CoC : Dark Tranquillity - The Mind's I : Review

Dark Tranquillity - _The Mind's I_
(Osmose, 1997)
by: Pedro Azevedo (10 out of 10)

Brilliant from the very start of the first track. And I don't just mean _The Mind's I_: I mean all of Dark Tranquillity's three full- length albums, starting with _Skydancer_ and continuing with _The Gallery_. Brilliant is just the right word for all three of them, and after the first two stayed for a -very- long time in my CD player (I still pick both of them up very frequently, they're two of my favourite albums ever), _The Mind's I_ is by no means a disappointment. In fact, after _The Gallery_, I wasn't really expecting that Dark Tranquillity would manage to keep such a high level; however, much to my surprise, _The Mind's I_ is perhaps even better than _The Gallery_. What happens with _TMI_ is that there's just so much to be found, and it's all packed tight into 45 minutes of pure intensity. It's just that Dark Tranquillity, with their very fast, melodic, and powerful Swedish style, don't need to repeat themselves to keep up the quality: that's why there's so much brilliant stuff on this album, there's really a lot to be listened to here. Most of the songs are shorter than before, less experimental in a way, but the quality's all there; the changes were towards perfecting their very own sound, not necessarily towards clearly changing it just for the sake of change. "Insanity's Crescendo" is a perfect example of DT's mix of aggression, melody, and power, and it's one of the best songs I've listened to in a very long while - in fact, those words apply to the whole album. DT have progressed, yes, have taken the now cliched "step forward", but they didn't need to go softer, or radically change style; yet _TMI_ is no remake of _The Gallery_. Thus, so far, for me this is THE album of 1997.

(article published 14/7/1997)

CHATS
7/5/2008	C Burton	Dark Tranquillity: Merging the Mundane and the Magic
9/1/2002	D Rocher	Dark Tranquillity: Of Damage Done and Introspection
5/25/2000	P Azevedo	Dark Tranquillity: Projecting and Reinventing

ALBUMS
10/13/2013	A El Naby	8	Dark Tranquillity - Construct
6/13/2010	K Sarampalis	7.5	Dark Tranquillity - We Are the Void
3/25/2007	K Sarampalis	8.5	Dark Tranquillity - Fiction
1/31/2005	P Azevedo	9.5	Dark Tranquillity - Character
11/29/2004	Q Kalis	8	Dark Tranquillity - Exposures: In Retrospect and Denial
1/30/2004	P Azevedo	8	Dark Tranquillity - Live Damage DVD
9/1/2002	P Azevedo	9	Dark Tranquillity - Damage Done
8/12/2000	P Azevedo	9	Dark Tranquillity - Haven
7/7/1999	P Schwarz	8.5	Dark Tranquillity - Projector
2/9/1996	A Bromley	3	Dark Tranquillity - The Gallery

GIGS
2/5/1997	P Schwarz	Dark Tranquillity / Enslaved / Bewitched / Swordmaster / Demoniac / Dellamorte	We Must Dominate, We Will Dominate