DARK TRANQUILLITY – Endtime Signals

RELEASE YEAR: 2024

BAND URL: https://www.darktranquillity.com/

You hear that, Mr. Anderson? That is the sound of inevitability. It is the sound of your death – Agent Smith in “Matrix”

As we inevitably approach the end times (with hindsight 2020!) we need and receive more warnings, especially in music, and, where else can we find it in spades as in heavy metal, since pop, unlike in days past, has taken a decisive direction in denial of reality, serving us more and more lyrical baseless hedonistic optimism that could rightly be summarized with the sarcastic “let us eat and drink for tomorrow we die” (1 Corinthians 15:32) with music from robots, for robots and of robots (to butcher Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address.) In this seemingly ubiquitous swamp of mediocrity and talentless Pro Tools stars, heavy metal reigns more supreme, more realistic, truer and more creative than ever before, and I think that’s because it has always been so brutally honest about the human condition, all warts and all. Because it has followed humanity’s downward spiral (since we cannot talk of mere trajectory) from the beginning it now correctly identifies the present times as the end times. Now, indubitably heavy metal is about darkness, as much as about the light, so stylistically, heavy metal may be more about the ominous end and not the hopeful return of the Lord Jesus Christ, we, his faithful sages, await with baited breath at the edge of our seats. In fact, often there is no light in that darkness of the endtime prophecy and the Swedish melodic death metallers Dark Tranquillity (DT) is one band who can convey that perfectly, indeed, they always have. After all, their moniker hardly brings bunnies hopping through the wind to mind.

In my review of the excellent Moment²⁰²⁰ which reflected one of the worst year’s in human history, I wrote that DT have always been a band who took their music wherever they wanted and whenever they felt like it. From the humble beginnings as Septic Broiler through the legendary “Trail Of Life Decayed” (1991) demo and “A Moonclad Reflection” EP (1992) to becoming one of the 3 originators of Gothenburg melodic death metal (next to At The Gates and In Flames) with “Skydancer” (1993) and especially “The Gallery” (1995), Dark Tranquillity quickly started experimenting with “The Mind’s I” (1997), “Projector” (1999) and “Haven” (2000) resulting in masterpieces such as “Damage Done” (2002) and “Character” (2005), but they started running out of steam with “Fiction” (2007) and “We Are The Void” (2010). They seemed to have pushed melodeath as far as they could without becoming caricatures of themselves so subsequent “Construct” (2013) and “Atoma” (2020) were going back to the drawing board, somewhat succeeding, but suddenly DT found themselves without one of their founding guitarists (Hans Martin Knut Henriksson) in 2016. This had happened before in 1998 with Fredrik Johansson (whom Martin subsequently replaced then) but this time it was different. The departure of the 2nd founding guitarist, Niklas Bo Sundin, in 2020 had provided the necessary impetus and they pivoted back arguably more powerfully than ever with Moment²⁰²⁰. The album hit with everything the last 2 albums lacked (even though, since the 3rd in a row one-word title and similar graphics to the 2 predecessors suggest another possible trilogy) be it stratified structures, catchy melodies, proper balance, ripping riffs or powerful sound to say nothing of the boundless creativity thanks, no doubt to (temporary) addition of guitarist Christopher Amott of Arch Enemy’s first two records fame as well as the perfect production of Jens Bogren, who, let’s face it, may just be the best heavy metal producer on the market today. But, precisely for Amott’s appearance, there was one unsung hero of Moment²⁰²⁰, Per Johan Reinholdz (ex-Andromeda), that other guitarist that turned Dark Tranquillity back into the dual lead attack machine. It’s with Amott’s departure (2003) that Reinholdz (now a single guitarist acting like two) is shown for the guitar and compositional genius he is as revealed on this, DT’s 13th full length, which comes out on Agust 16th via Century Media Records, aptly named Endtime Signals²⁰²⁴, arguably the band’s best and most creative effort since Character²⁰⁰⁵ if not their magnum opus.

Whereas I awarded Moment²⁰²⁰ a rightful 5.5/6 (even in hindsight) it was just this good, 0.1 point more would have been too much, but with Endtime Signals²⁰²⁴ I seriously considered the perfect score as it easily deserves 5.8/6 I cannot give under our rating guidelines. The album ranges from fantastic tracks to perfections and, if you’re any kind of fan, this a musical funfair for your ears. Whereas before we had some progressive touches DT had utilized from their beginnings, this album is openly progressive at times in ways probably not attempted since “Negation”, yes, I mean that kind of attention to detail. The variety, at that, is simply stupifying, addressing every possible angle of their sound, past and present with a long view to the future. This is so very far from some of the rust we could hear on Fiction²⁰⁰⁷ (which some even called weak comparably to their genre peers), We Are The Void²⁰¹⁰ (signs of the well running dry in some estimates) or the lifelessness of Construct²⁰¹³ or Atoma²⁰¹⁶ (all still albums you can have when you pry them from my dead cold fingers.) Every detail, every melody, every use of growling, rasp, clean or shouting vocals (Bengt Michael Stanne’s overall best performance ever), every drum beat (Ulf Joakim Andreas Strandberg Nilsson such a great solution since 2022!) every riff, every magnificent “story-like” solo, and, last but frickin’ far from the least the programming, synth and electronics musical brother to ex-Depeche Mode’s Alan Wilder, Lars Martin Brändström, without which this album would sound weak, the only man who can make keyboards sound just as heavy, if not heavier than guitar – all serves one purpose : a fantastic song you don’t want to end. Johan Reinholdz, scratch that, JOHAN REINHOLDZ, is the single best thing that happened to Dark Tranquillity and I am a dude whose favorite album is Mind’s I¹⁹⁹⁶ on Mondays, Haven²⁰⁰⁰ on Tuesdays and Character²⁰⁰⁵ on Wednesdays. The guy acts as if he were two, or possibly three guitarists. I mean, it must be this way because I searched in vain for any studio cameos or guests on Encyclopedia Metallum. Nope, just Johan, as far as guitar is concerned. I’m going to actually check out all the Andromeda albums he had been part of before he joined DT to see if he had been that good or became that good on Endtime Signals²⁰²⁴, but I suspect he has always been that good and this album is either just another reflection of that fact or the “there” he needed to fully realize his potential.

The album is best consumed as a whole, from the heavily Andromedan “Shivers And Voids” to the concluding ballad “False Reflection” but 7 tracks are perfections worth mentioning in particular. Kuddos for the first single, “Unforgivable” as its aptly titled, an unforgivable piece of classic DT death metal (check out that break after the chorus, something unheard of since Character²⁰⁰⁵) that happens to be epically melodic – the chorus sounds like the end times are not close but HERE! Then we have my nomination for a Grammy 2024 in heavy metal (good luck!) “Drown Out Voices” which has become one of my favorite DT tracks from the first listen – the melody and aggression so addictive, fine, let’s talk favorite track. But are the preceding “Neuronal Fire” (Brändström!) or “Not Nothing” (Brändström!) worse contenders for the title? They are simply perfect in a different way, yes, heavily influenced by We Are The Void²⁰¹⁰ but this time doused with death metal, even dissonant and technical kind, which makes it all the more engaging. I love how DT, who had started that Iron Maidenic death metal, benefit from the younger peers’ stylings who began by imitating them, such as Omnium Gatherum, wherefore we have the deliciously melodic “Wayward Eyes”, yes, I love it when bands influence each other as long as they cook it in their own sauce, which is the case here, which is a perfect segue into In Flames “System” reference I make whenever I listen to “Enforced Perspective” (hey, system is kind of an enforced perspective, isn’t it?) And, of course, “Shivers And Voids”, deceptively typical DT doused with modernity to the point of sometimes sounding like someone else, courtesy of Reinholdz.

As I’ve asserted, the album has only perfect and fantastic tracks so the remaining ones deserve mentioning for the plethora of ideas and creativity that just has that “could have gotten away with less but we decided more is more” factor to it. Of those, the genuinely unnerving (that coldness in chorus!) “A Bleaker Sun” and the heavily Depeche Mode-ic (think “Lilian”) “Our Disconnect” and the first single “The Last Imagination” (fantastic but probably my least favorite but that could change with the next exposure) are best examples of both aspects of the term melodic death metal in equal measure and “One Of Us Is Gone” (eearily similar to Bush’s “Glycerine”) and the aforementioned closer “False Reflection” – where Stanne correctly renders us all “man-made monsters created by our own damn selves” (thus including himself) as he brilliantly sees human beings as a false reflection of something we could never attain on our own and few of us even bother to try – those two are the album’s ballads which, nevertheless, too, contain aggressive twists, but don’t take that to mean Stanne doesn’t shed his wonderful cleans on us elsewhere, as he does often in the most unexpected, but always the right, places.

The fact that I’ve mentioned all 12 tracks in particular in some context shows that there aren’t any losers in here and my choices are only dictated by the way music resonates with me. At the same time, I recognize the genius of it all, I mean, my gosh, this is a 33 year old band that has only one remaining founder, Michael Stanne, and he sounds as engaging, vicious, creepy and heart breaking as on “Punish My Heaven” (1995) or “Emptier Still” (2000) while his band sounds more creative than ever! Dark Tranquillity is no longer just a band, ladies and gentlemen, it’s an institution, and it should be regarded as such. I think when you dive deep into Endtime Signals²⁰²⁴, my early contender for album of the year, you’ll enthusiastically agree.