Customer Reviews

Exposures: In Retrospect & Denial

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Dark Tranquillity is by far the best "Gothenburg" (melodic death metal) band. I can't imagine why a fan wouldn't want this, unless you need the money for orange juice.

The first disc is the main treat, I say. It consists of rarities and unreleased material that is for the most part outstanding. The first seven tracks on disc one are non-album tracks from _Damage Done_, _Haven_, and _Projector_. They are all good or great, with the tracks from _Damage Done_'s sessions being particularly noteworthy: "Static" is a scintillating, aggressive and densely arranged, and "The Poison Well" (otherwise available on the Japanese version of _Damage Done_) is tight, catchy, heavy, and also includes piano. Both of these songs use synths very well -- they are one of the few bands that can use synths without making them sound truly geydar. When _Haven_ was released, some people might have wondered where all the clean vocals went. The answer they all went into "In Sight", a sorta-ballad with all clean singing by Stanne. A lot of people don't like Stanne's clean voice, and this would have been the least good song on _Haven_, but I still kind of like it -- despite Stanne's melodramatic & irritating contrived breaks in pitch -- because it has a foreboding main riff and good instrumentation all 'round, and a weeping, beautiful solo part. "Misery In Me" has heavy, chugging verses and a symphonic-metal-like chorus, rather similar to "The Same". "Cornered" has ridiculously catchy riffs and almost pop-like keyboards, which might sound awful but it's good. The _Projector_ cuts are also good: "No One" has enthralling guitar melodies both sharp and beautiful with a mixture of vocals, and "Exposures" is a fast, man-eating, galloping riff-monster that sounds only remotely related musically to _Projector_.

The other six of the songs here come from Dark Tranquillity's early _early_ days, i.e. the early 90s. This was back when Mikael Stanne still played guitar and Anders Friden (now with In Flames) did vocals. The vocals and production are pretty bad, but even so DT's early music is an utter pleasure to listen to. The intoxicating melodies, savage riffing, and thick atmosphere encapsulate all these songs with a progressive grandeur and dark beauty that was elusive to the other Gothenburg bands. Compared to later Dark Tranquillity, this is faster, more raw, and 'old-school' NWoSDM (in today's terms, since this wasn't

"old-school" when it first appeared). "Yesteryear" is a masterpiece -- one of the greatest Dark Tranquillity songs, and by extension of that, one of the ultimate metal songs in the universe. "Midwinter / Beyond Enlightenment" is also great, with its introduction composed of frosty synths and a plucked acoustic guitar figure, and the song proper is fast, aggressive, and viciously melodic. "Void of Tranquillity" has some cheesy parts but it's mostly high quality.

Disc 2, the live album, is kind of secondary to me, but good to have. Performances are excellent, the setlist great, and sound quality good. The songs are the same as the "Live Damage" DVD although, sadly, "UnDo Control" got cut to make room. "Ex Nihilo" seems like a weird way to close the set, but eh well...
Some of the songs are changed a little bit, if that's an appealing idea to you (examples include the intro to
"Lethe", rearranged for piano, and added piano parts to "Punish My Heaven" -- ya, I know it had piano parts before, but it's different now, and it adds drama to those final verses ["My soul bears all the weight of mountains as mankind weaves its silent end...can there be no forgiveness?"]).

If you've never heard Dark Tranquillity before, this isn't the disc to get. (it's not a "best of", y'know) You should immediately purchase _The Gallery_ and _Damage Done_, two of the crowning achievements in Swedish metal.

well, they got a new offical studio album coming out later this year. but until then, they give us this two cd set of material.

Disk one is 12 songs that were previously unreleased song, songs availabe on rare imports, and songs from their first few demos (and yes these songs have been remastared and they are not demo songs, full length songs). Tracks 1 through 7 feature the line up we all know and love. Tracks 8 through 12 feature the in flames singer on vocals and their current singer on guitar. that was their lineup during their demo days. Anders sounds more black metal than he ever has in flames.

Disc 2 is their live, it's the same live set and concert from their Live Damage DVD. The only song missing is Undo Control (which is pretty big bummer sinc eit's one of my favorite dt songs) but it's no big deal i guess. The 19 tracked live disc is excellent and they sound musically as good live as on cd. vocally? they sound good but their singer sounds different. He's still good, just as good as on tv, but he's more higher pitched, black metalish than death metal.

all in all, this is very worth the wait and it's regular priced same as a single disc cd so there is no reason not to buy this if your a fan of them. cya!

Dark Tranquillity, a band affliated with starting the gothenburg sound and helping shape the sound of modern metal. Disc one includes cuts from there albums, but these....dont sound like cuts at all, every song is amazing. The last 4 trax are from demo's and feature anders frieden on vox. Disc 2: live album, amazing performance, wonderful sound, great song selection, what more can I say, buy this cd!! (and get damage done too)

I just want to says congrats to Amazon.com for offering this special double-CD set for only $15.00. You must buy this CD here and now if you are a fan of the Gothenburg Scene or just a new fan of Melodic Death Metal. This CD has some unreleased (and released) gems on it. It also has a bonus disc with an entire concert live from Krakow, Poland. All I can say is, if Dark Tranquillity can release the best stop-gap release as well as some of the best albums of the genre, you know you have an intelligent band. All hail Dark Tranquillity and all hail Scandinavian Heavy Metal! I eagerly await their new album in late 2004. Judging from their past releases, I'm sure it will blow away my expectations. Their styles have been so varied for a Death Metal band. And buy this album now! Go!

Even though the Gods of Gothenburg, as I like to call them, have released two full-lengths after this compilation of previously unreleased material, it still seems so fresh. I listen to this consistently more than most of their full-lengths, to this day. I can hardly believe it has been out for 4 years already. This is really just as good as any full-length album, in fact, dare I say it's actually *better* than some of them. It truly makes me wonder why the material wasn't put on the albums, and what other unreleased material from "Character" and "Fiction" they have in store for us.

I don't know about most people, but I have always loved Stanne's clean vocals; "Projector" is my favorite DT album mostly for that reason. "In Sight" is a hidden treasure from the "Haven" days with the remainder of clean vocals leftover from that era. It is a slower song in metal regards, but none less than "Fabric" from that album for instance.

"Cornered" is my favorite song here, and perhaps one of my favorite DT songs ever. with tantalizingly scrumptious riffs, plenty of keyboards, and a wide range of vocals from inconspicuous, gruff, whisper-growls to epic, full-force shouting.

"No One" is a progressive, explosive song with a delightful mixture of some clean vocals. "Static" and "The Poison Well" are also both ridiculously catchy songs, with the use of a little synth and piano mixed in.

The remainder of Disc 1 is made up of the two EP's before Skydancer/Of Chaos and Eternal Night: Trail of Life Decayed and A Moonclad Reflection. It's very noticeable when this starts of course; the sound here is entirely different, not only just a different style back then, but not-so-great production and Anders Friden on vocals obviously. The songs here are all great but in a much different way. They are mostly just as good as anything on the Skydancer album, with that dark, enrapturing atmosphere and menacing riffs we all know and love.

I don't listen to Disc 2 as much, which is the live show from Live Damage, but it is a quality recording and nice to have in the collection. Some songs have some minor changes like added piano or Stanne's vocals instead of the female vocals in "Insanity's Crescendo". I have to admit the live clean vocals are no where near as good as on the records, unfortunately; the few seconds of them in "Punish my Heaven" make me cringe.

If you are a fair-weather Dark Tranquillity fan who does not possess this beauty, you must get it now! "Unreleased" songs may repel the casual listener, but you must understand that they are created with the utmost quality that goes into every other album. If you are new to the band, this probably wouldn't really be my first recommendation, but it probably wouldn't hurt if this was your introduction to the band because it contains music from many different eras, and are songs that you wouldn't have to buy again as if this was a "greatest hits" type thing or something.

It's true that DT hasn't released a bad song. Even the ones they didn't release before are just amazing. The songs resemble Haven and Projector, as there is some singing as well. Consider yourself buying a new 100% authentic LP through this release. Next, we have the live tracks, which is also worth the price considering they've never released anything like this. Dark Tranquillity is without a doubt the best melodic death band, who have shown their consistency in giving us great releases throughout the years.

Most Dark Tranquillity fans will buy this set and end up with an entire disc of songs they've never heard before - (domestically) unreleased songs from Projector, Haven, and Damage Done sessions, as well as their 1991 demo and 1992 EP. That's well and good on its own, but at this point most bands package it with a second "best of" disc and sell it to you for the cost of a double cd. Look at Napalm Death's "Noise for Music's Sake" for example. Chances are, if you're looking to buy a disc of rarities, you already have the studio albums and don't need to pay for those songs again. Instead, Dark Tranquillity packages it with an entire live set - and a good one at that. Two discs full of quality material that doesn't appear on any other CD- what more could a fan want?

Besides being the absolute best melodic death metal band out there, Dark Tranquillity is also a band that knows how to take care of its fans. Their 2-disc compilation Exposures - In Retrospect and Denial is a perfect example.

Most American metal fans are resigned to the fact that other markets, particularly the Japanese, get exclusive bonus tracks added to their albums. Japan consumes a LOT of metal, so I can see how this practice makes sense. But it is a source of frustration for those of us who are die-hard fans and want to have every song a band releases. Unless we're willing to drop $30 or more on a Japanese import, we'll never hear the "full" album.

This is why Exposures rules. Dark Tranquillity has collected all of the various bonus tracks, b-sides, and demos that were otherwise unavailable and released them in one package. Many of the tracks are from later in their career, but there are some early tracks as well. They're all quite good, but I've come to expect nothing less from this band.

As if that weren't enough, the band has added a second disc to the package - a live album that is the audio companion to their Live Damage DVD. This disc sounds great, and would have been worth buying on its own.

When it's all said and done, you get 31 tracks on 2 discs, and all for the price of a regular CD. Compare that to Soilwork's 5-track rarities EP that retailed for about the same price and you get an idea of why Dark Tranquillity has such a devoted fan base.

WOW! This is the only band that has off the wall unreleased materals that is just as good as their albums. A band that has B-sides this good is truly talented. I love DT's experimentaions and how artistically they develop a certain theme for their releases. I totally dig their lyrics and I love the fact how they stay true to their sound; even with these experimentations. They are truly brilliant and remain as my fav melodic death metal band of all time.

This double disc album is a collection of b-sides and early demos, as well as a whole other CD with their live performance in Krakow, Poland, which can also be seen on their "Live Damage" DVD. Disc 2 is excellent for any fan of live music. The production is wonderful and the band plays perfectly. Vocalist Mikael Stanne's voice does sound a bit different than on CD, but wouldn't one expect that? He runs short of breath a few times, but not enough to ruin the song. Really, not even enough to effect the song period. But as I said, the musicians play flawlessly, tearing through each fast-paced riff with amazing precision. And not to mention the set list is perfect for any big D.T. fan.

So disc 2 is excellent, but what about disc 1? The first track, "Static", is a slower paced track, featuring excellent lyrics and beautiful music. "The Poison Well" is a bit faster, but just as good, though a little less memorable. Other standout tracks include "In Sight", which might come as a shocker to those expecting the heaviness that most D.T. songs feature. The song is entirely sung; no growling, screaming, anything. And it's sung in quite an awkward voice. Fans who have heard Stanne's clean vocals before know should know what I'm talking about, but for those who don't, it's a very manly, operatic type voice, basically the last thing you'd expect from someone who growls like a madman half the time. His clean voice is a little odd, but it grew on me. "In Sight" is a simply beautiful song, and why it didn't make it onto "Haven" is beyond me. Perhaps it was just too different from the rest of the album. "Exposure" is quite a thrashy little number, once again featuring excellent, compelling lyrics, and possible one of the catchiest riffs D.T. have ever played midway through the song. It's an odd rhythm dual guitar assault, with brilliant hi-hat work from Anders Jivarp. It's definitely the standout of the song. "Cornered" also features great, catchy riffs.

Now, the demos on disc 1 are the only real down point of the entire collection. As I'm sure you've heard, they feature current In Flames vocalist Anders Friden on vocals (Mikael Stanne plays guitar). Had no one told me that before, I'd think it was some dude who's now in a black metal band; he sounds absolutely nothing like himself. He sounds...really, really bad. The music is excellent however. It's a bit darker and more drawn out than D.T.'s present day material, kind of resembling Opeth. The songs are longer, and each has a LOT of lyrics. "Unfurled by Dawn" and "Void of Tranquillity" are equal in length to two Cradle of Filth songs' lyrics put together. And if you've seen COF's lyrics, you'd know what I'm talking about. Ok, maybe that's a stretch, but I'm saying, if you're someone who likes to memorize lyrics, you might be a little challenged here.

Anyway, another problem with the demos is the quality; it's just bad. Not the quality of the songs, but the quality of the sound. I think maybe one or two demos would have been sufficient, but no one's gonna wanna listen to 5 of those when you have the rest of the collection to listen to.

So...should you get this album? If you've never bought a D.T. album before, start with something else. But if you're a big fan of the Swedish masterpiece makers, be my guest and by this album as soon as you can.