Customer Reviews

Projector

5 star:		(25)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

At the very least, Dark Tranquillity must be admired for their vision to experiment with different musical flavors. While inertia is a powerful factor to many metal bands (or artists in any genre for that matter), favoring adventure to refinement takes a certain artistic character. Dark Tranquillity has it. _Projector_ is quite unlike anything they did prior, such as _Skydancer_ and _The Gallery_. The album immediately before, _The Mind's I_, gave no indication of what to expect with this release.

Keyboards, clean vocals, electronic beats -- all find a place alongside ultra-melodic riffs, snarling growls, and speedy attack. For the "Death vox", I much prefer Stanne's improved growly singing heard on _Haven_ and _Damage Done_. Here, and on previous records, he is more "rrrrr" and less "rrrroar". I don't really care that much though, since the highlight is his 'real' singing, which is abundant on this record. Deep, melancholy, emotive -- Stanne's voice often lends the songs their most memorable quality.

Dark Tranquillity's penchant for amazing guitar work is still intact: the mesmerizing dual guitar harmony of "The Sun Fired Blanks"; the double-bass driven melodic punch of "Doberman". These songs are all well and good, but the stronger tracks, in my opinion, adopt a more experimental style. The opener "FreeCard" splits the fluid guitar melodies with a keyboard generated orchestral piece. "UnDo Control" combines eclectic tempo changes, female vocals, torrid screams, and surprising musical twists. "Day to End" is a slow, haunting piece coated in pulsing electronics and glassy guitars (this song will make the hardcore choke on their juice boxes). "Auctioned" is a ballad featuring beautiful piano melodies that support one of the band's most emotional performances. "ThereIn"'s ambiguous lyrics are enwrapped in an intensely burnished guitar melody, which subtly grows more intense each time it appears. The coarse vocals of the verses toggle seamlessly into the chorus' stunning clean refrain, which may eloquently describe Dark Tranquillity's changes better than anything else: "It was solid yet ever-changing | It was different and yet the same."

Many would prefer to spin _The Gallery_ another 5000 times before ever touching this album. Others may desire partaking in the experiment of _Projector_ and find it to be a worthwhile dark horse. Dark Tranquillity probably won't ever do another album like this, and I consider it a good thing that the band took the risk and did it. Change is good, right?

This CD is absolutely phenomenal.

If you are unfamiliar with Dark Tranquillity, they could be described as a cross between Queensryche (Rage for Order era) and At The Gates.

Intertwining top-notch musicianship, poetic lyrics, touches of progressive metal, and the infamous "Gothenburg Sound", Dark Tranquillity's sixth CD Projector is amazing.

Mikael Stanne moves seamlessly between a traditional death metal growl, and low, melodic, somber vocals. Using untraditional phrasing, and a stream of consciousness style, Stanne's lyrics are incredible.

Johansson and Sundin create a beautiful dual-guitar sound, that changes effortlessly between the frantically paced riffs that drive this disc, to the slow, haunting melodies that make this CD unforgettable.

Anders Jivarp's drums are first-rate, and Martin Henriksson's bass playing is very solid.

All in all, this is one phenomenal CD. There are no weak tracks to be found on this offering. So far, my favorite tracks on this CD are Freecard, Therein, Undo Control (on which Johanna Andersson lends her beautiful vocals), and Day to End.

Buy this disc.

over the last two years or so, dark tranquillity have quickly became one of my favorite all time bands. They are just so godly, they have not wrote a bad album and this is one of their best, if not their best. The Gallery was my favorite but after finally buying this (took me forever to find it and i actaully never did....ended up having to order it) this may just be my favorite one by them, ever. The song Undo Control has been played by me so many times that i'm afraid to actually know how many times, lol. It's so good, my favorite on this cd and easily one of my favorite DT songs of all time. It's got stunning beautiful female vocals, with the singer doing both his barritone vocals and "grim" vocals. There is melody lines, cruncy riffs, melodic break downs...pretty much everything you could want in a song is in this song, i love it so much.

as always, their drumming is beyond amazing. Anders Jivarp is one of my favorite drummers. He doesn't play like a regular metal drummer, he takes his time and makes intracit beats. The guitars still have good heavy metal riffs, good melodie lines, and their bass player actually matters. I really can't say enough about this cd, other than it's really really great. Yeah this has the most "clean" singing of any DT cd but it's awesome, his vocals are very unique, very deep sounding.

Day to End is a stand out for me. It's very different from anyting on this cd or anything on any of their other cds, past or present and probalby even future i'm sure. It's totally clean vocals, very laid back but it's so dark and depressing, what we have come to expect from these swedish rock stars.

THere are a TON of these so called "melodic death metal" bands from sweden an other countries and you think you have heard them all once you hear one of them. But i promise you that dark tranquillity are above and beyond melodic metal. Pick up this cd (or any of their cds for that matter) and prepare your ears for an amazing journey.

Dark Tranquility have done nothing but outdo themselves on their new album. It's easily one of the best releases of 1999, ranking with the likes of Amorphis' "Tuonela" and In Flames' "Colony." But what really sets this apart from everything else in modern metal is the band's diversity. Picture In Flames being influenced by Sentenced and throw in a hint of recent Paradise Lost and you've got "Projector," Dark Tranquility's most awesome album ever. Songs like "FreeCard," "Undo Control," and the experimental yet still amazing "Auctioned" open new doors in the world in progressive/black/death metal. I'm sure some new bands out there are gonna listen to this and be completely amazed, just as I was, and use this as a major influence for their own work. If that's the case, I look forward to hearing that too, because "Projector" is one incredible CD and shouldn't be absent from any metal fan's collection.

This 4th effort by Dark Tranquillity is rather different from any previous albums, and come to think of it, also from albums to follow, which makes it special I guess.
Actually that's an understatement. This is a very original, bone-crushingly heavy, hauntingly melodic, dark journey into the sheer blissful oblivion that is "Projector".
A more relaxed approach to songwriting is demonstrated here, which could be a surprise to some following the speedy, masterful "The Mind's I" (my personal fave).
Songs are less complex, somewhat toned down and rather alot slower. Stanne even uses a clean voice in places, which is largely deep and sombre, giving a nice despairing tone to it. Henrikkson's basswork is actually the most noticeable "relaxed" feature of "Projector". The previous 3 albums saw brilliant, lively bass playing which for me (a bassist) was my focus on those albums. However, this is not a criticism. The nature of the basswork on previous albums wouldn't suit "Projector", but it remains dead on, incredibly effective, and of course wiser with age.
The guitar melodies on this album are amazing; slow, dark and dreamy. Riffing is also slow and relentlessly heavy, and when paralleled with the characteristic melodies of this album one realises what it is that seperates "Projector" from other works of Dark Tranquillity.
Jivarp's drumming is also toned down, no blast beats survive after "The Mind's I", yet remain very nice indeed with other talents demonstated that were beforehand not revealed.
This album is special. It has a strong element of intimacy not felt on previous albums. There are no boring stretches here, no "weak mid-part", no blistering opening trailing of into a cliche'. This is throughout a gripping, brilliant work, which in many ways was probably a breath of fresh air for the band.
My favourite song here would have to be "To a bitter halt". Such an introduction to a song with very slow clean guitars and simple bass fills is genious from simplicity. Other moments of glory would be "Undo Control", with a superb dual vocal attack from Mikke Stanne and Johanna Andersson, "Freecard", the introduction to the new sound, and shape of things to come, and "Nether Novas", a beautiful melodic song nearing the end of the album.
I prefer not to relate my favourite bands only to the genre to which they are "allocated", but Dark Tranquillity are in my opinion far beyond comparison to any other band regarded as "Swedish death metal", they rank up with my very favourite bands such as Paradise Lost, My Dying Bride and Alice in Chains. "Projector" is where one realises the great diversity of Dark Tranquillity.
This is the magic that a name would stain.

Projector is an odd album, the singers growls are not the best, but not terribly agravating(like some metal bands have been to me at least). His clean vocals are what I can't decide on, at times they are twistedly/beatifully haunting, but at times they just get on my nerves, but overall they come off on the good side more often than the bad.

As for the musicianship its much less heavy than other Dark Tranquillity. At times they completely slow down for extended periods(a whole song at one point!) something I have not heard Dark Tranquillity do before on their other more vicious releases like Character and Damage Done.

Overall a great album that pulls out the melodic side of Gothenburg without turning out too cheesy and will keep growin on you the more you listen to it.

I decided to give Projector the perfect rating just because there are so many great parts on this album, like the guitars of "Doberman" for example, and I just keep coming back to listen to it over and over again.

I purchased this album on a whim, because I own "Damage Done" and have heard "Haven" in its entirety (though I don't own it) and reviewed it for a radio station. I remember Dark Tranquility playing one or two songs from this disc in concert during their 2002 US tour with In Flames, Sentenced & Killswitch Engage, so I decided to pick it up. What a surprise I was in for!

The vocals (on the majority of songs),atmosphere and mood of this album are almost completely different from anything I've heard by these guys before, and it was such a shock I almost completely hated it. I was hoping for something both aggressive and harsh, which are two things you won't find too much of here. (As a side note, it probably didn't help that I had just finished listening to the brutally aggressive Extreme Noise Terror's "Being & Nothing" album right before I put this disc in.) Yet, after a couple of listens, I realized that it was more experimental and very similar to other bands that I very much favor such as Type O Negative and Moonspell. Once I listened to "Projector" from the perspective of it being an atmostpheric, goth/doom influenced album and not another venture in the traditional Swedish Death Metal sound, then I began to really get into it. The inclusion of even female vocals on this disc was especially surprising, but I found them to be a nice change. Songs such as 'Doberman' are more aggressive, "Damage Done" style tunes which I enjoy very much, but I can also appreciate the foray into different territory that the rest of the album provides. The musicianship is still excellent, and the production on this disc is fantastic.

I don't think I would recommend "Projector" to fans who aren't into other bands like Type O Negative and Moonspell, but if you're a fan of the Swedish influenced stuff and are looking for something even more melodic and a lot more mellow in terms of atmosphere, then check this out. As Lord Chimp mentioned below, Dark Tranquility will likely never release another album like this again, so if you're a Dark Tranquility fan you should at least get a taste of what this interesting disc is like. Though you may not savor it, you won't forget it. And that's a good thing.

It seems that a number of the reviews here don't care for the extensive use of clean vocals on this cd, but honestly I love them. Dark Tranquillity has never been a band to follow trends and personally I think it's great that they expanded their sound beyond the typical death growls being used by most black/death metal bands at the time. I only wish they had continued it on their next album, "Haven" (which is also a masterpiece in its own right, but thats another review). Anyway, every song on here is simply pure melodic perfection. I also have to point out the acoustic guitars, which are actually used more frequently than other D.T. albums, the piano, and of course the female vocals on the fourth track. My favorite tracks would have to be "Auctioned", "Undo Control", "Therein", and "On Your Time".

Dark Tranquillity's "Projector" is a modern masterpiece of metallic art. The production is flawless and the music is blistering. The melodies will enthrall the listener and the shear power will destroy your will. It's a shame quality bands such as DT don't get the proper recognition, where garbage like Kid Rock and Limp Bizkit are considered the front-runners of modern metal in America....that's a joke! The musicianship behind "Projector" is unbelievable, as is the passion behind the music. While a definite change in terms of musical direction from previous works, I think Dark Tranquillity have set themselves unto the path of greatness. What are they drinking in Sweden that they have talent to spare to put out great bands such as DT, In Flames, Arch Enemy....and the list goes on for miles.

I guess there's some kind of contradiction in describing a CD as melodic progressive death metal, but that's what comes closest for me. I think that death metal works best when the vocals are clean at least some of the time, as they are here. It's a diverse CD, with no weak tracks (almost the ultimate compliment), and holds up well to repeated listening. My favorite track right now is 'To A Bitter Halt' (which is one of the tracks that took a while to grow on me), thanks to its dead-on tempo changes and multiple contrasting themes.

Be warned, it's particularly hard to get a feel for this CD from the 30 second samples on Amazon, both because these tracks take more time than that to appreciate, and because the loss of sound quality in the streamed audio really detracts (especially the loss of lower frequencies).

'Damage Done', their latest CD, is good as well, though none of the vocals are clean on that one.