Experiencing The Gothenburg Sound With Dark Tranquility

The inception of a genre in the form of a single album

Dark Tranquillity’s hometown Gothenburg in Sweden is probably best known in the musical world as the birthplace of a particular Metal subgenre: Melodic Death Metal. Often called the “Gothenburg Sound”, it adapted the harshness of old-school Death Metal and combined it with more melodic approaches from 80s Heavy Metal bands.

The band itself was founded in 1989 under the name Septic Broiler, which was changed to the current band name in 1990. The Gallery is Dark Tranquillity’s second album, originally released in 1995 via Osmose Productions, which was reissued by the band’s current label Century Media in 2021. Along with At the Gates’s Slaughter Of The Soul (1995) and In Flames’s The Jester Race (1996) and Whoracle (1997), The Gallery is considered one of the albums that pioneered the new style out of the Gothenburg underground scene and a masterpiece in its own right. The lineup on this album consists of Mikael Stanne (vocals), Niklas Sundin (guitar), Fredrik Johansson (guitar), Martin Henriksson (bass) and Anders Jivarp (drums). The lyrics on this album are written by Stanne and Sundin.

The record starts with a punch in the form of the track "Punish My Heaven". Side A continues with aggressive sound combined with melody and no track feels like it is just a filler. Besides Punish My Heaven, Edenspring is another track that stands out in my opinion. Side B feels a bit less exciting and the quality does not stay as high as on Side A. Nonetheless, there are a couple of highlights to be found here as well. Namely the track Lethe, due to the fact that it falls out of line compared to the rest of the album. Lethe starts of slowly and calmly but still has an intensity throughout the song that some of the “more powerful” tracks on Side B lack. The record caps of with an instrumental (Mine is the grandeur…) as well as a final song (… of melancholy and burning), which fits seamlessly to the previous track (as implied by the song titles, thus I’m including both here). The lyrics of the album all follow a similar theme, often dealing with personal problems, challenges and failures of us as human beings as well as the escapes of our minds when dealing with our shortcomings. All in all, a recording that is highly enjoyable throughout the entire listening session with only a couple of filler tracks on Side B that detract slightly from the overall experience.

Although this vinyl record is remastered, it is a faithful recreation of the sound of the original recording, with very little artistic interference. Tony Lindgren from Fascination Street Studios, one of Sweden’s prime studios in the Metal genre, did an excellent job at capturing what makes Dark Tranquillity unique.

The pressing plant Optimal Media delivered a very good product. Although the original source is a digital recording (something that is often the case with recordings in this genre), the vinyl elevates the sound compared to its digital counterparts on various streaming services. The gatefold cover of the reissue comes with liner notes written by Mikael Stanne in April 2021, where he reiterates the creation of as well as the story behind the album. Furthermore, the record includes an art print with all the lyrics and credits for both the original recording and remaster.

In conclusion, this record is a nice addition (some, including myself, might even say essential addition) to your vinyl collection if you do not shy away from harsh vocals and like something that gives you a powerful musical experience including the distortion of a good Death Metal album while capturing harmony and melody at the same time.

Tracking Angle welcomes Lucas Lange to our writer roster. Here's his bio:

Lucas Lange was born in Hamburg, Germany and spent most of his childhood near Vienna, Austria. After leaving high school, he pursued and completed an undergraduate degree from Leuphana University Lüneburg. From an early age, Lucas was interested in music, starting out with 70s and 80s rock. Over the years, he discovered metal as a genre for himself and went down a rabbit hole he is yet to return from. During high school, he started to develop an interest in analog music and vinyl, which has become a passion he continues to follow to this day. Lucas is currently employed at the Swiss-German audio company Revox.