Year: 2024
Total Time: 50:24
Label: Century Media
The beloved band from Sweden returns with their thirteenth album, “Endtime Signals”, offering twelve tracks of melodic Death Metal in their signature and distinctive style. While I personally loved “Moment”, many fans expressed dissatisfaction with its more atmospheric sound, which made the album somewhat softer compared to what they were used to. It seems the band took this feedback to heart, creating a heavier and more aggressive record. The new energy brought by the fresh members, with Christian Jansson replacing Anders Iwers on bass and Joakim Nilsson replacing Anders Jivarp on drums, likely contributed to this shift.
On guitars, Johan Reinholdz now stands alone following the departure of Christopher Amott, while together with Martin Brändström, they form the main songwriting team for “Endtime Signals”, with Mikael Stanne, of course, handling vocals and lyrics. The more aggressive approach in the compositions is a definite positive, as the Swedes know how to execute this style well. It’s also worth mentioning the excellent work by Reinholdz and Brändström, who crafted songs that maintain the characteristic DARK TRANQUILLITY style, as we’ve come to expect since “Damage Done”. Standout moments on the album include the thrashy tracks “Unforgivable” and “Forced Perspective,” which briefly remind us of the band’s old-school roots. In addition to these, there are several up-tempo tracks like “Drowned Out Voices” and “Neuronal Fire,” featuring an exceptional solo. While the album isn’t as catchy as “Moment”, “Wayward Eyes” stands out with its infectious retro keyboards and beautiful chorus. The ballads “One Of Us Is Gone” (dedicated to the late Fredrik Johansson, who played guitar in the band until “Projector”) and “False Reflection” showcase the band’s more sensitive side, with Stanne’s clean vocals making a strong impression.
However, I can’t overlook the fact that the band remains attached to the style they’ve adopted since 2002. “Endtime Signals” follows the familiar DARK TRANQUILLITY formula, blending fast thrashy tracks with more mid-tempo and dark melodramatic atmospheres, with heavy use of keyboards. Despite the well-crafted compositions, the lack of surprises and the repetition of the same structures and themes make the album less distinct from their previous works. Additionally, the excessive use of keyboards diminishes the ferocity of some tracks, limiting their impact.
In summary, “Endtime Signals” is another respectable addition to their discography that will satisfy fans from the last two decades, but it doesn’t offer anything particularly innovative or stand out among the band’s top releases.
Rating: 7.5/10
Editor: Dimitris Benetatos
Related Link: DARK TRANQUILLITY – Official Band Page
