Skydancer & Of Chaos and Eternal Night [Original recording reissued]

Dark Tranquillity | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (September 19, 2000)
• Original Release Date: September 19, 2000
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Original recording reissued
• Label: Century Media
• ASIN: B00004XSOL
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (18 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #147,500 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Gorgeous., November 8, 2003

By 

Ancalagon the Black (the waveless sea) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Skydancer & Of Chaos and Eternal Night (Audio CD)

Dark Tranquillity, one of the founding fathers of melodic death metal, live up to their name. This is not to say that all their songs are uninspired, repetitive sleepers. In fact, ¡°Skydancer¡± is probably the most varied and complex of all the Dark Tranquillity albums, containing riffs and bass lines that are sometimes repeated only once or twice a song and are heard only on repeated listens. The dual guitars are woven together beautifully, complementing each other perfectly as the music flows and blazes onwards into fantastic soundscapes of darkness and twilight. The acoustic parts and female vocals are not overdone. Rather than drowning the album¡¯s aggressiveness in supposed ¡°feeling,¡± the softer aspects of the music are used sparingly and to great effect, providing a contrast to the more violent side of the music in order to create an overall sound that is even more majestic and complete. Anders Jivarp is not fastest or most aggressive drummer out there, but that is hardly the point. The drumming is competent and provides a solid foundation for everything else, but even more importantly, it shows a bit of emotion and becomes incorporated into the fabric of music instead of existing outside of it. If you are already familiar with Dark Tranquillity, then there is really nothing I need to say about the lyrics. They are, as always, wonderfully well written and darkly fantastic (some may call them cheesy in an affectionate sort of way, but this seems slightly derogatory and there is nothing wrong with the lyrics). What¡¯s even better about the vocals is that they resemble the drums in the respect that they mesh together flawlessly with the music, unlike some bands who have vocalists that always seem to be screaming over the guitars (making the instruments impossible to hear) or under them (making the vocals unintelligible). Actually, the only problem I have with ¡°Skydancer¡± is the production. As far as sound quality goes, there¡¯s not much wrong, but I have to crank the volume way up just to be able to hear this CD. But besides that minor point, this is a wonderful piece of melodic death metal that is essential for anyone claming to be a fan of the Gothenburg sound.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars yesteryear., November 22, 2004

By 

Lord Chimp (Monkey World) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Skydancer & Of Chaos and Eternal Night (Audio CD)

On historical importance one should not overlook _Skydancer_, but the musical value of this exceptional debut is most noteworthy. Released in 1993, _Skydancer_ was a seminal melodic death metal album. But the early music of Dark Tranquillity has only broad technical attributes in common with the 'melodeath' with which most are familiar. For that matter, it barely resembles Dark Tranquillity's own music of late. Dark Tranquillity's early path was paved with Swedish death metal influences, progressive metal, and melodically driven riffing. The music is very high-speed and more "classically"-structured, and the band employs many acoustic guitar interludes, highly imaginative, snaky bass playing (Martin Hendricksson is one of my favorite metal bassists), with vocals consisting of harsh screaming as well as soprano and tenor vocals.

This is the only full-length release on which Anders Friden (now of In Flames) performs screaming vocals. Stanne is still in the band, but he plays guitar and sings the clean vocals. The lineup is different but the fundamental concept of the music is basically the primitive form of the subsequent masterpieces, _The Gallery_ and _The Mind's I_ (two of the greatest metal albums ever). The production is very low-budget and raw, and Friden's vocals are kind of substandard most of the time (I much prefer Stanne).

Most songs consist of brutally melodic, crunchy riffs racing along frantic tempos with moody key changes and rhythmic dynamics. Their musical language was always far broader than their contemporaries (even now this remains true). A few of the other songs are different: "Through Ebony Archways" is a Romanian-influenced ballad-like song with a mix of clean male and female vocals and screaming vox over the distorted middle part. Then there is "A Bolt of Blazing Gold", one of Dark Tranquillity's greatest moments. From its lamentful opening to the chorus that toggles between angelic soprano and Friden's anguished rasp with heartrending guitar melodies. The middle section has a lovely acoustic folk melody with which Anna-Kaisa Avehall is backed by a softly singing Mikael Stanne. Brilliant!

The EP _Of Chaos and Eternal Night_, thankfully included on this reissue, solidifies the lineup with Stanne moved to vocals and Johansson recruited for guitar. Three of the songs are Dark Tranquillity's metallic genius, the other is a remix of the _Skydancer_ song "Away", with Stanne singing.

Don't overlook the early Dark Tranquillity -- it offers as much, if not more, than anything else they have released.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Stand alone classic that defined a genre., January 20, 2001

By 

"zero_tolerance" (Vancouver, BC) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Skydancer & Of Chaos and Eternal Night (Audio CD)

Which came first the chicken or the egg? We can argue all the way back to the dawn of time. Dark Tranquillity's contribution to the "Gothenberg" sound is well documented and well deserved. But look no further than this CD to find the purest, most unpretentious expression of the New Melodic Metal(tm). The mix is a bit low and the production could have used the modern recording luxuries of pro tools and the Eventide Harmonizer. Nevertheless, this album is unequalled in melody, musicianship, songwriting and personnel. From the first word of the first song, "Nightfall!!!" you know you are in for something special. The melody of the guitars and the blasting drums just hit you like a ton of bricks. The manic, emotional and outstanding vocals, conjure up a desperate,violent landscape of beautiful (if not cheesy) lyrical content. I can't say just what makes this album fire on all cylinders time and time again. But, after repeated play in my rotation. I can't stop going back to it. Just to remind myself of the unique and as yet unparalled contribution to the much maligned but very important Melodic/Death sound. Not as accessable as their later, more mature works. Their current sound is absolutely top notch (I'd recommend ANY of their albums) but alot different from Skydancer. After Anders left to front In Flames we gained a great band and lost a big part of what defined DT's sound. Seek this out, if you even have the slightest interest or respect for a landmark album that has been buried by the evil monster it created. Essential listening.