Origin : Sweden
Genre : Melodic Death Metal
Release : 2000
Album downloads only available to members
Album Info / Review
**Dark Tranquillity – *Haven***
_Release: 2007 | Label: Century Media | 76 min of kaleidoscopic bleakness_
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### Soundscape & Atmosphere
From the opening rumble of “In the Sky” the band drops the gentle, almost pastoral sheen of their early 1990s output for an unapologetic plunge into mid‑century futurism. The sonic palette feels like a late‑night cyber‑think tank mixed with a downtempo goth club. Layer after layer of processed guitars seat themselves behind a razor‑thin, syncopated drum machine that alternates between mechanical tightness and chaotic, all‑over‑the‑range sludge. The result is an environment that is both claustrophobic and expansive—cascading synth pads that widen the tracks on the left background and a polarized, industrial steel‑band of guitars that smack the right channel.
Atmosphere is one of the defining elements on *Haven*. Dark Tranquillity harnesses the archetypal melancholy of melodic death metal but rigs it with a dreamlike haze that feels… *synth‑washed*—think Liverpool Love Radio hazy nights but with the underlying bassline beating like a torso. The harsh, distorted guitars often echo with a distant, almost baritone choir, producing an almost biblical sense of dread, while in the same breath the occasional acoustic riff threads the narrative with the honest sting of an acoustic lament.
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### Riffs & Songcraft
The guitar work is a swinging mixing of melancholy leads and brutal, ear‑shattering blast patterns. “There Is No Good in Holding” kicks off with a riff that is at once memorable and disorienting: a vague, minor‑key center that spirals into a chaotic, high‑hopes rhythmic madness. When the groove stabilizes, the rhythm section reinforces the tension with synchronized, mid‑tempo meter changes that feel almost like a metronome cracking.
“What Will You Show?” features a drop‑step introduction with a choppy, tribal feel that immediately sets a different time signature. It’s a swift parade of melodic Thom Yorke‑sized choruses over an anarchic, thrash‑driven bridge that only add to the sense of dissonance.
The standout riffs are often built on new textures and tonal quirks: in “Disengaging” a bass line hums with phantom echo, while in “My Silent Confusion” the guitar sound shifts from a relatively thin stutter at the opening to a deep, organically distorted rumble that pairs nicely with the screamed vocal. The producer’s intention to create “Tank”‑like sampling is fully realized in “When I Look Towards The Night” where the guitars are saturated with a digital overdrive that reminds you of an old synthesizer translating to a modern power metal sound.
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### Production Quality
Where *Haven* attains its signature impediment is its production. It is crisp, but never glitchy, always firmly placed. The bass sits clean but unmistakably present; the drums possess the punch of a hybrid of acoustic drums with a digital architecture. The quieter acoustic parts (e.g., in “Feign Lies”) make the fainter sounds apparent without losing the heaviness typical of the band’s oeuvre. The overall mix is tailored to hold the very noise characteristics of “Industrial Metal of a new generation.” When the lead guitars and screams came together, they were harmonized compellingly, ensuring that any even “dissonance” was polished.
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### Overall Impressions
*The lonely feel, relentless monotone, heavy atmospheres, realistically chaotic production and the plethora of discussable tracks* signify an album that is capable of gracing a certain core of listeners in the metal community––albeit, if you are not ready for a hardened approach to metal, this may feel like a successive beat of too major a crack.
In the end, Dark Tranquillity’s *Haven* demonstrates that their assault‑style riffs and irreplaceable musical homage to the “industrial, early 9‑segment, new style” genre are here to remain politically and properly empowered. The band never fully claims the perfection of mid‑late 2000s production sponsors, but they do prioritize a well‑arranged “honesty” in their output in an age of heavily stylized EDM.
— indicative of a good ol’ Iron‑core‑rock proximity wrap around the likes of “Midnight” and next‑level reputers. Even for the most persistent demands, there is less to denounce – if you’re in a swing‑on group and aim to thoroughly recognize, then don’t get scare ideas about “something else.”
Every day was a torch so “The Thick Soul” screams because of the mighty booming. If human people are looking for order in the black, or for long trioscope, that may or may not get over. But overall, *Haven* is the unmistakably “Lost” in the industry framed. Its “pending” or this representation – “despite you to make safety” – is almost at the respective particularity they are looking for.
*The moment among shabby, disquieting work, rang with evocative style.*
