We Are the Void: Reviews

[Naglfar]

"DT needs make an album that will make me happy" == Opeth fan (also, "retarded")

I'm an Opeth fan and I love WATV. =(

 

[stizzleomnibus]

I'm an Opeth fan and I love WATV. =(

Yeah, I don't have a problem with Opeth or Opeth fans. It's just that making fun of Opeth fans is an awesome meme. If I recall correctly, it's partly because a certain group of them decided it would be totally awesome to start making demands over the band's musical direction.

 

[rahvin]

Yeah, I don't have a problem with Opeth or Opeth fans. It's just that making fun of Opeth fans is an awesome meme. If I recall correctly, it's partly because a certain group of them decided it would be totally awesome to start making demands over the band's musical direction.

Once upon a time Opeth also used to host the seediest off-topic forum in the history of off-topic forums, then they threw a tantrum and hid in a cave. Not as bad as In Flames disowning their own on-topic message board, but close.

 

[stizzleomnibus]

I remember the Opeth board closing. I found it somewhat entertaining. What happened with the IF forum, though? I think that was before my time.

 

[SlayerOfTheWord]

My opinion? WATV is a good album, but not as good as the previous albums. On WATV are just 3 of 4 songs that are VERY good, the rest of the songs is, well, same old same old... Nothing new... Nothing special... Artwork/Sleeve isn't good... Etc. All in all a pretty disappointing release of DT... Sure hope the next release is a killer!

 

[SlayerOfTheWord]

Great words! I feel the same...

The review I posted on Amazon:

I've been a fan of Dark Tranquillity for 13 years now (half of my adult life). During this time I've regarded them as metal Gods for writing amazing material, evolving and growing with each release, yet staying true to themselves. It's very rare that a band can produce so much quality material so consistently for such a long time.

That said, this album is a huge disappointment.

Every track strikes me as uninspired, derivative, and uninteresting. When a listener is able to predict time changes, key changes, and how riffs end on the first listen(!), that means the music resembles previous work too closely. There are only occasional glimpses of DT's brilliance in a few riffs scattered here and there throughout the album. As a musician, I've written and played plenty of uninspired, mediocre riffs, so I know them when I see them. However, it's not just the riffs that are the problem. The way the songs are built and structured, the overall "feel" of the songs, is too formulaic.

The first two tracks, which appeared on the band's Myspace before the album came out, are God-awful. However, if you like them, you will like this album. The remaining tracks sound like semi-decent re-hashes of their last release, Fiction, with very little in the way of experimentation or innovation.

To be clear, I'm not slamming DT's artistic integrity or attacking them personally as musicians. I believe they worked hard on this album, and I will say that Mikael's vocals are still ridiculously good. (If only the caliber of the music matched his performance.)

However, sometimes bands get stuck in creative ruts, especially when they've released an album every two/three years for the last two decades or so. When you have that kind of routine, it's easy to "settle in" and get comfortable doing what you do. In some ways, it means you've mastered your craft. The problem is that getting comfortable with certain musical approaches and habits often leads to writing music that doesn't sound fresh, new, or compelling. Sometimes the best ideas come after putting the guitar down for a while and breaking with the old routine.

Hopefully, their next album will be better.

 

[rahvin]

What happened with the IF forum, though? I think that was before my time.

Their forum on Ultimatemetal filled with jerks - mostly in the shape of fans of the band's early sound - faster than you can say The Jester Race. Back then it wasn't an easy job to moderate a message board, because they were often used in the same way social networks are used today, i.e. as a dumping site for whatever unacceptable shit made you want to gouge your eyes out. And they were hugely populated even when they weren't as specific as - say - a forum where people could discuss how to mod foobar.

So basically In Flames just pulled the plug one day, blaming how unruly and flame-war waging the users had turned out to be. The message board eventually resurfaced, but it wasn't endorsed by the band any longer. While I had my hands full with this forum - which was no bed of roses - and little time to read or write on the IF board even if I wanted to, it still felt like a bit of a dick move on their part, because kicking out some trolls and getting rid of some topics would have been enough. Obviously those who already blamed In Flames for betraying whatever it is that metal bands are supposed to stay loyal to didn't wait a second to jump on the "see? they couldn't care less about their fans!" wagon; chaos ensued; a small part of all of us died inside; innocence was lost forever. The usual.

End of derail, I promise.

 

[snuffcarl]

My opinion? WATV is a good album, but not as good as the previous albums. On WATV are just 3 of 4 songs that are VERY good, the rest of the songs is, well, same old same old... Nothing new... Nothing special... Artwork/Sleeve isn't good... Etc. All in all a pretty disappointing release of DT... Sure hope the next release is a killer!

and there wasnt any songs on fiction that were just same old

 

[stizzleomnibus]

@rahvin: Interesting, I didn't know about any of that. Not to make an idiotic "censorship" accusation, but stifling speech, especially critical speech, just makes it worse. I can see, however, that maintaining that much hate as an official forum would be pointless and probably harmful. It was probably also inevitable that they move their community gathering place, since they weren't able to keep many of their old fans.

and there wasnt any songs on fiction that were just same old

You know, leaving aside the fact that it's obviously the same band, and certain songs have similar functions (SiOB, Nothing to No One), this massive "rehashing" doesn't exist. At this point, I'm fairly confident that no one is actually going to make a compelling argument, or even give a good example of where something on one album recycles something on another.