The flow of the album is logical and conscience.
The first song, Encircled, drops the listener into the world of Atoma with its descending riffs. If you
close your eyes, you almost feel as if you’re dropping into some kind of
crystalized ice cavern a hundred miles under the arctic ice caps. Such a
description many not be sufficient; perhaps the album truly brings the listener
into the caves of some far off world that has yet to be discovered by mankind.
The harmony between the darkness and the beauty of the song almost seems
impossible, yet, is clearly audible to the listener.
Atoma, the title track,
brings the feel of the album into an entirely different mood. The darkness subsides, and the
straightforward melody of the song reminds me of a plain rock song with a hint
of melodeath. The upbeat tune of the song sounds like a battle anthem for weak,
and the hungry. The electronic sound playing over the main guitar riff adds
another layer that would give the song a much more simplistic feel without it.
In addition to the growls of the frontman, clean singing that has a prominent
resemblance to the vocals of Björn "Speed" Strid from Soilwork is
woven into the tune.
The next few songs vary between serene, and cold, clean vocals and
growls eloquently sewn and blended into the music. Whenever the album reaches Faithless by Default, the listener is
plunged into a whole other level of gloom and mystical wonder. The next couple
of songs drive the point home.
Clearing Skies is when the
album really starts to go to its conclusion. It’s no coincidence that the name
of the song is Clearing Skies. It
starts the transition from the dark, stormy night, to the peaceful, quiet
morning that follows. The melodies of the song are more comforting and
harmonious than the dissonant, chaotic riffs of the other songs of the album.
The song immediately following Clearing
Skies, When the World Screams,
takes one last shot at aggression before the album calms down for good.
The final song of the album really brings the album to a close. The
opening riff of the song really makes it sound like the last chapter of a book,
and that chapter ties up all the loose ends, and answers any unknown questions.
It eases the listener into the end of the fantasy, and gives them a resolve
that they can’t forget.
Many fans of Dark Tranquility criticized them because they were
experimenting with some new elements and clean vocals. In my mind, not only did
they succeed in implementing the new elements, they succeeded heavily with
album flow. Not all bands have a huge regard for album flow – they just write a
bunch of songs that they like, and put them together. Atoma sounds like a book that’s supposed to be read in order from
the first chapter, to the last. It has different highs and lows throughout the
album, and in the end, it creates a perfect, unified symphony. Like clockwork,
all of the aspects and constituents of the album function together to make a
working machine.
Is it different? Sure, but it’s different in a way that I really
enjoyed. I’ll admit that it took some time to break the album in. Atoma feels like a fine wine in a sense
that it’s an acquired taste. It takes a little bit of time and speculation to
truly realize the work of art that Atoma
is, and how genius the members of Dark
Tranquility are for creating what they’ve created. I’m not used to the kind
of melodeath that they create – I’m used to the likes of Amon Amarth,
Insomnium, Blackguard, Dethklok, and others, whose expressions aren’t so… well,
dark. Dark Tranquility definitely made Atoma
match their name. It’s a little odd to hear musical elements that are so
diametrically opposed – that is, darkness, and serenity – combined into one
work. However, I think that once again, they pulled it off pretty well.
While I think Atoma is a
great album, I still naturally gravitate towards melodeath like Amon Amarth, so
for me, this album earns a 7/10, especially for its creative blending of
elements, and for its clockwork flow. I hope that those of you who feel this
album is problematic will give it a few more listens and contemplate what
they’ve really done here before you judge it so harshly.
I’ll definitely be checking out Dark Tranquility’s next album. Hopefully,
I’ll get the chance to see them the next time they come around.
