Isn't there a whole lot of Sabbat in early DT?

[Erik]

I just bought the legendary "History of a Time to Come" and "Dreamweaver" by the Walkyier-fronted Sabbat (UK) and listening to them, I get a sneaking suspicion that Sundin, Stanne and co. listened to a lot of Sabbat before writing the "Trail of Life Decayed" through "Skydancer." They often have the same sort of speedy riffing with sudden tempo changes and the same habit to have long, really speedy vocal lines nearly all of the time, and also a lot of the whole acoustic/folky/melodic bits can be derived from Sabbat and, uh, early Skyclad, also fronted by Walkyier.

AND I've noticed that Sabbat's lyrics (and early Skyclad) are very similar to what Sundin and Stanne wrote in the early times, or eh, maybe it's rather the other way around. Mainly just the style of writing but also a few borrowed things like the line "a vanquished Lord upon an oaken throne" from "Horned is the Hunter," which might be familiar to those people who've heard "Lunar Strain" with lyrics by Stanne. Also the whole "Beyond Enlightenment" type of inquisition themes seem very Sabbat-ish (hrm hrm "For Those Who Died" by Sabbat.)

Eh, this has become a bit of a rant but I suppose the bottom line is if you like early Dark Tranquillity you might want to hear Sabbat... and vice versa. Early DT is definitely very unique but I think I've now pinned down at least one audible source of inspiration. Early DT is kind of like Sabbat/Skyclad + old German speed metal. Or something.

 

[Tranquillian]

I will ask them when I can get hold of them .

 

[Arch]

This old online article/interview confirms your suspicion:

http://www.mourningtheancient.com/darkt.htm

 

[rahvin]

it's the first time i make this connection, thanks erik. there's indeed a lot in common, especially - i would say - music-wise. the oaken throne line, though, could have a common origin in something else. of course that doesn't mean they didn't influence each other, quite the contrary.

 

[rahvin]

OK, so I should be ashamed of myself. It's actually from an English translation of Hávamál from the poetic Edda. I should know these things. I'll just blame it on not having read English translations before, heh heh.

which one? or you mean both the "from a word" and the "oaken throne" quotes?
and i'm quite ignorant when it comes to the edda... yet there are teachers gravitating around my library (!) whose field of study is precisely that, so i guess i'll just ask for directions as to what to read next time i meet them.