Dark Tranquillity - Construct (2013) [2CD, Ltd.Edition]

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Dark Tranquillity - Construct (2013) [2CD, Ltd.Edition]

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The guardians of the Gothenburg Sound, DARK TRANQUILLITY - still one of the most exciting bands in Melodic Death Metal. ”Construct” is the sound of perseverance. It’s also proof of the band’s ability to reinvent itself and stay relevant. It’s quintessential Dark Tranquillity while giving a fresh spin to the trademark sound.
Here we are: we waited since "We Are The Void", released in the year of 2010, but it was worth the waiting. The album is nicely constructed, and Dark Tranquillity have showed us, as they have already showed lots of times, that they don't get lost in the middle of the fog: "We Are The Void" wasn't nicely accepted by some of the fans and critics, Daniel Antonsson is gone and there was a burden on their shoulders, because some people wanted them to return to their glorious days, when they released albums like "Skydancer" or "The Gallery". But, well, as it was said a few lines above, they don't easily get lost in the middle of the fog…

This album shows us some innovations and some returns to old habits. As usual, Dark Tranquillity tried to take a certain stylistic jump from "We Are The Void" to "Construct" because, quoting Mikael Stanne in an interview given by him to Loud! Magazine: "(…) when we started to deal with this new album, we had a bad taste in the mouth yet [Mikael is making a reference to the hard work and some frustration involving the making of "We Are The Void"] and we did not want to return to it". This is the explanation for the innovations that Dark Tranquillity made from "WATV" to this most recent album. One of these innovations is, for example, the new guitar riffs that we can listen in some songs. Beautiful melodies are created by some of this guitar riffs, not despising some of the guitar riffs used in other albums. We can also notice that in the album "Fiction" the keyboards were represented in a different way than they are in "Construct". A small change can also be heard in the beginning of "For Broken Words", with that sound that enters through our ears and stays there for a lot of time, and you don't have to listen to it many times. This sound can be heard in some songs, and it is one of the new things this album offers to the listeners.

The returns to the old habits had to exist: either DT returned to some old sounds or there would still be a lot of people asking why they didn't do it. And one of the things that they had to do, necessarily, was the using of clean vocals. We can realize that Stanne's clean vocals are strongly present in "Construct". This is, after all, sort of a gift Mikael has in his voice. Some of us may ask ourselves why he doesn't use his clean vocals more often, and Mikael says why in the interview given to Loud! Magazine: "I like to sing that way because it is off my comfort zone (…) that kind of challenges is always interesting. (…) But for now I like to use my clean vocals only as an extra "spice". Just like a keyboard or a guitar solo".

Now referring to the music as one solid and whole piece. As it was already said, there are awesome new guitar riffs but some are kept the same, with, of course, a few adjustments. Mikael has the same outstanding growls, fused with his magnificent clean vocals. The bass had to be performed by Martin Henriksson, but, still, he managed to do a great job. The keyboards create a perfect atmosphere, and they go really well along with the drums, the guitars, the bass and the vocals. Everything is well fused together. Great melodies, soothing moments, aggressive musics. We have a lot of great things in this album. An original sound, from my point of view.

Even though it is not, in my opinion, as good as "Fiction" (that I consider to be the best album in the most recent years of Dark Tranquillity), it is a great quality jump from the "We Are The Void". This band should totally be in a Metal Hall Of Fame and this album would really give its contribute to it.