On a clear early spring evening Camden was up in flames; smoke billowing up from the lock area and fire engines, ambulances and police cars were racing down the main street to attend to the scene. Unfortunately the amazing irony factor could not be realised seeing as it was In Flames’ Gothenburg pals Dark Tranquillity who were playing a sold out gig at the Barfly.
 
Lost opportunities for irony aside, Omnium Gatherum who are from the wastelands of Finland had the job of warming up the crowd; rising to the challenge eagerly despite the crowd’s initial subdued nature. After a while though they had most of the front half of the crowd head banging with their piercing, energetic death metal. The few moments where the band used extended instrumental sections and interesting guitar effects seemed to equal the massive climaxes of some of their better material so all in all a decent set but a bit too frenetic and ragged.
 
Dark Tranquillity, as any headliner should, entered the stage to massive cheers. One wonders whether the Barfly is too small a venue to hold such a popular and influential band as Dark Tranquillity? Perhaps it’s a little offensive to such a band that they were playing a veritable hole in the wall. On the other hand, had they been playing the Underworld, the gig probably would have been called off due to the fire. Either way, Dark Tranquillity rose to expectations and performed a brilliant career spanning set, from the icy death metal of old to the modern electronic metal of today whilst in the process creating some brutal circle pits. The band have a sound of their own which shows their total command of every style they experiment with; never once sounding like a band other than Dark Tranquillity. Mikael Stanne’s screams resounding through the choked room and the guitars battled for space amongst the drums and bass. The only thing that was difficult to hear was the keyboards which were being rocked but unfortunately not miked properly. The older material such as ‘Punish My Heaven’ and ‘Hedon’ received a better reaction than some of the newer stuff but overall, Dark Tranquillity have a very loyal fan base who understand and embrace their album to album shifts in ideas. As the encore closed, Dark Tranquillity showed that they were still a force to contend with almost 20 years from forming and long may they remain so.
 

Review by Liam McLaughlin
Photography by Asif Salam