Released: 2007
Dark Tranquillity's masterpiece is a lot like a cancer. The first time you hear it, you notice a few subtleties like the increased presence of keyboards, but nothing that truly grabs you until the catchy "Focus Shift" towards the end. Put it on again, however, and by the time the earth-rending "Icipher" enters the picture, Fiction has really begun to infect you. "Inside the Particle Storm" is a monster that spreads the disease further, a harsh, fast and violent excursion into near-black metal territory that threatens to rip the flesh from your face, without a doubt the most sinister song this band has ever done.
When I said masterpiece in the first sentence, I meant total masterpiece. Fiction is the culmination of every thing Dark Tranquillity has ever released. If it takes at least two listens to fully sink in, it's because true genius can sometimes be hard to appreciate right away. Fiction takes the pure aggression of Character, Damage Done's melodic moments and the darker atmosphere of Projector and Haven and then goes beyond them, invoking a sound that transcends the melodic death metal genre that they invented. Always the masters and never the mastered, Dark Tranquillity simply slays on Fiction. Everything is done right, even Mikael Stanne's clean vocals when they occasionally appear. It's true that in the past his attempts at this were sometimes cringeworthy, but he nails it here, particularly on the closing track "The Mundane and the Magic" where they work as counterpoint to those of female guest Nell Siglund, and never at any time does the band sound in danger of ever being compared to Evanescence or Kilswitch Engage. Martin Brändström's keys are prominent but never overwhelm the vicious twin guitar attack; Dark Tranquillity has proven time and again to be one of the few bands to know how to do this properly and here once more it's the guitars that provide and drive the melody, not the electronics. Anders Jivarp is as rock solid in the engineroom as always, filling out tiny spaces with nifty stickswork that would go unnoticed unless it wasn't there. Indeed, everyone in the band delivers a faultless performance from beginning to end but it would be hard to expect anything less.
Fiction is Dark Tranquillity's finest moment, and it will take something special to match it next time.
Dark Tranquillity's masterpiece is a lot like a cancer. The first time you hear it, you notice a few subtleties like the increased presence of keyboards, but nothing that truly grabs you until the catchy "Focus Shift" towards the end. Put it on again, however, and by the time the earth-rending "Icipher" enters the picture, Fiction has really begun to infect you. "Inside the Particle Storm" is a monster that spreads the disease further, a harsh, fast and violent excursion into near-black metal territory that threatens to rip the flesh from your face, without a doubt the most sinister song this band has ever done.
When I said masterpiece in the first sentence, I meant total masterpiece. Fiction is the culmination of every thing Dark Tranquillity has ever released. If it takes at least two listens to fully sink in, it's because true genius can sometimes be hard to appreciate right away. Fiction takes the pure aggression of Character, Damage Done's melodic moments and the darker atmosphere of Projector and Haven and then goes beyond them, invoking a sound that transcends the melodic death metal genre that they invented. Always the masters and never the mastered, Dark Tranquillity simply slays on Fiction. Everything is done right, even Mikael Stanne's clean vocals when they occasionally appear. It's true that in the past his attempts at this were sometimes cringeworthy, but he nails it here, particularly on the closing track "The Mundane and the Magic" where they work as counterpoint to those of female guest Nell Siglund, and never at any time does the band sound in danger of ever being compared to Evanescence or Kilswitch Engage. Martin Brändström's keys are prominent but never overwhelm the vicious twin guitar attack; Dark Tranquillity has proven time and again to be one of the few bands to know how to do this properly and here once more it's the guitars that provide and drive the melody, not the electronics. Anders Jivarp is as rock solid in the engineroom as always, filling out tiny spaces with nifty stickswork that would go unnoticed unless it wasn't there. Indeed, everyone in the band delivers a faultless performance from beginning to end but it would be hard to expect anything less.
Fiction is Dark Tranquillity's finest moment, and it will take something special to match it next time.
- Nothing to No One
- The Lesser Faith
- Terminus (Where Death is Most Alive)
- Blind at Heart
- Icipher
- Inside the Particle Storm
- Empty Me
- Misery's Crown
- Focus Shift
- The Mundane and the Magic
- Winter Triangle
Rating: 98%
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