Review: Dark Tranquillity Find Slivers of Beauty and Hope in the Depths of Endtime Signals
It’s been a while since we’ve heard from Gothenburg melodic death metal legends Dark Tranquillity; their last album Moment came out while the world was still struggling with the pandemic four years ago, and it was another couple of years still before they were finally able to get out and tour in support of it. Since then, they also underwent a significant lineup change, bringing new drummer Joakim Strandberg-Nilsson and bassist Christian Jansson into the fold. Thankfully, the catharsis of getting back out on the road and the addition of some fresh blood seems to have worked wonders for them, and that surge of creativity has culminated in the release of their invigorating and highly emotional new full-length Endtime Signals.
Now, when I say “emotional”, I’m not talking about performative, overexaggerated ennui or exuberant, triumphant joy. If anything, it’s actually quite bitter; there’s an overarching sense of “We’re better than this, how can we have allowed this to happen when we’re capable of so much more?” A relatable sentiment in this day and age, to be sure, but this album refuses to allow itself to get bogged down with futility and sink into despair. It mourns what could have been, what should have been, but it still chooses to look forward with grim determination, tightly holding on to a vision of better, brighter things to come.
Lyrics like “We are not nothing, we serve our purpose here, we tell ourselves what we need to hear to make our mark” and “We refuse to be nothing worthy of measure, so lost as our time is short” speak to an almost desperate and frantic desire to be able to look back and know that our time on this Earth has meant something. Ultimately it will all be over in the blink of an eye, and in the meantime, there are a myriad of influences both outside and within which have conspired to rob us of our higher purpose, but Endtime Signals reminds us that this is no reason not to try anyway. The world may be on fire, but one can still accomplish great things if you dig deep and allow those latent frustrations to be the wind in your sails.
In case you couldn’t tell, I found the message of this album extremely uplifting. That may or may not have been what the band had intended, but it was my impression all the same. The overall meaning is of course open to personal interpretation, but one thing that we can all agree on is that, from a musical standpoint, the band have not lost any steam whatsoever. In fact, it would seem that the recent lineup changes have given them a real shot of adrenaline, with songs like “Unforgivable” and “Enforced Perspective” having a palpable, almost tangible snarl to them. Even the more traditionally structured songs like the opening track “Shivers and Voids”, “Not Nothing”, and “The Last Imagination” feel highly polished and satisfying, thanks in no small part to guitarist Johan Reinholdz’s immaculately written solos throughout. Each one sounds altogether different from the rest but still instantly recognizable, without a single note feeling unnecessary or out of place.
When it comes to melodic death metal, there is a delicate balance which must be struck in order to maximize effectiveness; atmosphere and a bit of romanticized melancholy are key, but it’s also very easy to overplay that hand and subsequently allow the music itself to fall back on the same repetitive formulae that dozens of other bands have already used for decades, including Dark Tranquillity themselves. But then again, there’s a reason that these guys were pioneers. They may have a signature central identity which they never stray terribly far from, but rather than resting on their laurels and churning out the same album over and over again, instead they take full command of it and stretch it in all directions until it finally reaches its full potential. There may be some slow and sappy moments on this album where they lay it on a bit thick (at least for my taste), but they never let things stay there for very long either. The pacing of this album is very evenly spaced out, inevitably bringing things back around to constantly remind the audience that yes, this is indeed a death metal band, and a good one at that. Put simply, this is how you do melodic death metal right, period.
The world can seem like a hostile, unjust, and utterly unforgiving place sometimes, and one could easily be forgiven for believing so. But conversely, if you take the time to look around, smell the roses, and take stock of yourself, then life can also be breathtakingly beautiful if you allow it to be. That’s the message that I gleaned from my time with Endtime Signals, and I found it to be wholly refreshing in spite of the considerable aura of justifiable indignation and frightful uncertainty which surrounds it.
This album understands and accepts that the world is fucked, but it does not lie down and go gentle into that good night. Instead, it chooses to bare its teeth and fight back with everything it’s got, which as it turns out is quite a lot. Dark Tranquillity have been around for a long time now, having influenced and even helped create an entire subgenre, and albums like this remind us why they’ve enjoyed such a long running and successful career. Even after all this time, they’ve still got it in spades, and that gives me hope for the future. What can I say, I’m an optimist.
Endtime Signals drops Friday, August 16th via Century Media Records. Pre-order your copy here
