New Song: The Science of Noise!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ou6Fp7T0oss

I actually like this more then For Brocken Words, although I still like that song. Whatever was missing for We are the Void is clearly on the band's new material and damn does it feel good.

New Song: The Science of Noise!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ou6Fp7T0oss

I actually like this more then For Brocken Words, although I still like that song. Whatever was missing for We are the Void is clearly on the band's new material and damn does it feel good.

This one didn't do it for me, either, but it definitely reminded me of new October Tide with the plentiful harmonized riff.

A little better than the other one, but still not great.

Now, THAT song I like very much upon first listen...

Significantly better than whatever the first song was that they released. Sure the first one was more atmospheric, but it was also very boring, at least in my opinion. Perhaps I just prefer the faster, more aggressive Dark Tranquillity.

What a strange song. In many ways, it hearkens back to their earlier, pre-Projector material, albeit more polished. If not for the production, I feel like this would have been at home on The Mind's I, Haven, or Damage Done, all quite different from each other. And yet, it contains just a hint of that post-Damage Done atmospheric flavour that made those albums great.

Older Dark Tranquillity fans, I think, will find things to like on this record, while common ground is discovered with fans of the newer material, as well as Katatonia fans. Interesting, to say the least.

Just gave it another listen. It's actually pretty good. Very dark, epic and intense. This has given me hope for the album.

That YouTube link is broke ass and says it was removed because it wasn't authorised by century media.

Working link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VfgJ2MU2-qY

I'm loving this song, let's hope the rest of the album is of the same quality.

Awesome thanks for the new link. I just listened to this and I gota say I'm not too impressed at least not with the first couple of listens. Sure there is obviously more keys and some good melody in the music here but it just isn't doing it for me. I feel like there's still something missing but I just can't put my finger on it. Also the drumming is pretty lame in this song especially at the beginning.

Man, that new song sounds almost like later day Arch Enemy through a Haven/Fiction filter. Feels really ill-conceived, bland and most of all unoriginal. It's a shame that the band is apparently so out of ideas at this point in time, and even more when they clearly aren't contempt with keeping the same tone from album to album. What I mean is that they're trying to come up with new means to conquer but fail to bring anything fresh to the table. That first song wasn't really that bad, although it was highly uncharacteristic of the band in general.

I don't know about this one, even more when the last album was as poor as it ended up being. I'll have to wait for the full result to get an opinion.

Yeah... DT has clearly drained their melodeath well completely dry by now, which is understandable. The new song has some black metalish tinges, which is kind of cool. It doesn't really grab me much but I feel like they've been getting pretty stale lately anyway.

They just released a new music video for Uniformity: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=pl ... olGeBNPK1w
And here is The Science of Noise, in case someone hadn't heard it yet: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CbrtuZNfS4o


Link: http://www.blabbermouth.net/news.aspx?m ... mID=189722

I'm really liking how these songs are turning out so far. Uniformity brings some Projector vibe with the clean vocals while The Science of Noise sounds the most like their Damage Done days. They might deliver on that promise of this being their most "different and diverse" album since Projector, even though I found Fiction to be their most diverse release yet, I get that they are referring to bring back some of the atmospheric and gothic metal influences while adding new ones (like, as someone else pointed out, Katatonia in Broken Words).

The chorus for Uniformity is sick, but the verse is...well, really boring. It could still be saved by some conceptual lyrics to match the slow moving chords, and quite possible considering this is Dark Tranquillity, but I'm getting a bad feeling about this album. I want to like The Science of Noise, but the whole song feels like it's building up to something that never comes. I don't know, at first I didn't like the lastest Amorphis album either. Maybe I just need to give these songs time to grow on me.

The purpose that "Uniformity" serves is likely to be this album's slower ballad of sorts, except, since it's Dark Tranquillity, you can't really listen to it without nodding your head and thinking, "They gave Projector a couple of spins during the Construct recording sessions."

Not my favourite of the three released so far since I feel as if it squandered a very good and obvious opportunity to make use of their trademarked keyboarding. Nevertheless, when listening to it, it felt like a surprisingly coherent mix of mid- to latter-day Katatonia, 2000's gothic (doom) metal, and, once again, a heavy vestigial dose of Projector. I can dig it, and I feel that nostalgic DT traditionalists can at least rest assured, based on the material heretofore released, that it is unlike the rest of the album, though I will admit that it is a curious choice for them to make in the interest of creating an official music video.

Also, because I enjoy studio bonus tracks and because I don't much fancy the U.S. Version artwork, I spent the extra dollar to pre-order the European version. \m/

The album leaked, fellows. I'm listening to it right now, I'll give some thoughts later. So far the first song is pretty damn good and very atmospheric but I'm afraid the album will be very safe and boring.

The album leaked, fellows. I'm listening to it right now, I'll give some thoughts later. So far the first song is pretty damn good and very atmospheric but I'm afraid the album will be very safe and boring.

Wow, well at least Mikael's clean voice is back and I'm pretty happy about that, it's a softer album than We Are the Void but it's better.

The album seems to deliver on the promise of being one of their most diverse. There's, as already stated by pretty much everyone, touches of Projector here and there with three tracks having clean vocals. Apathethic brings back some of the riffing from Fiction and Character and is the thrashiest song that I've heard from Dark Tranquillity.

Overall it has potential to become one of my favorite albums by the band. I loved We Are the Void and Fiction, though they needed plenty of listens to peel away their quality, and it seems that Construct will be no exception to that rule.

Maybe it's because I haven't listened to the band for a while, but I'm starting to get a one-dimensional Angela Gossow vibe on Mikael's growls (not good). I always thought he was one of the best growlers because of his variety.

Hopefully it might be the poor quality of the mp3s making his voice sounding higher pitched.

Really digging this album. Apathetic and Uniformity are some of the best songs they've ever written. This is probably second favorite album of theirs next to Damage Done.

Exact sentiments. Mikael Stanne's vocals is one that is highly recognizable. On a positive note, he's clean vocals kind of improved

Anyone else thinks this sounds too much Katatonia-ish?!

I mean, I like Projector and I don't mind Stanne's clean singing, but the guitars seem just so uninventive. It may be first listen syndrome but it also seems like there's a slight post-rock influence in the atmosphere and the way some picking is made on the guitars, the way the chorus are anthemic and almost build-up to a climax. Meh, maybe it's really just me hearing things.

The album isn't rubbing me the right way, in fact I think it may be even more inconsistent than WATV. I get that DT want to make something different to keep themselves relevant and/or motivated, but alas, this isn't making me extremely anxious to endure repeated spins...

I'll give it another shot or two, but as it stands right now it's not looking very sharp.

As an addendum I have to say that the album is generally decent, albeit rather uneventful and unimpressive. The first half also seems to be stronger than the second, and I retain the feeling that too much care was given to the atmosphere, more so than to the actual riffs.

After a few listens, I can say I'm glad that the album is more easily distinguishable from their previous five. It's not the massive change that Projector was over The Mind's I, but it is enough to sound fresh. The atmosphere is pretty strong, but I'm a bit disappointed with the lack of Stanne's clean vocals, which are present on just three tracks.

The first three tracks I had heard already and I love them all three, but after that the album seems to lose strength with the exception of Endtime Hearts which is the catchiest song on the album. For now, I'd have to agree with androdion on the second half being weaker, but I do not mind if the band preferred to focus on the atmosphere rather than the riffs, because they have already made some outstanding songs by focusing on atmosphere (specifically, Iridium and Inside the Particle Storm) but I still need to give it a few more listens to see if I'm really into the band's approach on this album.

I agree with this. They tried to break out of their stale boundaries but they were really really lazy. I mean, I'd like a full album of clean vocals, do something crazy and adventurous for fuck's sake. It's one of my musical fantasy to have a whole album of Stanne's cleans. I mean, the album is very very soft.

I've given up long ago looking for innovation from DT. They have been on autopilot since Damage Done. Haven was formulaic too but at least experimented with the electronics there. Everything since then has been a retread or blending of one or more of their previous phases with next to nothing new brought in. Which I don't mind because I enjoy their songwriting, but Stanne claiming every new album is wildly different from their last or "a new direction for the band" is beyond tiresome.

I very 2nd much this, it would easily become my favorite release by them if it ever happens.

The album sucks. Probably their worst. Very very boring. The clean vocals are the only good thing in this album. Stanne's harsh vocals have never been so annoying. Not one single good riff, no memorable melody either. Finally after all these years Dark Tranqullity has disappointed me. I hope Suidakra, Amon Amarth, The Black Dahlia Murder, Kalmah and Darkane will do better than this. Wow so many melodeath album within a month!

i was dissapointed as well. like the raw graspy vocals. but the music aint making me having a good time

Probably the best song on Construct actually, and one of the few (if not the only one) that manages to catch a glimpse of their earlier brilliance.

I'm actually not that impressed with Endtime Hearts. It's a decent song, but it's to formulaic to really stand out. I haven't finished the album yet, but my favorite song so far is The Silence in Between. Now before y'all jump on top of this... Yes, this is also a formuliac song, but the upbeat feeling of the song makes up for it. It's also really catchy.

Ah fuck... I mistaken it for that one henkkjelle. I meant "The Silence in Between", not "Endtime Hearts".

Carry on, nothing to see here.

Just wanted to chime in and say that "None Becoming" is perhaps their strongest album-ender they've composed thus far, even if it is noticeably shorter than those present on Fiction and We Are the Void. Definitely greater than the sum of its parts, some of which, you don't really notice until you've gone through repeated listens (like the low-pitched synth hum that pervades the background through the whole track).

However, I will join many of you (for a change) and agree that this is not the revolutionary testament to variance that it was claimed to be, though I do limit the sternness with which I convey such judgement: I still found the album thoroughly enjoyable. However, rather than taking them forward, it seemed to focus more on hearkening back to their Haven/Damage Done/Character days, retaining vestiges of Projector, while adding Katatonia influence here and there. None of those things are negatives by any means, and, in theory, it should please traditionalists and/or those who regard that era as having their strongest material. It nevertheless presents an issue in that they are falling into the trap of placing emphasis on variance based on established material and, in so doing, failing to innovate. The album feels more like fanservice aimed at the aforementioned Haven/Damage Done/Character advocates than being a groundbreaking release on par with Projector or Fiction. Those albums were highly regarded because they were so different from their previous outings, yet remained within respectable realms of metal and extra-metal experimentation (the failure of which being what In Flames is most often criticised for). I was also somewhat disappointed by the lack of attention given to their keyboards this time around, since that has consistently been one of their greatest draws. It also felt shorter, not only because it is, but because the best moments were only as long as the average ones (even if I have no outstanding aversions to offer).

I suppose I will admit, though, that if this had been more closely related to Fiction, I would have fangasmed all over the thing since I regard that album to be their most exemplary. That being said, I join others in calling for a semi-Projector-esque release emphasising Stanne's cleans, but with limits. I was pleased with that album, but it would be counter-productive to their continued growth as a band to merely reproduce it with a new name. Considering that melodic death metal is essentially their identity (albeit with increased experimentation in the last decade), I wouldn't clamour for anything different, but perhaps it's time that they try to make forays into other aspects of it (the technical side, for example), or to make a legitimate attempt at pushing the boundaries of the genre again. Some might claim that it's no longer possible, but if anyone could, I think the masters in Dark Tranquillity would be the ones to try.

Despite all of that, and despite previously-mentioned allusions to Katatonia, this remains an indisputable Dark Tranquillity release, lyrically and musically. To put it simply, they sound exactly as their name implies, acting as the darkly intelligent proponent of the very genre they created. I am no more able to put it coherently into words than I was upon listening to Fiction for the first time, when We Are the Void was released, when I was anxiously waiting for news on what would become Construct, and even now, after it has finally been given to us in all of its glory, flaws and all. They are a band that have managed to change constantly while retaining an unmistakable sonic identity, from Stanne's vocals, to the execution of the guitars, to the ever-modest synths that pepper their dark melodies. That alone allows me to count this as another victory for them, without even considering songs like "Uniformity", "What Only You Know", and "None Becoming", these representing the album's peak moments, where they are at their most... gothic, without devolving into monotonous melancholy unbecoming of them. The former is a welcome break from the speedier, driving tracks that dominate this album, demonstrating, once again, Stanne's lovely, underused cleans set to a midtempo tread through his usual musings about subjects ill-described. "What Only You Know" is similar, but more dynamic, beginning in speed, but slowing down for the interlude, then picking up again. I don't believe I need say much more of "None Becoming", except that I love when Stanne just rasps his heart out (and how seasoned it is by this twenty-four-year point, it's amazing that his form is still so top-notch!), sustaining all of those notes and becoming half of the reason the song is so epic in this first place. Considering that these are their slower numbers, I think it's safe to say at this point that Dark Tranquillity is one of the few bands in existence that would do well to take an album in their storied history to soften just a bit, since (per my own belief) true metalheads understand that an act need not be the fastest or the most brutal to remain the force that they are.

Again, I am not as impressed with this effort as I had hoped to be, but I am by no means to a point yet where I have lost faith in them (assuming that any faith was lost in a release that I still consider adamantly solid). It will be another three years yet, but I eagerly await their next opus.

Writer's block. They somewhat confirmed this issue in an interview, it's among their usual main songwriters who come up with the more riff-driven stuff. Their keyboardist is credited as the main composer on eight songs out of ten.

Ugh... that says a lot really.

^ That says everything, really. Jivarp and Sundin / Henriksson are the guys who have always came up with stuff in the past and it usually worked. Slumps here and there, but the formula was tried, tested, and true. Hearing this, it doesn't feel like the resounding album that it should have been after a three year lull.

It reminds of the reissue covers of Projector and The Gallery, though. I would consider myself a slightly-more-than-causal fan of the band. I've liked everything they've put out to a certain degree. "Character" and "Fiction" are my two least favorites though, with "Damage Done" being my favorite.

I actually really enjoyed "We are the Void", which seemed to have more of a balance between guitars and keyboards than either "Character" or "Fiction". Still not as much focus on the guitars as I would like.

EDIT: I have plans on picking this up soon... but the fact that the keyboardist is credited with 8 or 10 songs raises some red flags for me.

It's not like there's a prominent keyboard lead on every song he's written, guitars are actually surprisingly lot in the forefront. Like many other keyboardists I've heard, Brändström is pretty good at creating timbre during a song, "Weight of the End" being a good example. He's also written some great clean vocal lines for Stanne.

I think this album is better than We Are the Void. It's definitely better than what it would've been if the usual composers had written more despite of writer's block. Takes some effort to grasp though because it's softer and overall quite different.

Thanks! I'm definitely going to check it out... I still have some trepidation, but like I said before, I've still liked their output, even if some was stale.