzYNQyW4

Betray My Secrets - Of Things Not Seen
http://youtu.be/uwRfW63JpyY

DarkSeed - Can't Explain
http://youtu.be/ilpWbVT_Hjo