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Class 6(66)
Dark Tranquillity: The gallery
17/04/09 || Global Domination
Released: 1995
Introduction
Back in the mid 90’s, being from Gothenburg and playing melodic death metal wasn’t an ultimate sin against “death metal integrity” like it seems to be nowadays. I couldn’t give three flying fucks about said concept of keeping yer death metal as brootal or old skool as possible. I’m equally satisfied listening to either death-style as long as the material is good. Mediocrity and copycats exist aplenty in both schools, so deciding which death metal is worthier of your allegiance is fucken pointless.
I have a penchant for making statements that might sound unreasonable to the reader, but since GD is a fucktocracy based on freedom of opinion, here it goes: At the Gates, Dark Tranquility, In Flames and early Sentenced (yep, I know they are Finnish and from nowhere near Gothenburg my dear nitpickers) are the cornerstones of melodic death. Out of this bunch of originators, Dark Tranquility and Sentenced never seem to get much credit in metal circles. Here at GD, our favorite nihilistic fuckwit Seker already took care of giving some love to Sentenced, so I’m going to cover Dark Tranquility’s best and hopefully do it some justice. “The Gallery”, their second effort, still stands unsurpassed today and is an essential chapter you can’t miss in melodic death metal evolution.
Songwriting
10. Songwriting wise, “The Gallery” is the perfect mix of the best elements that defined melodic death metal. Phenomenal guitar playing, a fast, solid rhythm section and roaring vocals combined with plenty of power, aggression and memorable melodies, reaching really near fucken perfection, my dear beavers! Just listen to “Punish My Heaven”, “Silence and the Firmament Withdrew”, “The Gallery” or “Lethe”, and then wake up and smell the sickly sweet scent of death. If there is a definition for the contradictory term “harsh beauty”, I must say this is it. Intelligently written songs, that flow, breathe, move and explode in quite unexpected manners. For stuff like this melodic death has every fucken right to exist and dominate. Pure fucken brilliance!
Production
9. Crystal clear as required for these finely crafted songs to fully shine, yet with loads of power and heaviness granted to each and every instrument. This has to be one of the best production jobs done at Studio Fredman by master knob-twister Fredrik Nordstrom, one of the very first works that helped cement his reputation in fact. His consistently great production efforts for DT and In Flames set the standard; this is what every band intending to make inroads in the genre should be aiming for regarding production.
Guitars
10. Niklas Sundin and Frederik Johansson have to be one of the most awesome guitar pairings I’ve ever had the pleasure of listening to, and the guitar fireworks they brilliantly pull off here are the main reason “The Gallery” must be considered a classic effort. Their ability to play stunning guitar leads and melodies that are both technical and catchy enough to stick in your head for days is not to be taken lightly. Their interplay here incorporates the dueling guitars and blazing leads of heavy metal with the ferocity of thrash and death, making up for an exceptional mix of melodic bliss, fist-pumping, headbanging madness and overall majesty that is fucken unbelievable. Each track has tons of memorable leads and riffs, while still being exceptionally aggressive and powerful. Too many to highlight, frankly, but if you need a point of reference, “Punish My Heaven”, which I consider to be DT’s best ever song, should provide sexually confused, pope-pop-poop-loving doubters (and you know who you fucken are!) with enough evidence of these guys awesomeness!
Vocals
9. Mikael Stanne’s powerful, venomous roar is one of the best in the death business and kicks seven shades of shit out of the vocals from the man he replaced at the mic, a certain Anders Friden who went on to join In Flames. Yes, that’s fucken right, I said it, and it shouldn’t surprise anyone, just look at how they compare nowadays. Stanne can still growl like a true cookie monster, yet Friden has become a fucken joke of a vocalist. On “The Gallery”, Stanne took over and proceeded to perform in an amazing manner, spitting out harsh lines of poetic thought with plenty of conviction and menace, adding a new level of aggression to the band’s sound. The apparition of guest female vocals in a few tracks, courtesy of some unaccredited girlie-girl is quite classy too, she has a beautiful voice.
Bass
9. Handled by Martin Henriksson here, years before he’d take over guitar duties after Frederik Johansson left. Brilliantly following the guidelines set by for the integration of the Maiden influences into their melodic death framework, Henriksson proceeds to emulate ‘Arry, lying down the almighty bass gallop and matching the frantic shredding of the guitar note by note. On the slower sections he pulls off many an interesting bass line too. All in all he contributes a lot, efficiently adding a palpable heaviness and power to the songs.
Drums
8. The drumming from Anders Jivarp is precise and energetic, not too complex on the technical scale but fairly solid. He occasionally pulls off some interesting fills and overall makes for a very decent fit to the band’s sound, especially on the faster sections.
Lyrics
9. Now, this is some deep and interesting stuff! Intriguing poetry, wondering and questioning the mysteries of existence and chaos. Worth a read indeed! This fragment from “Punish My Heaven” is breathtaking in its desperate beauty:
The strangeness of awakening
In an oh so silent world
Breathlessly waiting
For the first proud beams of light
As the hours grow longer
And the shadows never fall
My sky has forsaken me
My desperation grows
Bring me the light
In the darkness that never ends
The dawn will never come
Punish my heaven
Cover art
9. A red marble gallery hall, full of columns, statues and paintings, emptying into the vastness of cosmos, quite fitting the theme of the record.
Logo
8. The old one, a sort of gothic font depicting DT. Very elegant and distinctive.
Booklet
8. An uncommon choice of black background with song titles in white and lyrics in blue, plus the requisite band picture and some futuristic artwork. Nicely done I must say.
Overall and ending rant
9. As an unfortunate byproduct of their creativity, it’s safe to say DT and their peers later became a source of inspiration for the misguided and moronic, becoming a frame of reference to twist and deform for the annoying shitcore masses of recent years. Through no fault of their own though, it must be said. You can’t blame any of them for influencing a bunch of retarded closet emos and fake though-guy ladyboys into playing some horrible stuff like As I Lay Dying or any other 3-4-word-named association of talentless cockmunchers, huh?
“The Gallery”, any fucken way you listen to it, is just pure, raw metal goodness, an album of the highest quality and a landmark of a subgenre that despite being vilified today by some, has given many of us quite a few thrills. Personally, this was one of my first records on the road to re-acquainting myself with metal many years ago, and will always have a special place in my collection. “The Gallery”, ladies and gentlemen, is truly fucken excellent, have no doubts about it!
- Information
- Released: 1995
- Label: Osmose Productions
- Website: www.darktranquillity.com
- Band
- Mikael Stanne: vocals
- Niklas Sundin: guitar
- Frederik Johansson: guitar
- Martin Henriksson: bass
- Anders Jivarp: drums
- Tracklist
- 01. Punish My Heaven
- 02. Silence, and the Firmament Withdrew
- 03. Edenspring
- 04. The Dividing Line
- 05. The Gallery
- 06. The One Brooding Warning
- 07. Midway Through Infinity
- 08. Lethe
- 09. The Emptiness From Which I Fed
- 10. Mine is the Grandeur…
- 11. …of Melancholy Burning