Fiction

『Fiction』は、DARK TRANQUILLITYが切迫したリフ、電子的な質感、ミカエル・スタンネの感情的な声を重ね、これまでの攻撃性に多彩な表情を織り込んだ作品だ。音は冷たく整っているが、その内部には強い哀感と焦燥が流れ、クリーン・ヴォーカルや女性の歌声を交える場面も現れる。電子的な質感やシンセの重層的な導入により、サウンドはこれまで以上に立体的で色彩豊かに広がっている。前作の鋭さを保ちつつ、より起伏に富んだドラマ性を獲得している。 “Nothing To No One”“The Lesser Faith”“Terminus (Where Death Is Most Alive)”“Focus Shift”といった楽曲は、推進力と旋律を高い密度で両立させ、“The Mundane and the Magic”では静かな叙情が印象深く広がる。“Blind At Heart”“Inside The Particle Storm”“Empty Me”“Misery's Crown”といった楽曲でも、攻撃的なパートと叙情的なパートが緊密に交錯する。激しさから静かな余白まで、アルバムは緊張と叙情を丁寧に往復していく。バンドの美学を一層研ぎ澄ましながら、表現の幅を大きく押し広げた本作は、中期DARK TRANQUILLITYの充実を鮮やかに示す優れた一枚である。

Fiction is an album on which DARK TRANQUILLITY layered urgent riffs, electronic texture and Mikael Stanne’s emotional voice, weaving varied expression into its established aggression. The sound is cold and composed, yet a strong sorrow and restlessness run within it, and passages with clean vocals and female singing also appear. With electronic texture and layered synth, the sound spreads more three-dimensionally and colorfully than ever. Keeping the sharpness of the previous album, it gains a more undulating sense of drama. Songs such as “Nothing To No One,” “The Lesser Faith,” “Terminus (Where Death Is Most Alive)” and “Focus Shift” balance drive and melody at high density, while “The Mundane and the Magic” spreads a quiet lyricism memorably. On “Blind At Heart,” “Inside The Particle Storm,” “Empty Me” and “Misery's Crown” too, aggressive and lyrical parts intersect tightly. From ferocity to quiet breathing room, the album carefully travels back and forth between tension and lyricism. Honing the band’s aesthetics further while greatly widening its expressive range, it is an excellent record that vividly shows the fullness of mid-period DARK TRANQUILLITY.