Dark Tranquillity - Zero Distance
The toughest part about returning to form is keeping it going (just ask My Dying Bride). You can turn in that supreme effort that reminds everyone of why they love you in the first place, but if the releases that follow can’t maintain the gusto, then you might as well have kept on making Jon Secada records. For me, Dark Tranquillity delivered their supreme effort with 2007’s Fiction. An album that not only re-lit the fire but could stand toe-to-toe with any of their ’90s classics, and has stood the test of time. 2010’s follow-up, We Are the Void, was by no means a bad album, it simply wasn’t quite as good, and the same can be said for this stopgap EP. If I had to take a guess, I’d say Zero Distance is probably one new song (most likely the title track) and some stowaways from the …Void sessions, possibly re-recorded. Worthless? No. Rather unnecessary? Unequivocally. The title track is a catchy tune with all the band’s signature trademarks present —soaring melodies aligned with mechanized chug, carried by overcast keyboards and the instantly recognizable bark of Mikael Stanne— but could have done just as well on the band’s next full-length. The remaining three songs and instrumental are phoned in by DT standards. They almost sound like the band going through some warmup exercises before the actual game. Practice? We talkin’ ‘bout practice? To be honest, Stanne’s voice is so good, the band’s melodic interplay so expertly honed, that even their filler tops mortal bands’ A-list material. But I expect more from them than this pointless tease. Not bad, but far from essential.
(1) Comment(s)
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Koji Kabuto said:
I think that this is a collection of all the bonus tracks on the various different versions of We Are the Void.
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