More fanboygasms incoming. This is it. Dark Tranquillity is my all time favorite melodic death metal band, if not my favorite metal band period. Ever since my friend in high school burned me a copy of Damage Done, I was a full on acolyte. And don't worry, I ended up buying a copy of my own...along with nearly their entire discography. In my opinion, every one of their albums, perhaps with the exception of Projector (though "Therin" is an awesome track), is required listening. Now being that what has always drawn me to DT the most is the riffs, I was never entirely sold on Construct. It grew on me with time, but it is not the album I would draw most people's attention to when introducing the band. But any concerns I had about their trajectory were squashed immediately after hearing "The Pitiless." Now these are the Gothenburg darlings I have come to know and love.
Now an album like this is a bit of a tightrope walk. If you're going to make a record that sounds in the vein of your most heralded material, you don't want to overhype it only to end up with a tired rehashing (coughMetallicacough). One must truly recapture the essence of what it means to love playing this music right now while also channeling the techniques that formed the foundations of great albums since past. With this in mind, I find it wise that the band chose not to endorse Atoma on the grounds that it is a return to form, but rather more "experimental." I argue that this really isn't the case, but it works on one of two levels: 1) the members convinced themselves they are doing something new and different which reinvigorated the same constructs (ha) that created works like Fiction, or 2) they knew that selling the wrong set of expectations would keep us superfans from elevating them to unreachable levels.
Whichever the case, the outcome for me worked out perfectly. I expected something totally off the wall and therefore put my own ambitions aside for what Atoma would or should be. As a result, any time it tickled those old, adolescent 'member-berries the effect was exponentially more potent. And seriously, "The Pitiless" is just one of many stellar tracks to get those little cartoon berries chanting "'Member!? 'Member!? 'MEMBER!?" The hooks and atmosphere on tracks like "Encircled," "Atoma," "Forward Momentum," and "Neutrality" are all just as engaging and memorable as classics like "Monochromatic Stains." As always, the gorgeous keyboard compliments of Martin Brändström along with Mikael Stanne's unparalleled command of his vocal range make for some stunning melodrama. From the gothy death growls to the soothing baritone, Stanne is the master of making me simultaneously throw up the invisible orange while crying my shameful eyes out.
Come on man. That motivational build on "Clearing Skies"? I'm like a helpless little baby smiling up at my melodeath dad whom I haven't seen in 5 years. It's also a nice example of how the band manages to sound new and fresh without throwing me (the metaphorical baby in this situation) out with the bathwater. Now dialing back my excitement a bit, I'm not going to do what a lot of fans do and proclaim that this is "album of the year." It's not. I freaking love it and am sure to include it on my list of most enjoyable releases of 2016, but in terms of musicianship and innovation, I could rattle off dozens of albums that surpass Atoma. But I will say that any band that can stick around for over two decades and still put out top-notch material in their style is impressive to say the least. Think about how many bands barely make it past the sophomore album without already losing some of their mojo. Dark Tranquillity are truly one for the ages, and one that I argue should be remembered another 20 years from now the same way we regard bands like Iron Maiden and Judas Priest. All hail the true kings of melodic death metal this Friday.