Single Slam – Atoma by Dark Tranquillity (Atoma)

Melodic death metal powerhouse, Dark Tranquillity, have been around for a long time and are classed as one of the most, if not the most, consistent band to emerge from the Gothenburg metal scene that reached prominence in the nineties. They originally formed in 1989 and hail from, of course, Gothenburg in Sweden. They have dropped 10 albums in total since their debut album Skydancer came out in 1993 and are preparing to launch their 11^th, called Atoma, on November the 4^th through Century Media Records.

There has been a change to the band’s line up this time round with one of the band’s founders, Martin Henriksson, stepping back from playing bass and being manager to being full time manager. Martin had been credited with writing a lot of material for each album release so it will be interesting to see how the band got on without his constant influence.

To give fans a glimpse of what to expect, the single Atoma has been released and it should get people excited.

Coming in at 4 minutes and 20 seconds long, it is unmistakably Dark Tranquillity but does feel fresh. It is heavy with effects and keyboards for the intro which play out a nice little tune that builds. Drums join in and give the intro some body before it quietens down to a beautifully sombre first verse. Mikael Stanne sings really well and while not sounding heavy, it works really well over the simple keyboard notes being played in the background. As the verse progresses you can hear the passion in Mikael’s voice growing and you definitely feel like the song is building up to something big. It was, as the verse ends, big sounding guitars jump in and Mikael turns to death metal shouts and growls which are quite mesmerising over that same keyboard line. The song has a really epic feel to it. It hits the slow singing again for a short period in the form of a second verse before returns to really heavy death metal but played out in sombre fashion over excellent guitar work and that same keyboard line from the intro which really acts as the spine of the whole track. There is some great instrumental work and a tidy little solo before the whole thing builds again in epic style for a big flourishing end. It is hard to pick a single instrument that is more impressive than another with everything working as it should and all instruments and vocals perfectly working together in heavy metal harmony. Wow!

 The band released the following brief statement regarding the new album – “A lot of our songs start out as pieces of music written on piano/keyboards before getting transformed into guitar driven metal. With this recording, we wanted to explore what would happen if we instead let the material take another direction, and we’re extremely thrilled by the result.”

I must say, I am also thrilled by the result based on this offering.

 With so many new tracks out, and all heads turned towards the big names of Metallica, Korn and the like it is in these smaller circles where you often find the most impressive forms of heavy metal. This song is immense and emotional managing to be equally beautiful and sombre. I love this song and cannot wait to buy the new album. I strongly urge you all to give this a listen.

The new album is due to be released on October the 21^st and can be pre ordered from here – Preorder Atoma

Check out the track yourself here on their official YouTube channel – Dark Tranquility on YouTube

Give them a Like or Follow over on Facebook for more info on the new album here – Dark Tranquility on Facebook

If you like it, why not preorder the album from Century Media Records from here – Century Media Records Pre Order Dark Tranquility

Remember, support your metal or risk losing it!