Search - Dark Tranquillity :: Exposures: In Retrospect & Denial

I keep coming back for more.

IcemanJ | Ohio, USA | 06/11/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Even though the Gods of Gothenburg, as I like to call them, have released two full-lengths after this compilation of previously unreleased material, it still seems so fresh. I listen to this consistently more than most of their full-lengths, to this day. I can hardly believe it has been out for 4 years already. This is really just as good as any full-length album, in fact, dare I say it's actually *better* than some of them. It truly makes me wonder why the material wasn't put on the albums, and what other unreleased material from "Character" and "Fiction" they have in store for us.



I don't know about most people, but I have always loved Stanne's clean vocals; "Projector" is my favorite DT album mostly for that reason. "In Sight" is a hidden treasure from the "Haven" days with the remainder of clean vocals leftover from that era. It is a slower song in metal regards, but none less than "Fabric" from that album for instance.



"Cornered" is my favorite song here, and perhaps one of my favorite DT songs ever. with tantalizingly scrumptious riffs, plenty of keyboards, and a wide range of vocals from inconspicuous, gruff, whisper-growls to epic, full-force shouting.



"No One" is a progressive, explosive song with a delightful mixture of some clean vocals. "Static" and "The Poison Well" are also both ridiculously catchy songs, with the use of a little synth and piano mixed in.



The remainder of Disc 1 is made up of the two EP's before Skydancer/Of Chaos and Eternal Night: Trail of Life Decayed and A Moonclad Reflection. It's very noticeable when this starts of course; the sound here is entirely different, not only just a different style back then, but not-so-great production and Anders Friden on vocals obviously. The songs here are all great but in a much different way. They are mostly just as good as anything on the Skydancer album, with that dark, enrapturing atmosphere and menacing riffs we all know and love.



I don't listen to Disc 2 as much, which is the live show from Live Damage, but it is a quality recording and nice to have in the collection. Some songs have some minor changes like added piano or Stanne's vocals instead of the female vocals in "Insanity's Crescendo". I have to admit the live clean vocals are no where near as good as on the records, unfortunately; the few seconds of them in "Punish my Heaven" make me cringe.



If you are a fair-weather Dark Tranquillity fan who does not possess this beauty, you must get it now! "Unreleased" songs may repel the casual listener, but you must understand that they are created with the utmost quality that goes into every other album. If you are new to the band, this probably wouldn't really be my first recommendation, but it probably wouldn't hurt if this was your introduction to the band because it contains music from many different eras, and are songs that you wouldn't have to buy again as if this was a "greatest hits" type thing or something."