Thoughts about CHARACTER

[Blue Moon]

I guess its not so much the fact that the keyboards are overused but its just that I really don't like most of the keyboard parts ... I dunno I just get that techno feeling and it wierds me out haha

Hehe which is exactly what I like about them. The Endless Feed is excellent in that particular field.

I realised I might have been wrong about the muffled keyboards ; it might just be the crappiness of my headphones, as I didn't have the chance to listen to the album on my sound system yet.

 

[Scourge of Malice]

i do like the parts that sound like normal piano

 

[Moshpit]

CHARACTER is a great album, possible my favourite one of 2005. But I think that DAMAGE DONE is better.

 

[aztattooedsean]

I made it thru my first listen of character today and I must say I am impressed:Spin: If this is a cd that continues to grow on you, who knows how much I will like it after awhile

 

[King Chaos]

It's grown on most people apparently... looks like you're in trouble

 

[The Alleycat Express]

Wow...after stumbling onto Damage Done by accident, I've been a fan. It's an absolute shame it never got any love in the USA. But I can tell you a new metal scene is about to burst here...and if DT kept putting out efforts like Damage Done they would lead the scene.

So what did they do next? The exceptional "Character". After listening to Damage Done nonstop for the past three months...it's apparent that "Character" is the next CD to NEVER-LEAVE-MY-CAR-STEREO Fantastic effort, boys.

MY TAKE ON DT: I have always disliked death metal. Bands like Morbid Death and other bands like them sucked...in my humble opinion. I'm a Queensryche, Iron Maiden, OLD Metallica, Dream Theater, FAtes Warning, Judas Priest, etc, type of guy. But for some reason DT is the first "death metal" to snare me. Maybe it's because they really do not fit into the traditional death metal format. I hear hints of prog metal and MELODIES. I'm sorry but if a song doesn't have some sort of a melody...I'm going to hate it. Old death metal sounds like crap because it doesn't "take" you anywhere. A song should be sort of a sonic-journey for the listener. DT breaks from the mold and has created music that is brillant in its efforts to take one to the edge...then smack you with some timely keyboards. It's as if they know WHEN to change the pace of a song...realizing when the listener is ready for it.

Would be interested in what you guys thought of my write-up. Can't wait to see DT in Ohio....it's rare that a European metal group comes here. Not going to miss it.

Rudi
Ohio

 

[Crimson Velvet]

^^
You should check their older efforts. In "The Gallery", there is melodies all over the place.

 

[dargormudshark]

I like it alot, sometimes I feel the songs kinda run together but it still kicks ass

 

[Monroe]

I like it pretty much! It's greater than Damage Done but not the greatest.

 

[tequila_sunrise]

If anyone has heard the bonus track on the album its fucking killer! (lost to apathy bonus track)

 

[TheFourthHorseman]

Derivation TNB? Yes it's actually very good, I like the lyrics and the music is sombre enough to fit.

 

[TheNewBuild]

After reading your opinions carefully, I don't know what else to say! I just can't stop listening to Character.. It got under my skin! Don't know if that's possible, but somehow this album is sneaking higher and higher, possibly to throw The Gallery from its pedestal in my book. I'm scared to even say that, but such a perfection have I not encountered for years, so I guess this IS my fav DT album..
(Still those 2 albums are veeery different, so it's hard to compare them so easily..)

I especially like the keyboards and electronics.. an awesome combination and perfect harmony with the rest of the instruments. I like them especially on " Am I 1?" track... where they intertwine with the guitar solo - makes me wanna die in the pure beauty of it!
I also like the way Mikael pronounces the words, ending many of them with a roar or a sigh of somekind, just gorgeus!

 

[Master]

And again DT rule !! no other band can be compared to them in this style !! Nice Music aggressive and boosting !

 

[Master]

My Negation and Am I 1 are the best so far for me

 

[solefald]

I just found out that since character has invaded my life
I iddnt listened to any other DT-record. Ok the minds I sometimes but since 3 months I didnt listen to Damage done!!!
strange thing

 

[kryptos]

Character, for me, is a perfect amalgamation of the two strains of Dark Tranquillityisque metal part one of two - the ballsy melo-death a la the Gallery. And part two of two - the surreal sonic imagination of Haven. Character sounds to me like the confluence of these two parts, the perfect balance has been achieved and excelled at.

@ Dark Tranquillity members: Have you guys ever thought of playing a gig or two in India? How do i get in touch with the guys who handle band management for you guys?

 

[marduk1507]

Well, lets put it this way: when I first heard those fucking fast drums in the new build I thought . This song is awesome. But then there was another one, not so fast as the first, and another, and yet another. I have been a fan of DT since Skydancer, so I am familiar with all the stuff they released. Therefore my criticism of their new album has a sort of firm base. But back to the point. What I dont like about the new stuff and Damage Done, too, is their repetitiveness. The riffs are so similar that after a few songs I usually find myself drifting away, musing or, what is worse, dozing. When Projector was released, many old fans of DT hated it, for the clean vox and different approach to the composition process. With Haven it was not so strong, but similar - die hard fans found it hard to accept. As I see it, DT simply chose to obey their fans moods and tastes and released two really tr00, but not so inventive albums. Which is bad imo. I love all their albums up to Haven, because they all brought something different, Skydancer - no comment, Of Chaos - a great foretaste before Gallery, Gallery - a perfect mixture of melodeath and blackish elements, superb riffs, The Minds I - now THIS is the album where they said all they wanted to say about their attitude to death metal a la Gothenburg and THIS is the album that is being repeated over and over on DD and Character, with the only difference of keys and samples, Projector - "project and reinvent" the motto, it took me a long time to really understand what they meant by it, but now the enjoyment is beyond any comparison, Nether Novas is the shit!!!, Haven - now this was the fork, here the band tried hard to think of which way to choose, the album contains min. clean vox, but it is still very "progressive", DD and Character - the necessary standard, good albums, but dozens bands play this way today, therefore after few spins they become boring.

This is only my opinion, of course. I hope that DT will bring something really new and extraordinary with the next record, something that will make my brain threads steam for a long time!

 

[Alfred]

Well, yes, I see some parallelisms between The Mind's I and Character, but basically in the fact that they both have fast (or mostly fast) songs with multilayered structures and breathtaking growls. But the similarity ends here, I think: complexity is not, in my opinion, something that can be taken as a parameter of repetitiveness While I more or less agree on the fact that DD was slightly below their absolutely excellent standards and sometimes slightly lacking the "weight" DT have gotten us used to (although there was much that sounded like experimentation and very unexpected sound), I really don't think that an album that has songs like "Mind Matters", "One Thought", "The Endless Feed" and "The New Build" inside it can be considered repetitive and lacking in originality: I really don't see how at least three of those four songs would have found any place in TMI, musically speaking, and the lyrics are apparently going in directions completely opposite to the ones of their previous albums. Finally the omnipresent slow/midtempo interlude that had been the worst possible legacy of a nevertheless awesome work like Character has disappeared (or rather, has become something to use with measure and attention, not on every song anymore), and the songs have become again asymmetrical, unpredictable and very subtly built. Sure, in this sense, Character reminds me of TMI (but also of Skydancer and Character, just to mention the first ones that come to my mind), but I really don't think this can be considered as a lack of originality - otherwise you could tell me that they're similar because they're both beautiful

 

[marduk1507]

Why thank you very much for your reply and I really mean it! I was wondering why hasnt anyone bumped this for so long, but whatever. Hell yeah, I agree with you man, my opinion about Character has changed after those 3 months, now I have discovered several things in it and like it much more. But still DD and Ch are my two least favourite albums from DT.

 

[Svartklädd]

After monthes of listening to this album, I can say that Character is one of the strongest in DT's discography. Six monthes have passed and still it doesn't sound boring to me. For now it has overcome Damage Done record of my 'now playing' stuff.
My Negation, New Build, Am I 1 are absolutely great. I hope you'll continue doing your best!