The Halo Effect - New Album 2023/2024

[Xpyro125]

Just listened to the full track, and it was good. It’s more of what we got from DotL, and I’m fine with that— Though I do hope the rest of the album has more than just that.

And it may be a nitpick, but I’m really happy that it’s 125 BPM instead of just being another 100 BPM song. I think they have way too many 100 BPM tracks, even if they’re all fantastic on their own.

Also, the music video’s comment section got heavily spammed by Amazon crypto shills like 20 minutes ago, which is really frustrating when you just want to read the discussions of the actual subject of the goddamn video.

 

[ThePhobiac]

The song's pretty eh, imo. I do like that key change near the end, though.

 

[mindd]

Not great, not terrible.

Lacks some musical content and vocal lines are lifted straight from various DT songs.

Sounds a bit like a DotL leftover.

Apparently The Defiant One actually is a DotL leftover.

 

[Xpyro125]

Yeah, that does check out. It’s nice to have confirmation though, transparency is always great.

 

[ThePhobiac]

Occurs to me that I have met 3/5ths of the Halo Effect. Shaking hands with Stanne and Stromblad is on my bucket list.

 

[Xpyro125]

Occurs to me that I have met 3/5ths of the Halo Effect. Shaking hands with Stanne and Stromblad is on my bucket list.

That’s fucking awesome, man. Absolutely living out my dream right there.

 

[CladInShadows971]

Saw these guys in Melbourne last Sunday and got to meet the band beforehand.

Show was great - Michael really does sound great live.

They played all of DotL plus The Defiant One and Become Surrender, was hoping for another new song but no success. Michael got a lot of mileage out of jokes about "doing a back to our roots show, and playing our very first album in full". Funnily, he introduced The Defiant One as a song which will be released as a single in "2 weeks or so" so he clearly isn't the one managing their social media. Also interesting that Path of Fierce Resistance didn't get played.

I wasn't super excited about TDO based on the original live recordings from a few months ago, but hearing it myself and now with the studio version I think it's great. Possibly their most melodic track yet.

Also agree with comments on the production - I didn't mind DotL but this is a clear improvement.

 

[The Grayfox]

Occurs to me that I have met 3/5ths of the Halo Effect. Shaking hands with Stanne and Stromblad is on my bucket list.

Me too. Different three though. I haven't met Mikael or Niclas. That's how long it's been since I saw IF live. The last time was still Jesper, Peter, Daniel, Anders and Bjorn.

Somehow it's comforting to know The Defiant One is a leftover track. Only because I didn't want the entire album to sound like it. I do question why it didn't make the cut for DotL but was used for the next one. Maybe they re-worked it a bit. It isn't a bad song, it just seems kind of stock to me. Nothing about it jumps out as being special, but that's just me. I suppose it could also be a situation where they were going to release a 4 or 5 song EP of leftover tracks and decided to just write 4 or 5 more and make it a full album.

 

[DE4life]

Honestly would have preferred them to release an EP with the leftover DotL tracks and then take more time writing a fresh new album. Not a fan of leftovers from previous albums being put onto the next release.

 

[Blast_The_Virginborn]

Just saw recent interview with Stanne saying that album will be out late 2024 and that they have extra time to record even more songs for the album "just to fill it up". Its kinda strange since they said album was awesome and they are 100% satisfied... maybe they will keep Defiant One and other leftovers from DOTL as a standalone singles.

 

[eochaid]

While Peter said that their intention was to record a full new album.

Now, we got to have in mind that this was first supposed to be an EP releasing the leftovers and that at some point it became a full length. So, of course, those leftovers will still be in the album.

Do I prefer something fresh? Of course. But, having in mind that I would be but BG the EP, then I have what I was expecting plus, probably, 6 or 7 new songs.

 

[DE4life]

Just saw recent interview with Stanne saying that album will be out late 2024 and that they have extra time to record even more songs for the album "just to fill it up". Its kinda strange since they said album was awesome and they are 100% satisfied... maybe they will keep Defiant One and other leftovers from DOTL as a standalone singles.

Jeez, so first there was supposed to be an EP early this year, then a new album that was supposed to be released late '23 / early '24, now it's pushed back to late 2024?

Keeping in mind DotL only came out last year it's not like late 2024 is a huge time to wait for a new album, but THE guys keep talking about having loads of material ready, I'm sure they've said a new album was done? Now they're still adding to it and it's not going to be out for another year? It's fine but perhaps calm down with the social media messaging. Worst was when they promised a new song and it was just the Japanese bonus track of DotL which had been available since DotL was released in Japan, lmao. Then we find out their latest single is also a DotL leftover and no idea if it's part of a new album or just a random single to keep people engaged in the meantime. I get that they're excited but I'm just starting to get confused now.

 

[eochaid]

Are we sure that he was not talking about new DT, an album that it's being recorded these days?

 

[Blast_The_Virginborn]

13:35 he is talking about Halo, not DT

 

[eochaid]

Well. That's confusing and contradicts almost eerything that they've said until now.

Asked in a new interview with A Swedish Fika With about a possible release date for the new THE HALO EFFECT material, Peter said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "I believe we will be releasing one new song later this year, and one more, I think, beginning of next. And then we'll see. I mean, the album is done. It's recorded and done. And we've actually been talking about going in and start writing new stuff. And then there's record labels and release plans and everything that comes together that goes beyond our control. So, I'm not 100 percent sure when it will be released, but there is a new record coming, definitely."

 

[Xpyro125]

Honestly, this whole thing feels just like what’s been happening with recent Nuclear Blast records.

 

[Xpyro125]

Become Surrender’s gonna be the new single on February 2nd. Not really too much to say aside from that, just gonna hope it sounds good in the studio version and doesn’t turn out like how In Broken Trust did.

 

[Xpyro125]

Honestly would have preferred them to release an EP with the leftover DotL tracks and then take more time writing a fresh new album. Not a fan of leftovers from previous albums being put onto the next release.

I agree completely, but I’ll still take it— It’ll be good, so I hopefully won’t have much to complain about.

Just saw recent interview with Stanne saying that album will be out late 2024 and that they have extra time to record even more songs for the album "just to fill it up". Its kinda strange since they said album was awesome and they are 100% satisfied... maybe they will keep Defiant One and other leftovers from DOTL as a standalone singles.

Looking back at this in retrospect, I do wonder if this pertained more to doing the next DT album. That would make a lot more sense than the inherent contradiction. I mean, he probably was referencing THE in the interview, but we fit the evidence to suit our hypotheses.

All jokes aside, the new album probably will come out in late 2024 judging on how we’ve only gotten two singles so far. I’m fully expecting the fourth single to be released in May or so, with the album probably releasing in August or September with the fifth single coming out on release day, same way as the last album. I personally hate the way Nuclear Blast has been doing this sort of things with their bands, both because of the overly long wait time in an era where attention spans are so much shorter and looking up our favorite bands is more accessible than ever, and because by the time the fourth or fifth single comes out, you’ve spoiled a third to a half of the album if the trac klist is 10-12 tracks, and that takes away from the surprise factor a ton. I know that THE did the entire album in live performances a month or two before it came out, but it felt more welcoming with them doing it on their terms and in a place where the mix is far different from how it is in the studio version. Not to mention, what else were they going to perform? Doing covers of your old stuff to promote your new debut album with maybe 2-3 songs having been released off of it probably won’t do much to familiarize people with your sound.

Covers of their old stuff would be pretty welcome now, I won’t lie.

 

[A88]

Underwhelming news. They've been teasing a completed album for ages now, but release is getting postponed again.

Not much to comment about the singles. Two leftover songs, that sound like leftover songs and that we've heard a year ago.

If those two indicate the direction they're taking - the second album will be a lot worse than the first one. Can't understand why do bands always take the same route of making shorter, more compact, simple and commercial music.

 

[drawntoblack]

Looking back at this in retrospect, I do wonder if this pertained more to doing the next DT album. That would make a lot more sense than the inherent contradiction. I mean, he probably was referencing THE in the interview, but we fit the evidence to suit our hypotheses.

Seems to be the case, considering the article that came out today:

Earlier today (Friday, January 26), DARK TRANQUILLITY frontman Mikael Stanne shared a photo of him laying down vocals at Rogue Music, the studio owned and operated by DARK TRANQUILLITY keyboardist Martin Brändström in the heart of Gothenburg, Sweden. He wrote in an accompanying message: "Last line recorded! Damn, this feels so fantastic!

"It's been a long and incredibly rewarding writing and recording process that is now nearing its end. The songs have taken on a life of their own since the first barebones demos a year or so ago and we have truly poured our hearts and minds into this one. Now we ship it off to master @jensbogren for final mix and master.