October 2016 Album of the Month: Dark Tranquilllity’s Atoma

Monday, 7th November 2016 By Dead Rhetoric

One of Gothenburg’s flagbearers, Dark Tranquillity has managed to come up with consistently strong material through much of their days, all while still keeping some level of melodic death metal integrity. Something that many of us here at DR are quite fond of. So it comes as no surprise that Atoma, arguably Dark Tranquillity’s strongest effort in the better part of a decade, would manage to grab the album of the month billing. That alone should be enough to sell it as a winner, and the fresh energy that’s poured in along with mixing the best elements from their back-catalog, should win over the rest of the crowd.

An excerpt from Kyle McGinn’s 9.5/10 review, which posted on October 24, 2016:

That’s why it may take a few listens to really get a true vision for what Atoma really is. Dark Tranquillity have not reinvented themselves, but once again gathered some of their strongest elements from over the ages and pieced them together in a way that fans both new and old can appreciate. This coming off of a few albums (We Are the Void, Construct) that were “solid” – fine additions to the catalog but just missed that “wow” moment to keep them from lining with some of the band’s best works. Combining the dark and emotive atmosphere of their past two releases, Atoma merges it with the stronger riffing of say Character or Damage Done, Haven’s more bombastic synths, and the more polarizing part – Stanne’s clean vocals. Ever since Projector, Stanne’s love ‘em or hate ‘em cleans have been relegated to a song or two, and Atoma marks their most prevalent use since then, but it’s notable how effective they are to tracks like “Our Proof of Life,” and “Forward Momentum.” It’s clear there’s been some time to effectively place them into the mix.

It would have been easy for Dark Tranquillity to simply ride into the sunset, with a storied career and a few genre-classics at their back. But Atoma sees an energized DT return to craft one of the strongest album’s they’ve done in recent years. It’s also one that grows stronger with each successive listen, and may sneak its way onto a number of best-of lists for the year when things are said and done. Atoma recaptures the wonder and majesty of melodic death metal that few can rival Dark Tranquillity in.

Read the entire review HERE.