The Halo Effect - Days of the Lost or Dark Tranquillity - Endtime Signals?
- Thread starter Moonshield_
- Start date
DotL is probably my favourite MDM album of the last decade. Endtime Signals is good, but ultimately just another good DT album.
Foregone is far, far below either of them.
Foregone is far, far below either of them.
For me, there's no questioning. I find DT music boring. It's not the kind of MDM that I enjoy.
Very interesting.
To me DoTL lacks a bit of depth, it is rather generic and non exciting to my ears. Too many Passenger riffing without never reaching the level of beauty of the said band.
It was sold to us as melodeath, not indus, so where are those fast paced/thrashy harmonized riff we were all waiting for? There are way too little in this album.
I didn't want them to be Dimension Zero but so much bland riffs during verses whereas I expected some Character aggressivness made me really disappointed.
Even harmonized melodies on Days of the Lost and Feel What I believe felt forced and generic to me.
Production wise I think it's far away from ES too.
I find a few tracks to be very pleasant though :
-The Needless End
-Conditional
-Gateways
-The Most Alone
(regarding The Last of Our Kind, it is completely spoiled by this awful guest voice (Trivium?) toward the end of the song which makes me skip this one everytime)
On the contrary, ES captivates me from the begining to the end with glorious moments everywhere and perfect production. It's melancholic, epic, melodramatic without being boring like the 2 previous albums. This time it's a full success to me because it's really catchy and refined.
Some fast melodeath riffs here and there plus rythmic guitar is always made interesting and not boring like on DoTL.
I'd put Foregone below too but not so far from DoTL thanks to songs like:
-State of Slow Decay
-Foregone 1&2
-In the Dark
-Cynosure
To me DoTL lacks a bit of depth, it is rather generic and non exciting to my ears. Too many Passenger riffing without never reaching the level of beauty of the said band.
It was sold to us as melodeath, not indus, so where are those fast paced/thrashy harmonized riff we were all waiting for? There are way too little in this album.
I didn't want them to be Dimension Zero but so much bland riffs during verses whereas I expected some Character aggressivness made me really disappointed.
Even harmonized melodies on Days of the Lost and Feel What I believe felt forced and generic to me.
Production wise I think it's far away from ES too.
I find a few tracks to be very pleasant though :
-The Needless End
-Conditional
-Gateways
-The Most Alone
(regarding The Last of Our Kind, it is completely spoiled by this awful guest voice (Trivium?) toward the end of the song which makes me skip this one everytime)
On the contrary, ES captivates me from the begining to the end with glorious moments everywhere and perfect production. It's melancholic, epic, melodramatic without being boring like the 2 previous albums. This time it's a full success to me because it's really catchy and refined.
Some fast melodeath riffs here and there plus rythmic guitar is always made interesting and not boring like on DoTL.
I'd put Foregone below too but not so far from DoTL thanks to songs like:
-State of Slow Decay
-Foregone 1&2
-In the Dark
-Cynosure
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I feel like we listened to two completely different albums 
I hear zero passenger on DotL. Just sounds like mid-00s MDM with some late-90s stuff sprinkled in here and there.
I also feel like there's a bit of recency bias towards Endtime Signals at present. Moment has at least 4 or 5 very solid tracks and I still prefer Atoma to ES.
I hear zero passenger on DotL. Just sounds like mid-00s MDM with some late-90s stuff sprinkled in here and there.I also feel like there's a bit of recency bias towards Endtime Signals at present. Moment has at least 4 or 5 very solid tracks and I still prefer Atoma to ES.
Don't you even like The Gallery? I mean, the song Punish my Heaven is just something else 
But more seriously, I can't believe I'm the only one to hear Passenger influences in the riffing of DOTL. Niklas Engelin is very recognizable with its "indus" riffs which are not classic melodeath riffs at all.
But more seriously, I can't believe I'm the only one to hear Passenger influences in the riffing of DOTL. Niklas Engelin is very recognizable with its "indus" riffs which are not classic melodeath riffs at all.
I understand, I must admit my vision of a classic melodeath riff is biased by what I actually would like to hear in THE (that is to say fast riffing like existing in DT-Character, IF-Soundtrack to Your Escape, DZ-He Who Shall Not Bleed)
ThePhobiac
be at ease
Both solid, prefer Endtime Signals. ES is more to my taste, with all of Brandstrom's wizardry and textures, while DotL feels like more "straightforward" fun (Gateways is very adventurous, however).
Engelin does have a very recognizable style. Lots of E-string action that sounds slightly nu-metal adjacent, and somehow it stands out in the genre.
Engelin does have a very recognizable style. Lots of E-string action that sounds slightly nu-metal adjacent, and somehow it stands out in the genre.
DotL is much better for me, but the only DT album I ever really got into was The Mind's I.
DotL on the other hand is probably my favourite melodeath album in many years.
DotL on the other hand is probably my favourite melodeath album in many years.
I don't see how STYE has anything in common with those other two records (which I love a lot) but fair enough.
Unfortunately THE seem firmly attached to their overly polite production and music style, which is why I don't have any expectations for the new album. I just hope they steer away from gothic vibes with simple rock drum beats and electronics, that is really never going to be this band's forte no matter what changes they took with this new album.
STYE sounds like fast melodeath to me when I think of riffing in songs like In Search for I, Superhero of the Computer rage, Dead alone, My Sweet Shadow
Amen, I'm not crazy
Amen, I'm not crazy
I fail to see anything related to melodeath in that album. But naming songs like DA or MSS. WTF?
He does have a style for sure, and it's a weird amalgamation of classic rock, modern melodeath and everything inbetween. But as recognizable as it is, it's not unique nor interesting enough. That's probably the biggest downside of DotL for me, how little of Jesper is there. I think I can safely say that we all expected the signature golden era IF melodies and leads and there was very little of that.
When you look at chorus of In Search of I with those piercing keyboards, or when you look at those overlapping guitar notes in the intro of Dead Alone, or the obvious main theme part of MSS - for me those moments with their specific atmosphere are modern melodeath being excessively flirtatious with alternative rock/metal.
Now, I don't necessarily mean that's a bad thing because I actually like those songs a lot and they are in the half of STYE that I enjoy (I know most people here dislike them heavily, sans MSS). Its a very long winded way to say that those songs are not carried by intense guitar parts, but by electronics/keyboards and long open guitar chords in the background that support them. Pretty much antithesis of melodeath riffing.
STYE lacks great guitar parts. Sure there are some fast paced gothenburg pedal riffs but they seem subpar and very placeholder. Now, it somehow manages to be a fun listen in spite of that.
When we talk of Dimension Zero I see them as a band that's literally fusion of Hypocrisy and Slayer, and while they go into the caveman thrashy mood a bit too much for my liking I sure can appreciate its impoliteness nowadays given the current state of this genre.
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