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14.08.2002
DARK TRANQUILLITY: "Damage Done"        darktranquillity     

 
Recorded at Studio Fredman during February and March 2002. Produced by Dark Tranquillity and Fredrik Nordström. Engineered by Fredrik Nordström and Patrik J. Sten. 
Mastered by Göran Finnberg at The Mastering Room.

Cover artwork by Niklas Sundin.
Limited edition digipack also version features the track "I, deception" as well as the "Monochromatic stains" video clip

Japanese edition relased under licence by Toys factory with "The poison well" as bonus.
reviews by Lovedeath (Italian) + Adrimir  + Gryphon_spirit in English

Dark Tranquillity is back with the long awaited sequel to "Haven", which is entitled "Damage Done". I've been a fan ever since "Skydancer" came out, and looking back on it, that album wasn't all that good.  On "Damage Done" the boys seem to have gotten a lot of new influences, but most of all, it is heavier, and still very melodic. Songs such as "Final Resistance" and "Damage Done" (the titletrack) are heavy as hell, and with melodic parts that would make most of us musicians green of envy.

The band pre-released one song off this album via their homepage. The song referred to is called "Monochromatic Stains", but there certainly is nothing monochromatic about it. The first few notes of that song was all it took to convince me that I had to have this album.

Although this album do have its downpoints. The song "The Treason Wall" was not so impressing in my opinion. Since I myself am a musician I listen a lot to the different instruments, and on this song, the drums were, to be honest, boring. The melody gave me a feeling of old nursery-rhymes and synthesizers were, well, boring. But of course, it's hard to find an album where every single song is great. Of course, everything will probably sound amazing when played live.

Carl "Adrimir"
review  by Salvo "Lovedeath" Russo____   

 
Ritorno alla grande per uno dei gruppi più noti della scena del death melodico. Il combo svedese, è in continua maturazione e dopo lo splendido Heaven, di due anni fà, questo cd è a dir poco fantastico. Sebbene rispetto al predecessore si nota un minore utilizzo di elettronica, i nostri riescono a miscelare l'aspetto aggressivo che ci rimanda ai tempi del grandioso "The mind's I", con melodie fresce e atmosfere senz'altro più moderne. Quindi non è un vero e proprio ritorno al passato, ma un cd che riesce a unire l'aggressività degli esordi alle atmosfere degli ultimi cd. Si parte con la furia impetuosa di "Final Resistance" che subito ci fa capire la sterzata verso territori più death , si prosegue con "Hours passed in Exile" che inizia molto atmosferica, e sebbene caratterizzata da un growling potente, possiede una melodia degna dei migliori Drak Tranquillity!
Si prosegue con "Monochromatic Stains" che mi piace tantissimo, grazie alla cura per la dinamica che i nostri riescono a dare al pezzo, ottima la voce e anche qui, grande melodia.
La vera perla del cd è però la successiva "Single Part of two" un brano assai drammatico e profondo che penetra nell'animo, una song furiosa, ma quanto mai espressiva.....davvero unica!!!!
Le atmosfere più gothic oriented appaiono più marcate in brani come "The Enemy" e nella conclusiva"Ex Nihilo", (brano strumentale), dove le tastiere sono davvero drammatiche; anche la title-track è ricca di spunti melodici e di break atmosferici davvero intensi.La band è davvero unica sia in fase compositiva , che per quanto riguarda la cura dei pezzi dal punto di vista strettamente tecnico, essendo i nostri ottimi musicisti.Non si discute nemmeno la qualità della produzione, ed ecco che questo album a parer mio riuscirà ad accontentare i nostalgici dei vecchi Dark Tranquillity, e anche coloro che avevano apprezzato gli ultimi due precedenti lavori.
 
Salvo Russo
 
review  by dalia "gryphon_spirit" di giacomo____   

 
Couldn't we of gryphonmetal spend no words about this album? We, that, among all the productions, try to present you those which stand out for worth or for originality or, on the contrary, for extreme boredom and opacity like many of our Italian reviews have also stressed? No, absolutely we coudn't, and we have taken our time cause we wanted to be sure that the fantastic first impression Damage Done gave us would be confirmed after days too. And yes it's comfirmed. Damage Done is a cool album that will disappoint no single fan. Why? First of all is however a confirmation of Haven too, and all who have loved Haven will found again more or less the same soundscape without being bored cause Dark Tranquillity have not copied themselves. And, on the other hand, all who wanted some heavier stuff from them will jump for joy cause Domage Done is heavier and more aggressive than the previous album, signing in a certain way, a come back to a sane Melodic Death Metal, without abandoning a touch of modernity, and darkness too. The result is a Melodic Death Metal which goes straight, without useless frills, to its goal. This is a METAL album of first quality, and though it's not an epocal masterpiece, in its genre (which moreover i personally love a lot) will fully outclass many other melodic death productions, being only strictly comparable to another "Gothenburg work" : that one of In Flames. No clean vocals, though the brilliant voice sounds rough, but maybe less bass than before, great lyrics, fast parts, pushing Death Metal alternated with the usual Dark Tranquillity melodies which simply kick ass, dynamic riffs. "Damage done" is an album that every metal heart must have. Simply so.
All songs are bombs combining catchy melodies with energetic hard stuff, which let you rock and headbanging like hell. Sometimes raw, sometimes even brutal, sometimes sweet.
Among the excellent songs i personally would mention, so just for the record: Hours passed in Exile, one of the most melodic songs, absolutely irresistible, where the virtuosity in playing and presenting every instrument is out of discussion;
Final Resistance, an authentic monument to the melodic Death Metal, where the Death is rocking and pushing merging itself then in melodic passages;
Format C: for Cortex offers us a doomy sound with surely some dark notes, and a way of pronouncing words very similar to "Indifferent Suns"; 
very doomy and dark, atmospheric enough is the instrumental Ex Nihilo, with the usual well balanced keyboard sound.
This album comes very close to perfection, 9.8/10. A must to have one. And enjoy it for long, long time!!! And now please, let's shout in unison: METAL FOR EVER !!!
dalia  di giacomo
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