Review by JD on November 15, 2011.

Ever since I started to listen to metal, I always understood one truth that always has defined the genre to a tee. It was blatantly honest to its core. No matter what subgenre the music is placed in, and what it combines into it... metal is honest music to its very soul as is its many purveyors. With some, that is hard to see, but honesty is one of metals finest peices in its metallic jigsaw.

NYC based The Resurrection Sorrow is a bombastic journey into all things metal. Sounding a lot like a crazy concoction made up of equal parts of Black Label Society, COC, older school metal like Black Sabbath and oddly some Soundgarden and then bring in some very melodic Stoner Metal as well to fill it all out. You get what makes this band tick. It is these parts that seem to mesh together, get very nasty heavy before it is unleashed by this powerhouse.

With only three songs, totalling eleven minutes and twenty four seconds, it is well worth listening to. With simple yet effective melodies and acid drenched vocals seem to fuel The Resurrection Sorrow to pound out some crazy and effective music that seems to move and pulse as if it is alive and make metal soar. When a band can do all of this, and so effortlessly I cant help but feel a kinship with them.

The recording could have been a bit better for the band, but it is a point that pales in comparrison to the standing tall music that The Resurrection Sorrow does. Their talent, dedication and purity of passion comes through to knock you on your ass. Excuse me now - I open a cold one and play it again. Just buy this album, dudes and dudettes.

Categorical Rating Breakdown

Musicianship: 9
Atmosphere: 9
Production: 6
Originality:8
Overall: 8.5

Rating: 8.1 out of 10

Review by JD on November 15, 2011.

Ever since I started to listen to metal, I always understood one truth that always has defined the genre to a tee. It was blatantly honest to its core. No matter what subgenre the music is placed in, and what it combines into it... metal is honest music to its very soul as is its many purveyors. With some, that is hard to see, but honesty is one of metals finest peices in its metallic jigsaw.

NYC based The Resurrection Sorrow is a bombastic journey into all things metal. Sounding a lot like a crazy concoction made up of equal parts of Black Label Society, COC, older school metal like Black Sabbath and oddly some Soundgarden and then bring in some very melodic Stoner Metal as well to fill it all out. You get what makes this band tick. It is these parts that seem to mesh together, get very nasty heavy before it is unleashed by this powerhouse.

With only three songs, totalling eleven minutes and twenty four seconds, it is well worth listening to. With simple yet effective melodies and acid drenched vocals seem to fuel The Resurrection Sorrow to pound out some crazy and effective music that seems to move and pulse as if it is alive and make metal soar. When a band can do all of this, and so effortlessly I cant help but feel a kinship with them.

The recording could have been a bit better for the band, but it is a point that pales in comparrison to the standing tall music that The Resurrection Sorrow does. Their talent, dedication and purity of passion comes through to knock you on your ass. Excuse me now - I open a cold one and play it again. Just buy this album, dudes and dudettes.

Categorical Rating Breakdown

Musicianship: 9
Atmosphere: 9
Production: 6
Originality:8
Overall: 8.5

Rating: 8.1 out of 10

Review by Alexi on January 28, 2005.

From their inception through their last record, Damage Done, Dark Tranquillity has proven throughout their entire career that not all melodic death metal from Sweden has to sound the same. Dark Tranquillity has blazed a path untouched by the melodic death metal movement. If this band were scaling a mountain, Everest would pose no threat.

Although Character is fundamentally a melodic death metal album, it does have elements of power metal and European speed metal. Essentially, Character is a continuation of Damage Done. Both albums convey dark images painted by lyrical mastermind Mikael Stanne. Stanne’s harsh raspy vocals give set him apart from most melodic singers today and his lyrical creativity and vocal approach sound the best they have ever sounded.

Character can be described in three words: melodic, epic, and fast. What sets it apart from Damage Done is the speed. Character is a very fast album. Anders Jivarp does a superb job of speeding the album up with effective use of double time drums and double bass. Jivarp’s performance on Character is probably the best I have ever heard from him. Bassist Michael Nicklasson does an outstanding job of backing the guitars and playing along with the bass drum, making each kick of the bass drum sound impaling. Guitar virtuosos Niklas Sundin and Martin Henriksson prove that they are not only able to lay down amazing guitar melodies, but also that they can thrash and pound just as hard as they did on Skydancer. The role of keyboardist Martin Brändström is elevated; each track features a great amount of synthesizers and keyboards. We're not talking about what you would expect in a Children of Bodom song, but rather the keyboards provide ambiance and mood to each track and fill up any empty space. The track “Lost To Apathy” is a perfect example of this.

The composition of this album is nearly flawless. Each song has a build up and a moody chorus (whether it be heavy or not) and an extremely well thought out instrumental. Each instrument is recorded in purity and the potential of each musician is highly eveident. Additionally, unlike the production on Damage Done, the production on Character is less clean, but in no way dirty. Gothenburg’s legendary Studio Fredman has once again worked its magic as the production enhances the band’s vision of making a heavy record.

Character is the sum of all the best pieces of Dark Tranquillity’s past albums. Each track shines with elements from every Dark Tranquillity release: the speed from the band’s roots in European thrash, the melodic and epic feel from Haven and other mid-career releases, and the keyboards of Projector, Haven, and Damage Done. Character is the ultimate and definitive melodic death metal album for the new millennium.

Musicianship: 10
Atmosphere: 10
Production: 9
Originality: 9
Overall: 10

Rating: 9.6 out of 10