• Voto:
Scoprire un nuovo genere musicale è sempre bello. Basta ascoltare una singola canzone affinchè ti si spalanchi davanti un orizzonte più ampio, tutto da esplorare. E di solito la canzone o l'album che ti permette ciò ti resta nel cuore. È il mio caso col death metal e con "Haven" dei Dark Tranquillity. Non avevo mai sentito niente del genere e, sebbene adesso digerisca roba ben più pesante, al primo ascolto l'album mi si presentò come un macigno sulla testa. Ma oltre alla violenza, e fu questo a farmi innamorare della band, c'era la melodia, c'era il cantato di Stanne che esprimeva rabbia e al tempo stesso commozione, con le sue liriche nichiliste, esistenziali.
Un album che stupisce per la sua immediatezza: canzoni brevi, dirette, che ti colpiscono come un pugno nello stomaco, ma al tempo stesso trascinanti e coinvolgenti, che quasi ti costringono ad ascoltare il cd tutto d'un fiato, e poi ad ascoltarlo di nuovo. E così le varie "The Wonders At Your Feet", "Not Built To Last", "Feast Of Burden", "Haven", "The Same", "Ego Drama", "Rundown", scorrono via una dietro l'altra, con i loro commoventi inserti di tastiera, con le loro esplosioni in riff sempre trascinanti e mai banali. Praticamente ho citato tutti i pezzi, e ne ho ben valida motivazione, perchè difficilmente se ne può giudicare uno superiore agli altri: sono tutti tecnicamente perfetti, incastrandosi uno dopo l'altro in una sequenza che non concede soste per rifiatare. In realtà un discorso a parte va fatto per la conclusiva, escludendo la bonus track, "At Loss Of Words", che personalmente considero il miglior pezzo dell'album, poichè ne racchiude tutte le singole sfumature, con un tema musicale che coinvolge come pochi. A posteriori e dopo aver ascoltato di tutto e di più dei sei tranquilli ragazzi svedesi, considero "Haven" strumentalmente un album di compromesso tra le genialate degli esordi, la violenza di "The Mind's I" e il forse eccessivo sperimentalismo di "Projector". Dopo "Haven" i Dark Tranquillity ritorneranno ai fasti di "The Gallery" con l'eccellente "Damage Done", e sicuramente questi ultimi due titoli sono i veri capolavori da 5 stelle della loro produzione. Ma essendo il voto soggettivo ed essendo quest'album ricco di significato per me, gli schiaffo un bel cinque alla faccia di chi, dopo averlo acquistato solo perchè gli piaceva la copertina, me lo regalò dicendo che "il cantante pare abbia un ratto in gola, vedi un po' tu. . ".
Elenco tracce testi e samples
01 The Wonders at Your Feet (03:01)
deeper shades of red descending
smear our names, the stains unending
turn forgiveness,
break the lens distorted
crush the infidel and turn about
famine in our hearts, bring up the silence louder
eradicate the lungs and take us higher
these are the wonders at your feet
weighed upon a wider scale
afraid to see what takes us down
sing destruction, sing of unfullfillment
search abandoned, let the blood be fevered
ridden of the self provided things get easier
ignite our minds and let's burn brighter
these are the wonders at your feet
04 Feast of Burden (03:25)
"Scars torn open
Bondaged slave
Eating my wrists"
A thrust that numbs the pain
Secondary now the instinct
Thrust beyond control
Chaotc
Are the tracks before me
Barren are the ones behind
Carried in a cage controlling
Driven
Driven on, Driven in
Headlong onto the beach
Driven on, Driven in
Taken to the extreme
Headlong onto the beach
Pumping fast the race is on
furious in striving
The Feast of burden begins
The Feast of burden begins
Driven on, Driven in
Taken to the extreme
Headlong onto the beach
Driven on, Driven in
Headlong onto the beach
"The enslaving force
Thrown ahead
Unrelenting"
Faithfully holding fast
Steaming ahead unknowing
Careless again it seems
Oblivious to the pressure
The Feast of burden begins
The Feast of burden begins
05 Haven (03:32)
Now as the lights go down
Deeper now it seems than long before
There are no noises here
Just a silence gone bad
Something I will never hide
This urging need to
Invite the darkside in...
Invite the darkside...
Invite the darkside in...
Invite the darkside...
Into my haven
If there were words for this
Would I sing or should I scream?
I'd give my blood to stay
My blood, just to stay right here
Something I can never share
This urging need to
Invite the darkside in...
Invite the darkside...
Invite the darkside in...
Invite the darkside...
Into my haven
07 Fabric (03:56)
[music: Brandstrom]
scattered throughout now
indefinite form
willed to find strangers
in the wickedest state
when it comes upon you my friend
fear not - it makes us men
hidden within ourselves now
lured into hiding out of sight
creation in purity
we don't need no host
suck it in
it waits for noone
take it down
the coming of descent
fiery changeling
reddened and frail
perspire to save it
the remnant of this game
if it launches again today
will our lives begin again
turning away from tides of lust
stronger return against all odds
suck it in
it waits for noone
take it down
the coming of descent
raised to take stand
to separate grace
shown in the wake of new light
seeing it will break
the flavour of aquired taste
another boundary yet to face
witness the revolution
the fabric of essence
come again
08 Ego Drama (04:34)
wrestled on its back
the ego showed his face
charged up, recieving
came out knowing
hopeless intrusion
where nothing can be found
strewn, the seeds were wasted
on the innocent in awe
fruitless connection
in the ripeness of his age
drawn and thrust in anger
the dagger once again will fail
it's over
if nothing comes along
it's over for you
so in denial stand where shame is not
and unto others fall
the blame, the guilt,
the others fault
come on now-
scratch and claw with all your strength
take on the wildest bull in the horde
come burn them fingers fast
and take back what they owe
return the safety where there was none...
09 Rundown (03:53)
cowardice, this chain of events
gather and plot the ensnaring of me (ensnaring)
gone now the sense of lust
is there a cost for the reckless excess?
taken in the growth and trust
retalitory strike at the weakest spot
raked away the remains of my fall
that laid scattered cross plains of regret
humble in defence of the wicked
run down, naked and blind
merciless, the onslaught of demands
get in line for the numbning
i won't make a stand
redeemer of the slavery
reconcile with the carefree and content
ensnarer, caretaker
lead not these the frail into battle again
crossing out the ramblings of others
tired of the same old refrain
knowing this will all be corrected
torn down, wasted and lost
i can't take it anymore 'cause i am rundown
can't take it anymore 'cause this is wrong
tired and rundown
spat it out
the foolish lines you fed
it holds a place in the civilized mind
forcefed, the turn of our venturesome quest
being rundown as we seek
the day this was lost
all that you see
all that'll be
rundown
10 Emptier Still (03:39)
secrets in here
claim no belonging
together again
or send me to madness
i know that i should have listened
was given a choice i turned down forever
so tell me are you lonely
emptier still
as time takes us farther
away from the goals
by which we are measured
i know that I should have stayed true
to you and to me
but time never heals
so here alone I stand
so tell me are you lonely
tell me are you mine
i see you standing there
your face against the wall
so turn right around
i who know your deepest fear
and yet you walk away
so turn right around so tell me are you lonely
tell me are you mine
don't speak for you are me
11 At Loss for Words (06:46)
[music: Jivarp, Henriksson]
waiting for the signs to bring
the first to sing
felt inbetween these fears
set to unknown tunes
so tempt these fragile fiends
a grace gone dark
you'll never know
you'll never feel
you'll never taste the depths of your defeat
break into the hearts and minds of man
never one to tell
sucking on a lie that never ends
found at loss for words
locking on to faith gone bad
sweet touch of sin
not in the sleight of hand
can facts be lost
never understate your case
deny our weight
there never is
never was
can never be
a break from binding chains
break into the hearts and minds of man
never one to tell
sucking on a lie that never ends
found at loss for words
12 Cornered (03:58)
There never was a night like this
How could there ever be
Through sweat and velvet misery
The fever race in me
Cornered in a symetrical design
Sphere-like chrome on a sea enraged...
hatred
What the mirror sees
is the clutching at straws
taking us under
The storm of the ocean
this velvety crush
Ringcorners- firm in the outrage
Synaptic patterns
Waves contort
Break into these cellular walls
Why...
Globes of disease, infest my dreams
burning the ends of my veins
Pattern and form, the squares cling fast
Dance the tide now
Could never bare another night
although I know it'll come
The freezing ends of what is me
The icy rages...
free
Cornered in a symetrical design
Sphere-like chrome on a sea enraged...
hatred
Take hold of the boundaries -
The Perimeter Sea
Burn!
Enflame the oppressors
But if four was one
in a corner alone
recovering - licking the wounds
delerium coming
the weakness kicks in
Resigning, cornered within
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