Dark Tranquility June 6, 2008

Dark Tranquillity is one of the longest-standing bands from the Gothenburg, Sweden, metal scene and one of the pioneers of the melodic death metal genre, along with In Flames and At the Gates. Formed in 1989, under the name Septic Broiler, in 1990, the band recorded a demo cassette tape entitled Enfeebled Earth before they would change their name to Dark Tranquillity and their style. It was followed by two more demos: Trail of Life Decayed (1991) and A Moonclad Reflection (1992) (both were later remastered and re-released in 2004). In 1993, Anders Fridén, Dark Tranquillity's original lead vocalist, left the band and later joined In Flames.[1] Mikael Stanne, who formerly played rhythm guitar and provided backing vocals, then became the lead vocalist, and Fredrik Johansson was recruited to take over rhythm guitar duties. Johansson left prior to the release of the 1999 album, Projector , and Martin Henriksson switched from playing bass to replace him. The band added Michael Nicklasson on bass and Martin Brändström on keyboards and electronics. At this point the band also signed to Century Media Records. Since then, the band has remained stable in its line-up and its musical style; blending layers of rapid guitar lines with harmony-rich electronic keyboard washes and extremely precise rhythms underneath Stanne's abstract growled lyrics. Much more recently they have added a great amount of progressive metal elements to their music.

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