Is there some nice german soul willing to translate this?

[Magrathean]

Wer den Schaden hat...
Dark Tranquillity (Melodic Death Metal)
Eine mittlerweile unumstrittene Größe in der Metal Sparte Melodisches Todesblei sind dark Tranquillity. Natürlich aus Schweden, denn da wurde diese Musik quasi geboren und "Salonfähig" gemacht. Ein starkes Album jagd das nächste und kürzlich war es "Damage Done", das erneut zeigte, wie gut Melodischer Death Metal wirklich sein kann. Ein weiteres "Must have" für das CD-Regal. www.darktranquillity.com (eller)


"Damage Done" ist ein weiteres tolles Album von euch, aber ich vermisse wieder einmal den cleanen Gesang wie auf "Projector". Werden wir ihn jemals wieder bei einem DT Release hören?
Ich denke doch. Es ist nicht so, als hätten wir die Entscheidung getroffen, ihn für alle Zeit zu verbannen, aber auf "Haven" und "Damage Done" war einfach kein Raum für cleane Vocals. Wenn zukünftige Songs mit cleanem Gesang besser werden, werden wir ihn auch verwenden. Es gab keine Punkte, um ein paar cleane Verse hier und da einzuwerfen, nur damit sie da sind. Es muss einfach perfekt sein.

Was denkst du, ist der beste Song auf "Damage Done"?
Es ist zu früh, das zu sagen. Das Album ist sehr frisch und ich brauche noch etwas länger Zeit, um eine objektive Sicht darüber zu bekommen. Zur Zeit haben wir die Songs so oft gespielt, dass die Originalbeziehung verloren gegangen ist, und es ist ist schwierig zu sagen, was gut und was schlecht ist. Ich finde es generell sehr schwer, unsere eigenen Songs zu beurteilen.

Die Band existiert nun schon seit mehr als 10 Jahren. Bist du nicht mitlerweile müde, Metal zu machen?
Nicht wirklich. Es gibt noch viele neue Dinge, die es auszuprobieren gilt, und wie wir haben auch viele andere Interessen. Daher sehe ich keinen Grund, dass wir uns ausgebrannt oder müde fühlen sollten.

Wie beurteilst du aus deiner Sicht die (Schwedische) Metal Szene vor 10 Jahren und heute?
Ich habe seit einiger Zeit die Szene nicht mehr verfolgt, daher ist es schwer für mich, Vergleiche aufzustellen, aber meine Eindrücke sind, dass es jetzt viel mehr Bands und Labels als früher gibt. Zu der Zeit war der Underground sehr gesund, viele Bands unterstützten sich gegenseitig und machten originelle und innovative Musik, aber heutzutage werden so viele Alben veröffentlicht, dass man nicht alles im Auge behalten kann. Eine andere Sache, die früher besser war, ist, dass Bands nur sehr selten Plattenverträge bekamen. Sie mussten hart arbeiten, Demos veröffentlichen, sie selber promoten, ihre eigenen Gigs organisieren und so weiter.

Welches war das wichtigste Album für Dark Tranquillity?
Wahrscheinlich "The Gallery", denn es war das erste Album mit guter Distribution und Promotion. "Skydancer" bekam fantastische Reviews, aber es war sehr schwer, das zu der Zeit zu fassen.

Wenn du auf eure anstehende Tour schaust, gibt es da etwas, worauf du dich besonders freust? Ein besonderer Gig oder sowas?
Zur Zeit ist noch nicht alles in trockenen Tüchern, ich weiss noch nicht viele Details. Wir freuen uns, wieder live zu spielen, und wir werden hoffentlich in vielen Ländern auftreten, wo wir vorher noch nicht waren. Es sieht wohl so aus, dass wir im September eine US-Tour machen, gefolgt von einer Europa-Tour im November. (Anm.: ist mittlerweile bestätigt)

Habt ihr irgendwelche weiteren Ziele in eurem Bandleben?
Nicht wirklich.

 

[rahvin]

I get the general idea of a couple of answers (the one about clean vocals, mostly), but that's it. I lack basic vocabulary, despite my first-level classes and my kind bilingual teacher from Munich.

 

[fireangel]

I´ll do it. Give me some moments

 

[Magrathean]

Thanks a lot.

 

[Taliesin]

Who's got the damage.. (beginning of a german proverb, reference to Damage Done)
Dark Tranquillity have become a major name in Melodic Death Metal. From Sweden of course, where this type of metal was born and made "presentable". One strong album chases the next and lately it's been Damage Done that proved again how great Melodic Death Metal can be. Another "must have" for your cd shelf.

Damage Done is another great album, but Im missing clean vocals like on Projector. Will we ever hear those again on a DT record?
I think so. It's not like we made the decision not to use them anymore, but on Haven and Damage Done, there was just no room for clean vocals. If we can come up with good songs that support clean vocals, we'll start using them again. There's no point in using clean vocals, just to have them on the album. It has to be perfect.

What do you think is the best song from Damage Done?
It's too early to say. The album is still fresh and I will need some time to gain a more objective point of view. We played the songs so often lately, that the original relation to the song was lost and it's difficult to say what's good and what's bad. In general I find it hard to judge my own songs.

Your band has existed for more than 10 years now. Arent you tired of making metal?
Not really. There are still many things we'll need to try out and we do have other interests. I dont see any reason to feel exhausted or tired with metal.

How do you think the swedish metal scene developped in the past 10 years?
I havent followed the scene for some time, so it's hard to say, but my impression is that there are more bands and more labels now. The underground used to be very healthy, many bands supported each other and made original and innovative music, but nowadays, so many records are published, you cant keep an eye on it all. Another thing that used to be better was that it was harder to get contracts. They had to work very hard, record demos, promote them themselves, organise their own gigs and so on.

What was DT's most important album?
Probably The Gallery, because it was the first album with good distribution and promotion. Skydancer got fantastic reviews, but it was very hard to grasp at the time.

Looking at your upcoming tour, is there anything you look particularly forward to? A special gig or something?
The organisation isnt complete yet, so Im not filled in on all the details. We're happy to play live again and we'll hopefully see many countries that we havent seen yet. We'll probably do a US tour in september, followed by a european tour in november.

Do you have any goals in your bandlife?
Not really


Im not sure the person who translated this from english to german was very good in english, so bear with me when my translation gets a little liberal. Also, the german proverb in the beginning is a very weird pick (Who's got the damage wont need to ask for people to laugh at him) I mean wtf?

/E: Heh, I see we'll have two versions. That'll be interesting

 

[fireangel]

First of all, this interview is from Amboss-Mag. (always give the source )



Wer den Schaden hat...

(this above is a saying, or the beginning of it, meaning something like "the one who did the damage won´t wait long for mocking" It refers to "Damage Done" and in this content makes no sense at all


Dark Tranquillity (Melodic Death Metal)

[This introduction is just general blabla about DT being an important Swedish Melo-Death-Band]


Q: DD is again a great album, but I do miss the clean vocals, like on "Projector". Will we ever get to hear clean vocals again?
A: I think so. It´s not like we´d made a decision to ban them forever, but on DD and Haven was no room for clean vocals. If future songs would be improved by the use of clean vocals, we will use them. There was no point to just use them for the sake of it; only if they make the songs perfect.

Q: What do you think is the best song on DD?
A: It´s too early to tell. The album is very fresh and I need some time to have an objective view on it. For now, we played the songs so often that the original relation to them got lost, and it´s hard to say what is good or bad. In general I find it very difficult to judge our own songs.

Q: The band has existed for more than ten years now. Aren´t you tired of playing metal?
A: Not really. There are so many things that need to be tried, and we have many other interests, too. That´s why I don´t see any reason why we should feel burned out or tired.

Q: What is your point of view on the state of the (Swedish) Metal scene ten years ago and now?
A: I haven´t been following the "scene" for a while, so it´s hard for me to make any comparisons, but my impression is, that nowadays there are many more bands and labels than there used to be.
At that time the underground was flourishing, there were many bands who supported each other, and they created original and innovative music, but these days there are so many records being released, that I can´t know all of them. Another thing that was better in the old days, is, that bands got only seldom a record deal. They needed to work hard, release demos, promote them on their own, organize their own gigs etc.



Q: Which was the most important album for DT?
A: Probably "The Gallery", because it was the first album with good distribution and promotion. "Skydancer" received fantastic reviews, but it was very difficult to find.

Q: Looking towards your upcoming tour, is there anything you are especially excited about, like a special gig or something like that?
A: We haven´t finished planning yet, so I don´t know many details. We are happy about being able to play live again, and hopefully we will tour many countries we didn´t play before. It looks like we will do a US-tour in September, followed by a European tour in November.

Q: Do you have any more aims for your band/bandlife?
A: Not really.


----

A wealth of new information, and really innovative questions

 

[fireangel]

Im not sure the person who translated this from english to german was very good in english, so bear with me when my translation gets a little liberal. Also, the german proverb in the beginning is a very weird pick (Who's got the damage wont need to ask for people to laugh at him) I mean wtf?

yep, stupid.
And yes, he wasn´t very good at translating. It sounds incredibly artificial.

/E: Heh, I see we'll have two versions. That'll be interesting

Not really. They are almost identical

EDIT: Taliesin, about the distro of Skydancer, I think the author meant with "schwer zu fassen" that it was hard to find in the stores, because in the sentence before he (DT-bandmember whoever it is) speaks about the improved distribution. It is a bit of slang-German that can mean different things.

 

[Magrathean]

It's teh Stanne.

Thanks, fireangel+Tali.