We Are The Void

[stizzleomnibus]

Thanks! I'll ignore what's online from now, and try to work from a hybrid of my own (superior) transcriptions and the book when I get it. I have awesome things to say about this album, but I don't want to look like a tool by getting the words wrong.

 

[Magrathean]

It's definitely the internet. I googled around for the lyrics to Her silent language once in an attempt to complete the gaps i had in mine, but i found so many errors that it was useless. Thus my HSL lyrics remain incomplete.

 

[XxSNAPxX]

So i finally had a good chance to give WATV a listen with no interferences. I listened to it like 2 times through yesterday then while i was going to sleep and i have to say that i'm very happy. The only song that doesnt GET me is dream oblivion. Idk why. Oh and just a tip...if you wanna trip out on some really goodness you should smoke and then listen to HSL. =)

 

[solefald]

Finally got my copy. I tried to get the special edition with a cool shirt from the german mailorder emp.com but they did not offered size s.thats why I just got the version with bonus dvd. hey emp guys not everyone of your customers is big or fat!

Afters some listening sessions Im surprised and pleased. Another great DT ALbum with more suprises that I thought.
Like the clean vocals on the same level like on fictionDT are one of the few bands who have great clean vocals, but know how to use it the most effetive: rarely and in just a few selected songs.

I like the progressive black metalesque-style of "arkhangelks" and "iridum".
Iridium scared the hell of me during my first listening session. wtf this is really the new dt? Im Happy to see an "epic" but scary epic song.

These 2 songs are great followers of "into the particle storm", I hope the play the live.

But why was the cover and design and not created by Niklas?
The Digipack looks okay with the shaped void which is part of the booklet( great idea to make the title part of the cover, but the only real wow) but compared to design masterpieces like fiction or character, WATV is less chic.

And this similarity to the cover posted by larocque is disturbing

 

[DisplayofCharacter]

There are so many solos on this album I lost count. Waaaaay more on this album than any DT album in recent memory (but I'm reluctant to say most ever).

 

[stizzleomnibus]

"arkhangelks"

This makes me imagine the most hardcore hunting trip ever.

There are so many solos on this album I lost count. Waaaaay more on this album than any DT album in recent memory (but I'm reluctant to say most ever).

The protracted solo at the end of The Fatalist is probably my favorite. It's got some awesome technique to it, but unlike some bands (Dream Theater...), it doesn't break the "music" aspect. It's actually based off of an earlier riff in the song.

 

[Defiance]

Finally got my copy. I tried to get the special edition with a cool shirt from the german mailorder emp.com but they did not offered size s.thats why I just got the version with bonus dvd. hey emp guys not everyone of your customers is big or fat!

Afters some listening sessions Im surprised and pleased. Another great DT ALbum with more suprises that I thought.
Like the clean vocals on the same level like on fictionDT are one of the few bands who have great clean vocals, but know how to use it the most effetive: rarely and in just a few selected songs.

I like the progressive black metalesque-style of "arkhangelks" and "iridum".
Iridium scared the hell of me during my first listening session. wtf this is really the new dt? Im Happy to see an "epic" but scary epic song.

These 2 songs are great followers of "into the particle storm", I hope the play the live.

But why was the cover and design and not created by Niklas?
The Digipack looks okay with the shaped void which is part of the booklet( great idea to make the title part of the cover, but the only real wow) but compared to design masterpieces like fiction or character, WATV is less chic.

And this similarity to the cover posted by larocque is disturbing

Herzlich willkommen zurück!

:Smokin:.

As you can tell, it's great that you've made a post after all these years. I was just about to send you an e-mail to comment on the album.

Ah and mine hasn't arrived yet, ich bin todtraurig .

 

[XxSNAPxX]

Her Silent Language is probably the best song on the album in terms of fitting everything that is DT into that one song so flowingly. It's also a great song to listen to when your thinking about a special girl or woman, and if you're a guy, you almost always are...much like myself.

 

[La Rocque]

Defiance ... If you can speak three languages you're trilingual. If you can speak two languages you're bilingual. If you can speak only one language you're an American. - Author Unknown

Danny you can use this in your sig. if you like ...

"If you have sex with a person of the same sex you're homosexual, if you sex with both men and women you're bisexual, if you have sex with farm animals you're from Costa Rica" - La Rocque

:danceboy:

 

[King Chaos]

After the first few listens, I didn't even wake up untill Iridium. I also subsequently enjoyed star of nothingness (A bonus track which to me seems like the logical opener for the album? Very very nice little tune). Iridium is an immense track. Very original and ripe with romance and drama.

No doubt it's my relationship with this type of music that's been starved lately causing me to just not feel anything when I listen to these songs. I had expectations, despite going into the first few listenings with little enthusiasm for melodeath. I think I thought dt would suprise me again. The only thing that suprises me is how safe the album sounds. And for fans of dt the only safe thing in the past has been to make a completely unsafe album.

It's not hard to hear the compositional idiosyncracies that make dt who they are on this album and rather than something completely new, the direction sounds more retrospective to me. Just not quite as well executed.

Still, love the drumming. Loads of tastey little fills. The Keys are really expressive this time. Lots of eras coming through and winks and nods to non-extreme music all over the place. The guitars are for the most part, what is probably letting the cd down for me. The clean vocals sound amazing. Not sure about the lyrics this time around. Feels far less poetic quality wise. Ambiguous metaphors can go both ways, either blow your mind or just seem like a pretentious fill in where you can't think of something more meaningful. I'd know. I write terrible ambiguous lyrics all the time. The high rasps mainly on display here are not as nice on the ears as the almighty meaty low growls.

I'm glad the album hasn't been an instant hit with me. I prefer music that I need to make an effort to enjoy. I get more into the listening experiences and it helps me form a better relationship in the long run. Since the first listening I've found myself enjoying most of the tracks a little more.

 

[Defiance]

It's here!!!!!!!!!!!!

Finally, after a very long and agonising wait, it's here!!!

The digi version is very nice, I love the 'void' detail in it, it's nice and it doesn't make the cover look so bad .

The LP was a bit disappointing, just a regular LP in the cardboard sleeve, I thought it was gatefold. It's 'identical' to the Character LP, I like the Fiction LP a lot more. Why? Because in the latter there was different artwork and stuff, in here it's the same . I also noticed how the quality of the material of the digi itself has changed a lot, CM went from digi-books to digi-packs, even though it's a German version (German ones usually have —had?— the former). Minor complaint and not really important, though.

Even if there's only one picture of the guys, I really like the artwork of the booklet, it has lots of colours and is very varied.

My friend also got the 'original' shirt, it's very nice, with tones of greens (kaki?) and greys. It's much nicer than the black one that comes with the combos, this one has the cover in it. I guess some of you'll want it, so I'll post pics in a couple of days.

Now listening to:

Dark Tranquillity: Dream Oblivion

The production is magnificent!

I'm feeling quite rapturous right now! D.T. doesn't let me work .



EDIT:

Dark Tranquillity & Finntroll: Zwei Stühle, eine Meinung.

what the heck? I'll have to read the article, but it's very funny and interesting to see Mikael and Vreth yelling at each other hahahaha.

EDIT 2:

The LP doesn't come with extra tracks, boooooo. I think this version is a tad cheap to be honest, although I guess I shouldn't have been expecting so much for just €15.

EDIT 3:

I adore the artwork of the booklet!!! I especially like the pages of 'Iridium' and 'To Where Fires Cannot Feed'! Brilliant picture, seriously!

 

[stizzleomnibus]

@Defiance: That sounds massively fucked up. I just rechecked cmdistro here and says a) gatefold b) format is double LP and c) this LP contains bonus tracks.

That kind of sounds like a massively disappointing release, and completely unlike what they promise in the item description. I'll let you know if I get something different (I can't possibly see how that could be), but that makes me sad. I'm not terribly worried, since I'm getting the digipak anyway, and I don't "collect" vinyl so much as "buy it with the intent of playing it into dust."

And why the hell are you paying 15 euro when I can get it for $13? 15 euro is like $20. As an American, it really pisses me off to see the rest of the world get gouged on everything (last I checked, game consoles were going for the same number of dollars and pounds, despite a massive and long-standing difference in currency values).

 

[Defiance]

@Defiance: That sounds massively fucked up. I just rechecked cmdistro here and says a) gatefold b) format is double LP and c) this LP contains bonus tracks.

That kind of sounds like a massively disappointing release, and completely unlike what they promise in the item description. I'll let you know if I get something different (I can't possibly see how that could be), but that makes me sad. I'm not terribly worried, since I'm getting the digipak anyway, and I don't "collect" vinyl so much as "buy it with the intent of playing it into dust."

And why the hell are you paying 15 euro when I can get it for $13? 15 euro is like $20. As an American, it really pisses me off to see the rest of the world get gouged on everything (last I checked, game consoles were going for the same number of dollars and pounds, despite a massive and long-standing difference in currency values).

Yes, as you said, it's massively fucked up. Maybe I should write to Nuclear or CM, since it's neither gatefold nor double. The tracks, and artwork are exactly the same. I'll listen to the LP, maybe the tracks are included but CM sooomehow forgot to write that on the back (which I highly doubt). DT's LPs, as far as I know, have never contained any bonus tracks. I collect a lot of LPs (and have a turntable to listen to them), and it's disappointing to see that, in general, this one feels really cheap.

The Character LP is a tad cheap too, but Fiction is a marvellous version. Hey Fiction was gatefold and included a CD! Why the fuck did they change that? Why the fuck do they cut costs in this way?!? Ahhhh the frustration of it all.

And yes, it should cost €10, not €15!!! It's a German version, so I'm wondering if the so-called 1000 copies mean that there's 1K for Deutschland and 1K for the U.S…, which is quite common actually, it's a tricky merchandising scheme. Usually when it's really limited it'd say, e.g., 'limited to 1K copies worldwide'.

And why, oh why do they have to keep adding the bloody sticker that says 'FSK ab 12 freigegeben'?!? I want to rip it off, but I'm afraid I might damage the box in the process. Heck at least it wasn't printed on the box as in the DVD .

CM's products have definitely decreased a lot in quality.

 

[stizzleomnibus]

The reason I think this is nonsense is this: merchandising plays a critical role in the future of the industry. Vinyl especially, based on recent trends. Sales of that particular format are up by multiples, at least in the US.

See, CDs, mp3s, and flac all accomplish the same purpose. I have no use for CDs; I don't find them sexy, and they're a waste of space. I'm really against buying mp3s since we all know very well how easy they are to copy and distribute. The thing about vinyl is, you can't copy that infinitely. I can download all I want for free, but I have to pay to get the vinyl experience (the shelf-filling collection, full-size artwork, ceremonially taking one off the shelf and loading it...). Same goes for clothing, DVDs, and so on. I've committed to paying for products that I actually value to support artists (since I'm not a broke teenager anymore), and cutting corners like that is retarded. If the publishers can't put out a good physical product, my opportunities (and willingness) to give them money start to evaporate.

I know you're not a NIN fan, but go to this page and click on the $300 limited edition. Look at what comes with it. They sold all 2500 of those in less than 30 hours. Yeah, NIN is huge, but that's still impressive. Fans are more than willing to open their wallets, but you've got to present compelling scarcities.

And for the record, I recognize that none of this is the fault of the band. For all the weeks in the studio, they got their part of the transaction done phenomenally well. Seriously, things like this make people want to fall back on the decades old pirate trope: I'm ready to just mail checks to the band personally. I understand the continued importance of the businessmen involved in the industry, but giving customers less for their money won't ever be a good long-term strategy.

 

[Defiance]

The reason I think this is nonsense is this: merchandising plays a critical role in the future of the industry. Vinyl especially, based on recent trends. Sales of that particular format are up by multiples, at least in the US.

See, CDs, mp3s, and flac all accomplish the same purpose. I have no use for CDs; I don't find them sexy, and they're a waste of space. I'm really against buying mp3s since we all know very well how easy they are to copy and distribute. The thing about vinyl is, you can't copy that infinitely. I can download all I want for free, but I have to pay to get the vinyl experience (the shelf-filling collection, full-size artwork, ceremonially taking one off the shelf and loading it...). Same goes for clothing, DVDs, and so on. I've committed to paying for products that I actually value to support artists (since I'm not a broke teenager anymore), and cutting corners like that is retarded. If the publishers can't put out a good physical product, my opportunities (and willingness) to give them money start to evaporate.

I know you're not a NIN fan, but go to this page and click on the $300 limited edition. Look at what comes with it. They sold all 2500 of those in less than 30 hours. Yeah, NIN is huge, but that's still impressive. Fans are more than willing to open their wallets, but you've got to present compelling scarcities.

And for the record, I recognize that none of this is the fault of the band. For all the weeks in the studio, they got their part of the transaction done phenomenally well. Seriously, things like this make people want to fall back on the decades old pirate trope: I'm ready to just mail checks to the band personally. I understand the continued importance of the businessmen involved in the industry, but giving customers less for their money won't ever be a good long-term strategy.

Strong quake right now, I'm all shaken up. After Chile and Haiti you get really nervous about this stuff .

Yes, that's exactly what happens. As with you, I'm more than willing to send checks to the band (or Costa Rican coffee hehe), and it's certainly not their fault. As Niklas said, the band is, sadly enough, the last one to know about the stuff that involves them.

But yes, the LP is definitely a disillusionment.

Oh wow look at that NIN box, even if I really haven't paid attention to the band I'd buy the box.

It's as with the Taake box, very nice too! Why doesn't CM release nicer version? I paid €38 for the box of Borknagar's Universal, and I'd pay that (or more) for Dark Tranquillity!

I guess that's one difference between big and independent labels. Don't flame me for this, but I've always thought that D.T. deserves a better, much better label than CM.

EDIT:

Just heard the album completely! It's definitely a grower, but as King Chaos said, for me it's (sometimes) nicer when an album doesn't exactly click at the first time. I'm positive this is one of DT's best albums, and I'm certain that it's better than Fiction. It just needs a few listens .

But seriously, 'I Am the Void' is such a weird track hahahahaha.

EDIT 2:

I would've preferred the artwork of the booklet as the main cover hahaha.

EDIT 3:

I'm experiencing a love/hate relationship with 'Her Silent Language' . It's brilliant at parts, but some parts just sound too new In-Flames to my ears. Does this happen to anyone? As an applied linguist, I do find the lyrics quite interesting. Mikael has always had a special relationship with language IMO.

 

[stizzleomnibus]

I hope everything is okay down there. I don't have the time (or money) to bail out another bunch of backwards islanders. :Smug: (Let's just not talk about which country's abusive trade policy screwed over the rest of the hemisphere.)

If I'm not mistaken, DT's deal with CM is up as of WATV. Obviously, the business side of the band is none of my business, and they'll figure out what makes sense for them. Now would be a chance to examine some alternatives (though CM is an awfully popular choice). There are a lot of companies set up to design, print, and ship high-quality merchandise that work outside of the label system, as well as companies to manage mp3 stores and so on. More work to manage than the label system, but no label to take a cut.

I Am the Void is definitely an interesting track. See if you can find the start of the chorus; it's not quite where you think it is.

And I have no idea what you're talking about with HSL. If anything, it sounds like Misery's Crown. It's also got a very distinctive DT-style breakdown (musically and technically).

 

[Defiance]

I hope everything is okay down there. I don't have the time (or money) to bail out another bunch of backwards islanders. :Smug: (Let's just not talk about which country's abusive trade policy screwed over the rest of the hemisphere.)

If I'm not mistaken, DT's deal with CM is up as of WATV. Obviously, the business side of the band is none of my business, and they'll figure out what makes sense for them. Now would be a chance to examine some alternatives (though CM is an awfully popular choice). There are a lot of companies set up to design, print, and ship high-quality merchandise that work outside of the label system, as well as companies to manage mp3 stores and so on. More work to manage than the label system, but no label to take a cut.

I Am the Void is definitely an interesting track. See if you can find the start of the chorus; it's not quite where you think it is.

And I have no idea what you're talking about with HSL. If anything, it sounds like Misery's Crown. It's also got a very distinctive DT-style breakdown (musically and technically).

Yeah everything is fine, it was a quick and strong quake, apparently from volcanic origin. (Hahaha welll I voted agains the CAFTA, but we still lost.)

Yes, it's obviously none of our business, but it'd be good for the band to consider other labels. Maybe Napalm Rec?

Haha well I guess I should stop listening to new In Flames. Wait, that never happens hehe. I guess that because of that I'm not allowed to make such comparison .

Concerning the chorus of 'I(t)V', if it doesn't start with the part before 'I am the Void', it's with the latter IMO.

 

[Zach.Zhang]

I also noticed how the quality of the material of the digi itself has changed a lot, CM went from digi-books to digi-packs, even though it's a German version (German ones usually have —had?— the former). Minor complaint and not really important, though.

Even if there's only one picture of the guys, I really like the artwork of the booklet, it has lots of colours and is very varied.

My friend also got the 'original' shirt, it's very nice, with tones of greens (kaki?) and greys. It's much nicer than the black one that comes with the combos, this one has the cover in it. I guess some of you'll want it, so I'll post pics in a couple of days.

I bought Dream Evil's new album. The limited edition is a digi-book with a nice patch.

I ordered the WATV combo from cmdistro. I dont think the so-called Deluxe Edition is a digipack, but the combo is worth the money.

 

[Zach.Zhang]

But seriously, 'I Am the Void' is such a weird track hahahahaha.

I have the same feeling. I dont like the beginning part of that song.

 

[stizzleomnibus]

Concerning the chorus of 'I(t)V', if it doesn't start with the part before 'I am the Void', it's with the latter IMO.

Yeah, the thing is, when I listen to it and it gets to that awesome stereo riff, I'm not thinking chorus, but the the next bit (where he says "I am the void") has to be the chorus. In between that section and the next time he says the lyric, one guitar returns to playing its part of the stereo riff. Making the stereo riff the beginning of the chorus.

DT occasionally writes a song that cycles unconventionally through sections. I'm not sure off the top of my head what the exact structure is, or if it's even weird, but Format C: for Cortex always seemed to just cycle oddly. Part of what makes it so wonderful.

Surface the Infinite: is this song guaranteed for the live set or what?