Vim Fuego The dreaded "M" word — "melodic". There has been much debate in death metal circles as to whether melody really has any place in such a brutal genre.

Melodic death metal, as this band are often labelled, conjures up images of puffy–sleeved, white–frilly–shirt wearing musicians who looked like they belonged with a symphony orchestra, and music comparable to late 90s era Helloween. This image is wrong. The "melodic" thing has been over emphasised in much that has been said about this band. This is brutal — it's still death fucking metal! Yes, there's an element of melody, but it's really an inappropriate word to be applied to this. Unfortunately, there is no word in the English language more appropriate.

So what's on offer here? The classic Scandinavian dual guitar attack. It's less oppressively crushing than the likes of Entombed or Dismember in their heyday, but is more technical than the earlier death metal leaders. The death grunt is more of a deep breathy rasp, and is able to carry melody (there's that word again…) more effectively than more guttural styles. Double kick drums underscore most songs, in classic death style.

While mostly mid–paced metal, blast beats are used sparingly, but effectively, like in the closing seconds of "Scythe, Rage and Roses". There are gentler moments too, like the melancholic acoustic guitar and female vocal introduction to "Insanity's Crescendo". There's also the majestic closing title track, which builds layer upon layer on a seemingly simple acoustic riff. This is the type of album where the listener will hear new things with each subsequent listen — a tasty riff here, an unheard bass run there, an imaginative drum fill.

To use an old cliché, this album is like an iron fist inside a velvet glove. It looks innocent enough from the outside, but is more than capable of smashing your face in.

UMUR "Skydancer" is the debut full-length studio album by Swedish melodic death metal act Dark Tranquillity. The album was released through Spinefarm Records in August 1993. "Skydancer" was re-released in 2000 through Century Media Records with a different cover artwork. It´s the only Dark Tranquillity album to feature later In Flames vocalist Anders Fridén in the lineup. Mikael Stanne who would take up the lead vocal duties after this album primarily plays guitar on this album and sings some backing vocals.

The music on the album is melodic death metal with an occasional progressive edge. Especially the two longer tracks on the album "A Bolt Of Blazing Gold" and "Shadow Duet" feature progressive song structures and ideas. The remaining tracks are more straight forward but never simple. In addition to the "core" elements in the music, which are raspy/higher pitched growling vocals, a tight rythm section and melodic guitar work in spades, there are also occasional clean male and female vocals on the album. They are not that impressive though and could easily have been omitted.

While the songwriting is adventurous enough and the musicianship strong, the sound production isn´t that great. Especially the guitars feature a rather powerless sound and are as a result, not as effective as they could have been. It´s too bad, because "Skydancer" would have been a much more enjoyable album with a more professional and sharp sound production. Still a 3.5 star (70%) rating isn´t all wrong.

Warthur Melodic death metal - especially that which is categorised as being part of the "Gothenburg" sound - comes in for a lot of shit from purists, but albums like Dark Tranquility's The Gallery stand head and shoulders above many of the lesser entries in the genre. Combining excellent songwriting and performances with a style which is both instantly accessible and irresistibly exciting, the album presents a compelling musical journey that allows the band to show their technical chops whilst never allowing technicality to override the demands of tone and atmosphere. Melodic death metal can be a little hit and miss, and there's plenty of releases out there which to me sound disappointingly hollow and generic, but The Gallery certainly isn't one of them.

arcane-beautiful When it comes to classic Melodic Death Metal, you really can have no real faults. The bands that really pushed the Death Metal genre and pushed it into a more respected artform ,like In Flames, Carcass & At The Gates to name a few, are also joined by these guys. I have to admit, even though I have revelled in Melo Death for a very long time, I'm afraid to say I've never really given these guys a proper listen. In fact this album is the only one I have of theirs, suprisingly.

One of the most noticeable and very well used aspects of the bands music is the use of keyboards. Unlike Soilwork who just have flourishes now and then, these guys properly use them, which makes them stand out among the godfathers of Melodic Death Metal.

Overall musically, these guys seem to harvest the more darker side to the Gothenburg scene. With a big influence from Gothic Metal and Doom Metal, the band create a sound which is a fusion of harmony and gloom, which even though is rather paradoxical, is pulled off very well.

Mikael's vocals I like to think is the perfect mix of Jeff Walker from Carcass and Tomas Lindberg from At The Gates. At times he can jump onto quite black metally gargles, but mainly contains a death metal approach to his vocals, with a very rare moment of clean vocals.

The album opener “Nothing To No One” is an amazing opener. Like “Blinded By Fear” on the classic Melodic Death Metal album “Slaughter Of The Soul” by At The Gates, this song really grabs you by the balls and comforts you with the bands sound at the same time.

One of the best moments album has to be in the track “The Lesser Faith”, with a very beautiful mid section. A big suprise in the song for me, but surprisingly pulled off very well.

The albums longest composition “Inside The Particle Storm” is one of the most diverse songs on the album, and even has some Prog Metal moments throughout. A brilliantly arranged track with a lot of space and room for experimentation.

“Misery's Crown” is one of the oddest songs on the album. With the use of clean vocals and a more simpler arrangement, it is almost like the band wrote this song with radio friendly intentions on their minds. Doesn't feel forced, so it does feel natural and is a pretty great song.

One of my favourite songs on the album “Focus Shift” has a brilliantly fast paced groove throughout. Again, this song reminds me of another At The Gates track, “Nausea”, which isn't a terrible thing, with “Nausea” being one of my favourite death metal tracks of all time.

The albums last track “The Mundane & The Magic” is one of the more melodically and gothic laced moments on the album, with the use of female vocals in the chorus. Brilliant mixtures of styles and a great ending to the album.

In conclusion, I wonder why I never have gave these guys a chance before, because I can really see why they are such pioneers in the Melodic Death Metal world. I have heard from people that this is there best album. I will give the other albums a chance in the future, but I have to admit this is a brilliant release from these guys.

7.9/10

Kev Rowland Can it really be twenty years since this Gothenburg quintet released ‘Skydancer’? Apparently so, and here they are back with their tenth studio album, and they show no signs at all of slowing down. When they came to write the album they started in the rehearsal room as normal, but soon realised that things weren’t going according to plan so instead Anders Jivarp (drums), Martin Brändström (keys) and Niklas Sundin (guitar) worked in the studio to literally ‘construct’ new material. Bassist Daniel Antonsson had left the band before they started work, but instead of using a session musician they managed to convince guitarist Martin Henriksson to again provide bass as he had in the past, although no decision has yet been agreed on for touring (singer Mikael Stanne of course completes the line-up). As well as changing the writing process they also moved on from Tue Madsen who had worked on the last two albums, and instead brought in Jens Bogren (Opeth, Katatonia, Kreator and many others).

The result of all of this is a death metal album that is pure DT, but that has loads of additional nuances and touches that add real class to proceedings. This is possibly their most melodic album to date, yet is still punchy and brutal – no compromise as it moves and grooves along. Everything fits together perfectly, with the arrangements being incredibly tight and when the band shifts gear it happens seamlessly.

This album captures a band still at the very forefront of the genre, still delivering the goods. If you ever lost your dandruff to DT in the past, then this is essential. www.centurymedia.de