The difference between Mikael's and Niklas' songwriting

RampageSword

AWARE! BEWARE! WAR!
Aug 22, 2005
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Now, and to answer in a more fashionable way to Siren’s demand, here’s my personal point of view and analysis of the differences between Niklas’ and Mikael’s songwriting. I decided to make this study because:

1-I believe lyircs are 50% (or even more) of the deal with most metal bands, especially Dark Tranquillity.

2-I never took the time to actually analyze the songwriting differences between Mikael and Niklas and since I study litterature, it's a subject of great interest to me. So I think this is the right place to do it. Why would I keep it for myself?

3-I'd like to hear other people's opinion on my study and also how they see and understand the differences in the lyrics.

4- I felt like it.

5-IMO, this is an excellent subject of discussion.

So here it is:

To begin, here’s how I see Niklas’ songwriting. First, if we take a look at the evrlasting DT masterpiece "Shadow Duet" :

One shadow of beauty,
One shadow of darkness,
Sailing free on the seas within my mind


In this particular part, Niklas is simply describing the two struggling shadows (mostly, Good and Evil) that are in his mind. He wants us to see it as two ships sailing on the seas of his thoughts. This is a wonderful artistic representation of the inner working of the mind. Also, it’s extremely visual. As is most of Niklas’ songs. For example, here’s a few more images we see in Skydancer’s songs :

Time’s lustful cyclones arise
Piercing the fairest of Skies
In elysian awakening of spiritual glory
We see what our history belies

("Nightfall by the Shore of Time")

A bolt of blazing gold,
swallowed by the waveless sea
The ocean-winds set sail,
in breeze towards their destiny
On solarbeams they rode,
white seagulls in harmony
For a moment’s startling glimpse
a sierra-burnt tranquillity

("A Bolt of Blazing Gold")

All these, as I previously said, are very pictural. We are presented somewhat of a painting, or a film, that is being described by the writer in an artistic manner. This I think is the basic difference between Mikael and Niklas. The latter, we all know, is not only a musician and a songwriter, but also a drawer. In that way, I think that Niklas’ writing is influenced by his talents in drawing. I’m not a psychologist but I believe Niklas is more eased in describing through imagery the feelings he wants to express in his writing. Now, that’s one difference, the other one I see is the themes they develop. Niklas, has always been writing on a more personal level. He oftens uses one specific person (often I or himself you might say) and develops on an emotion this character is feeling at this moment. This can be seen in most of his songs like Lethe, In Tears Bereaved, Alone, My Faeryland Forgotten or Tongues.

In that way, Mikael, since the bieginning, is different from Niklas. He, often, writes social criticism or states of mind (in that I mean how one reacts to a situation, it’s more psychological than emotional.) I tend to think that Mikael’s style is more scientific What I mean his that most of his songs, when describing a feeling or human behavior, tend to analyze or explain it through poetry, instead of expressing it. If you take, for example, "The Emptiness From Which I Fed" :

Brought forth be the errors of our ways
As is denial so is contempt
Introspective to all but one
Tear apart the frames
No eye can of silence tell lie


Also, this song doesn’t carry the same romantic feeling that Niklas’ songs have. That’s because Mikael’s style is more abrupt. He writes in many short images that link together and Niklas is rather taking one general theme for each song (darkness, the sea, the sun, alcohol…) and he elaborates on it. Now, I believe that the newer albums, like Damage and Character are not the cause of songwriting differences between the two. I think that Mikael never changed his style, he simply refined it. The Character songs are carrying the same patterns and techniques than the …Of Chaos or Gallery albums. If we take this excerpt frome Senses Tied :

Riddled by the trappings of words that make the edges blur
Here on the outskirts of sincerity and pride
Stretched as far as words can reach by the lure of higher meaning
There’s something out there lost behind the power lines


We see the same short images that, although not related in their thematic, are still used together to describe a specific mental state. In conclusion, both writers are excellent and personnally I can hardly say which I like the best. I prefer Mikael’s rhythm (abrupt yet melodic) but I also favor Niklas’ images. The latter writes in a style that resembles the poets of the romantic-symbolic era (Baudelaire, Poe…) and the other writes in a more modern, even post-modern way. That’s how I see it and I have to admit that although I seek a carreer in litterature, I’m not a professional yet, I’m only a student. This means that I do not consider this study as the undisputable truth. Feel free to acknowledge, disagree, flame or present your own opinion about this subject. In the end, that’s what a forum is for, isn’t it?
 
Too much analyzing. :hypno:


I prefer to headbang to the songs instead. :rock:
 
i could write for about three hours on this subject but i'll leave that to master rahvin, who is better than me at the task. let me state just that i feel somehow different - while i concur on the pictorial approach vs social/relational criticism, i tend to find niklas' lyrics clearer in the sense that they are more structured. i can follow more easily the thread of the images because they lead to concepts that, while more abstract than those referred to in mikael's songs, also have a logical cleanliness that more down-to-earth reflections are structurally unable to carry.
 
Wow, thats cool. I dont have much to say really, because I agree with you. Ive always taken Niklas´s metaphors as more romantic and maybe poetic and Mikael´s as "scientific" (as you put it) or a bit dry.

@hyena: I was looking for those words, thanks. Yeah, I have a hard time trying to understand Mikaels words, too.
 
Wow. A great post, one of the best thread-openers I've seen in a while. Too bad my brains are way too tired to write a reply worthy of this topic, but I'll get back to this thread by Sunday or so. Meanwhile, like Hyena I'm eagerly waiting for Rahvin's reply to this topic.

One of the most interesting parts (and the one I partially disagree with) was this:

RampageSword said:
I think that Mikael never changed his style, he simply refined it.

I will certainly comment on that later.

-Villain
 
i'm flattered by all the attention, but somehow i feel more and more like i should leave these matters to people who are new to the debate. i can't seem to be able to write long posts without letting my feelings about the limitations of this medium transpire anymore. i guess i should simply open up a new .doc file and write some sort of article which i could then post as some sort of exhuberant attachment, and maybe i will (even though it sounds self-important).

for now, i'll just approve of this topic: i'm one to think that the lyrics are sometimes way more important than the music, too. and any dt fan should like their lyrics and devote some time to ponder over who wrote what and why. as pointed out by the original poster, niklas certainly used to focus more on the descriptive, the coherent, the rational. also, most of his lyrics fit a certain area of studies in human sciences that deals with language philosophy and anthropology. while skydancer revisits most popular literary topics of romantic/decadent poetry and prose, his latest works (dating back to the mind's i) cover a much less fictional angle, with traces of evolutionism and language structuralism to the fore. on the other hand, mikael meddles with all matters psychological (sorry, undocontrol) and emotional, down to the dreaded topic of relationships both personal and social. powerful metaphors appear aplenty in the lyrics of both personalities, and i believe this - along with extremely high standards of creativity and command of english - is the strongest connection between the two. it's not the same hand that wrote within the hands of this labyrinth of time and come flame or false hope, but the vision is eerily similar.
 
rahvin said:
niklas certainly used to focus more on the descriptive, the coherent, the rational. also, most of his lyrics fit a certain area of studies in human sciences that deals with language philosophy and anthropology. while skydancer revisits most popular literary topics of romantic/decadent poetry and prose, his latest works (dating back to the mind's i) cover a much less fictional angle, with traces of evolutionism and language structuralism to the fore. on the other hand, mikael meddles with all matters psychological (sorry, undocontrol) and emotional, down to the dreaded topic of relationships both personal and social.

I can but agree to your accurate remarks. Niklas do tend to write a lot on language, and human behavior (controller/controlled) Most particularly on The Mind's I The best example would probably be my personal favorite, lyric-wise that is, Tongues. For what is of Mikael's implication with psychological matters...well that again is also my point of view. Your participation and crystal-clear observations to this thread are truly appreciated, rahvin...o.k that will be my dose off sucking up on this forum.

Now seriously, it's good to see other people giving this much attention to the lyrics and actually looking for more than just a good headbanging session when they listen to Dark Tranquillity (or any other band).

@hyena, I agree with you when you point out that Niklas' writing is more structured. Mikael's is somewhat "chaotic" yet very understandable. This "disorder" or lack of continuity in the form of the song is actually a typical characteristic of the modern-era poetry.
 
I don't have much time, but I really like this topic, so I'll just throw out some feelings I had on it.

I do find that almost all of my enjoyment of DT is based around the lyrics. Something I always noted (and perhaps this is just me) was that the lyrics always seemed rather complex, and that while a general meaning of a song might be easily inferred, what each line had to do with another was generally rather difficult to puzzle out.
Now, this is just how it appears to me, but one of the major differences between Niklas and Mikael's writings is how they become complicated. It always seemed to me that Niklas was the more 'poetically-influenced' of the two, so the obscuring of meaning was just a byproduct of that influence, whereas it seemed that Mikael would try to purposefully make the meanings of the words he used rather ambiguous. That's not to devalue his lyrics, of course - I think it's more to say that he has a very interesting control over the language he uses, and that its done in a very deliberate way, choosing specific words instead of synonyms and such.

As far as lyrical topics go, I find that I connect a bit more with Mikael's lyrics - they seem, on the whole, to be more of an instinctual response that people feel but aren't aware of. I rather liked the almost philosophical lyrics of Niklas' time, and they fit wonderfully with the music, but there was the occasional song where the lyrics just felt a bit... false... because I couldn't connect with them without long periods of reflection on the subject. Keep in mind that my favorite songs tend to be from TMI and The Gallery, so one could say that the work I've put into understanding them has built up a connection, but I rather like Mikael's ability to evoke that emotion on the first pass through a song, without it diminishing when I've listened to it for the 100th time.

~kov. (ok, so that wasn't too short...)
 
I read the thing Rampage posted and half of the replies, but i'm too lazy right now to read the longer replies. I guess i'll do that sometime.

I totally agree with you when it comes to the differences between their writing styles. Mikael is indeed more "scientific" and often criticizes stuff, while Niklas is totally emotional (i even said he's a romantic before reading it on your short essay-thing). That's actually one reason i mostly like the earlier stuff more and the main reason i'd love Niklas to write the lyrics for the next album. I like "Character", but the whole album (maybe with one or two songs as an exception) is social/political commentary. And i tend to get bored with that pretty easily.

That's my two cents. I guess sometime when it's not 2am and my neurons are firing at a higher rate i'll add another $0.02.
 
This is a very interesting thread. I have always found what Niklas wrote for In Flames, specifically the Jester Race, to be amongst my favorite lyrics.

"The doves and the angels return to their graves, with blood upon their pestilent wings, while the mushroom clouds haunt the virgin white skies to rape their utopian dreams" Hell, yes.

I found his work for them to be very romantic and poetic yet a little more straight forward and understandable than his work for his own band.

I think Stanne is a wonderful front man but I just don't like his writing nearly as much as I like Niklas'.
 
Thanks. I'm bored at work and really psyched for the DT show this Thursday. A man can't browse threads like this one and not want to voice his opinion.
 
Well, as everyone said before, Niklas's lyrics are definetly more poetic. Also, I find that his lyrics are more imaginative, towards nature and maybe even "pagan". This obviously is because he is an artist (drawer), and you can see that in his lyrics.

When hearing Niklas's lyrics I feel that I am in a drawing, and the moment the lyrics are heard, the images smoothly flow into my mind.

The poetic/romantic/pagan aspect is what I love of Niklas's writing, because I am a very poetic person (I have made a few :Spin: ).

Mikael's lyrics I feel are very chaotic. This is I like, because I feel a surge of energy when hearing them. You could say Mikael's lyrics are more energetic, something I don't find that much with Niklas's writing.

Also, I really like the topics usually covered (phsycology, politics), because I am really into those subjects (specially the 2nd one), so I feel very united with what his lyrics say.

I have to admit that I really have no preference, and that although I prefer newer DT, I like both Niklas's and Mikael's the same because I feel in touch with both of them.

As a matter of fact, both of them should be congratulated by everyone that likes DT; because DT's lyrics are, in fact (one more to add), the most well written lyrics to be found in any Metal group.
 
videolamer said:
"The doves and the angels return to their graves, with blood upon their pestilent wings, while the mushroom clouds haunt the virgin white skies to rape their utopian dreams" Hell, yes.

Those lyrics are amazing, what song is that from?

Oh, and i'll see you in VA! i just severly sprained my ankle last night, i'll be the dude with crutches haha
 
Undo, yea i tried googling it to no avail, found it on darklyrics, its from Graveland... I never knew Niklas wrote lyrics for in flames on jester race, that probably explains why its so good! But i think my favorite lyrics of his are in the song Alone, "Like the leaves of the high trees I wither and fall, Borne by autumnal winds to my funeral hall"
 
Bloodred, you may want to double check those Graveland lyrics. I typed them from memory and a few words may be off.