About Dark Tranquillity
Dark Tranquillity is a Swedish melodic death metal band from Gothenburg. They are considered one of the pioneering acts of the Gothenburg metal scene, which also includes bands such as In Flames and At the Gates - regarded as the Gothenburg fathers in the film entitled Out of Nothing: A DT Documentary released by Century Media, which was filmed in their home town in April 2009. After a nearly three-decade long collaboration of four founding members frequent lineup changes between 2016 and 2021 have left only vocalist Mikael Stanne as an original member, together with long-time keyboardist Martin Brändström.
Dark Tranquillity was formed in 1989 by current vocalist and then-guitarist Mikael Stanne, and guitarist Niklas Sundin, under the name Septic Broiler. Three additional members, Anders Fridén, Anders Jivarp and Martin Henriksson, later joined the line-up.
In 1990, the band recorded a demo entitled Enfeebled Earth, which featured a largely thrash metal-influenced style of death metal, comparable to early Death. After releasing another demo entitled Rehearsal December 1990, the band changed its name to Dark Tranquillity, and released multiple demos, including Trail of Life Decayed in 1991 and A Moonclad Reflection in 1992, which both showed a progression into the more melodic nuances of death metal that the band would explore on their later studio releases.
In August 1993, the band released their debut album Skydancer. Soon after, vocalist Anders Fridén left the band and joined fellow Gothenburg band, In Flames. Guitarist Mikael Stanne then assumed the position of lead vocalist, and Fredrik Johansson was recruited to take over guitar duties.
In 1994, Dark Tranquillity covered the song "My Friend of Misery" for the Metallica tribute album Metal Militia − A Tribute to Metallica.
In 1995, the band released an EP, Of Chaos and Eternal Night, which was later followed by the release of their second studio album, The Gallery. The Gallery has been referred to as a masterpiece from the era.
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