Dark Tranquillity

Ex-Napalm Death and Carcass vocalist Bill Steer once said that "death metal died in 1990, and everyone in the ‘90s who claims they're playing death metal is lying or a loser". This may not be entirely true, but it’s clear the genre lost a lot of its early vitality around that time.

In the later ‘90s death was a virtually invisible movement, while the most extreme exponents of its cousins – grindcore and black metal - had a visible profile. Which is not to say that nothing was going on, just that it had become submerged after a few years on the surface thanks to the likes of Deicide, Entombed and Morbid Angel.

Like most extreme music forms, death metal fans are firmly committed, so it didn't bother them terribly when it again became an underground movement. And the music kept developing, stretching out in various directions. As a style that required phenomenal ability to execute well, some of these tentacles pushed the technical aspect to new heights.

One of these cells was in the Swedish city of Gothenburg. There was so much talent concentrated here that it spawned At the Gates, In Flames, Dark Tranquillity, and Arch Enemy, all very influential.

The more melodic deathly style pushed by the Gothenburg bands had a major impact on an emerging scene Stateside. The nascent metalcore movement borrowed heavily from the riffs of the so-called Gothencore acts, which is not such a bad thing, though a little unoriginal at times.

Dark Tranquillity's new album Character sees them progressing an ever more futuristic vision, while still adhering to their time honoured riffology. The juncture is a revelation, as the six-piece who formed in 1989 steer well clear of death metal cliché.

It was likely this cliché that led to death's unfortunate, um, demise in the late '90s, as the lyrical themes of rot and putrefaction, and musical crutches such as blast beats and death growls became boring and predictable.

Of course it was exactly these anti-social devices that made death so attractive to begin with, but if something stays still to long it becomes stagnant and chokes on the same juices that once made it vital. Which would be a fitting way to go for death metal.

But Dark Tranquillity and their Scandinavian brothers In Flames, Meshuggah and Soilwork kept things fresh. Character is up there with In Flames' Soundtrack To Your Escape, which came out early last year. Both are flagrantly progressive, using synth pads to flesh things out and add atmospheres. Riff wise though, Dark Tranquillity piss all over In Flames.

First track 'The New Build' is one fine example of this, while 'Lost To Apathy' is even better. It's easy to see why American acts such as Killswitch Engage or Lamb of God thought it was a good idea to use a bit of creative plagiarism. These riffs are at once chunky and fluid, aggressive and melodic, and lay foundations for some of the best metal songs of last year. There's an immediacy that's been missing from all but the best classically influenced metal of late.

There are those, however, who stuck with the original template, as defined by that online fount of all knowledge Wikipedia: 'Death metal is usually identified by extreme brutality, intensity and speed.'

Aye, and English label Earache has long had many acts of that ilk on its stable. In the last few months they've released albums from Lost Soul, Exmortem and Blood Red Throne.

The latter, Altered Genesis, is the best, featuring guitarist Tchort (once of Emperor, now with Carpathian Forest). It's an intense and brutal album, a must buy for those card-carrying life members of the death metal fraternity. It references death's golden era in the late '80s/early '90s, and updates it without stretching the genre definition into difficult territory. If you live for blast beats and death growls, this is for you.

Lost Soul's Chaostream is in the same realm, though not as assured. The Polish act makes up for that in pure aggression, ridiculous speed and unexpected turns. This is malevolent death metal on a lethal cocktail of steroids and amphetamines, a great hairy beast of an album, though it's not quality through and through.

Neither is the Exmortem offering Nihilistic Contentment. But then, with an album title like that, you wouldn't really expect it to be. They are loyal disciples of the old death paradigm, though they'd probably kill me for calling them disciples. Oh well.

After the far more interesting strains of Dark Tranquillity and Blood Red Throne this is just boring. Like, you'd want to move along a little bit over a ten-year period. This is the death metal equivalent of the radio station that plays 'Stairway to Heaven' 24/7. I can live without both of those things.