After the experimentation of earlier albums Projector and Haven, Dark Tranquillity have been on a creative roll since 2002. The absolute greatness from DT came in the form of Damage Done where they ditched the clean vocals that some felt hindered the last two records before, changed up the keyboard style a little, and introduced lead guitar riffs showing an obvious influence from The Gallery. Pretty much, Damage Done was a return to the more classic style from other previous records. The creativity would continue to flow onward as they put out two more great albums: Character and Fiction. Does the creative roll end there? In my opinion, I think not. The new album We Are The Void is definitely top notch, and there's no doubt that as soon as you hear a track (no matter which one it is), there's no mistaking this for any other band. It sounds like Dark Tranquillity. I don't know how most people felt about Fiction. It was basically my introduction to DT, so I felt that it was the perfect album. We Are The Void is kind of a darker, more melodic version of Fiction while still retaining some of the heaviness that the band is known for as well as the solid production heard on Fiction. Also, anybody that was worried that reintroducing clean vocals on the last album would backfire on the band don't need to worry. Fortunately, what worked on Fiction works here as well. I'm not gonna say that it's the band's best effort ever (it's a damn good one) since I'm sure that some will be convinced that their earlier stuff's the greatest, but I will say that it's for THE Dark Tranquillity fan. A fan that isn't expecting any particular sound from any other record they've put out, but is expecting to hear Dark Tranquillity, nothing more and nothing less.

There is a limited deluxe edition that is available, and it features two bonus tracks and a bonus dvd. The dvd has a half-hour documentary on the making of the album filmed by The Haunted guitarist Anders Björler, the making of the video for "Shadow In Our Blood," a trailer for the recently released live dvd Where Death Is Most Alive, and two clips from that dvd making the total running time about an hour. It's worth a look if you'd like to get an idea of how they made the album, and the making of the music video was funny to watch. As for the live clips, you don't need to views clips to know if you should buy Where Death Is Most Alive or not. If you're a fan, do it. It's completely worth it, as is the deluxe edition of this album.

The fact is ... this is a solid release, I am glad that after many years DT has found some balance between experimentation while keeping its original style.

We have seen other bands like In flames that have changed its original style resulting in many old-fans lost (and getting a lot new).

As other reviers have said ... DT fans will be glad adding this CD to their collections, for those new to DT will be as well an excellent starting point.

For those rating one-star:

There is available on line a full-song versions of this cd, you should try it first before buying and getting frustation for what you just bougth. This can not be in any sense a 1-star work.

Recommended for the fans and it won't be disappointed if you're new to this band!

This album could have potentially been titled Fiction Part II. It feels like they picked up exactly where they left off and didn't miss a beat at all. The songs continue with the same strength that Fiction had and adds a little element here and there to keep things the same, but different all at once.

The stronger songs on the album are "I Am the Void", "The Grandest Accusation" and "At the Point of Ignition" while the weakest song on the album is "Her Silent Language". I don't think that this adds up to Damage Done which is my personal favourite, but still won't let down fans of the band or of the genre.

I'm not an long-time fan. Ironically I started getting out of Death Metal just before the bands In Flames and Dark Tranquillity were starting to make a strong impact on the metal scene here on the US shores, right around '98 or '99. Character was my Introduction to DT (thanks to [...]) and I've since built my collection. The only odd anomaly was "Projector," though I still don't know why so many people hated that album. (Name a single "mainstream" artist that sings like that? I mean, critically think about what you're saying! Type-O would be the closest band I can think of, and very few would consider them mainstream.)

I was surprised that Fiction was able to continue the general sound from Character while STILL managing to innovate, and honestly figured that they'd have to make some drastic change in order to not reinvent the wheel. I can safely say from the first few riffs of "Shadow in Our Blood" they simply proved me wrong--the best surprise being when they suddenly break into Black Metal style tremolo picking--I wasn't predicting that! The clean vocals on this album sound better than anything Stanne's done--he's not trying so hard, it's much more natural sounding.

DT has found their sound, and has found a way to make it new every time. There's a little more industrial touches this time around, but this is quite easily the most melodic album they've produced in ten years, even sneaking in a few Herman-Li inspired pinch harmonics on "The Fatalist." "Her Silent Language" treats you to a nice little jazz-inspired bit of odd-time sig grooving right around 1:50.

Production wise, it's the same crystal-clear work we've been treated to since "Haven." Guitars are situated perfectly in the mix so you can hear every single note, vocals don't over or underpower. Alot of time and thought went into mixing this album.

In conclusion, only if you've hated everything since "Mind's I" will you find anything to dislike about this album, and if you're in that crowd I can promise you'll never be satisfied--if you are a newcomer or an old fan alike that respects good metal for what it is, this should be in your 2010 "must have" list!