Search - Dark Tranquillity :: Where Death Is Most Alive

The true Gothenburg sound lives on!

Brian C. Pierce | 11/18/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Well, 2009 sure has been a great year for Dark Tranquillity. Earlier in the year we saw the releases of a greatest hits collection in "Manifesto of Dark Tranquillity" and a collection of demos and gems in "Yesterworlds". Now joining the party is "Where Death is Most Alive" - a 2 CD live concert and a 2 DVD concert video/documentary/music video compilation. The CDs and DVDs are sold separatly and since this review is just under the CD portion, I will keep my review strictly to the music on the CDs.



The CD tracks were all recorded at a single concert on Halloween night, 2008 in Milan, Italy. The band offers up a career spanning 20 song setlist that takes us through the 7 albums that represent their career from 1993-present. This CD was recorded while DT was touring to support the "Fiction" album, so this album is heavily represented during the concert (about 1/3 of the songs). A break down of the tracks by their album is given below:



The Gallery (1995) - 3 tracks (Edenspring, Lethe, and Punish My Heaven*)

The Mind's I (1997) - 2 tracks (Insanity's Crescendo and Dreamlore Degenerate)

Projector (1998) - 2 tracks (FreeCard and ThereIn)

Haven (2000) - 1 track (The Wonders At Your Feet)

Damage Done (2002) - 2 tracks (The Treason Wall and Final Resistance)

Character (2005) - 3 tracks (The New Build, Lost to Apathy, and My Negation)

Fiction (2007) - 7 tracks (Focus Shift, The Lesser Faith, Inside the Particle Storm, Nothing to No One, Misery's Crown,

The Mundane and the Magic, Terminus (Where Death is Most Alive))

*This song contains an intro from the song "Yesterworld"



On two tracks ("Insanity's Crescendo" and "The Mundane and the Magic") we are treated to performances by guest vocalist Nell Sigland from Theater of Tragedy. She does a phenomenal job and really makes these songs sound beautiful.



The sound quality of these recordings is great and the band plays everything superbly. The crowd is fantastic and is into every song from beginning to end. The crowd actually chants out the melody on several songs and this adds a very cool effect on these tracks. In my opinion, the band and the crowd really get going a few songs into the setlist and for that reason I prefer the intensity on CD2. With that said, everything here is very soild and well worth the purchase price.



It is a treat to hear early classics like Lethe and Punish My Heaven as well as amazing new songs like Inside the Particle Storm and Misery's Crown played live. There is something on here for everyone and I commend the band on choosing a complete set of songs (even 1 song from Haven!). I would recommend this CD set for any fans of melodic death metal.



This has been a great year to be a Dark Tranquillity fan and this is a perfect finishing touch to cap off 2009. The band's new album is expected out in early 2010, so take this time to listen through this CD set and appreciate where DT has been and where they are going. They helped to pioneer this genre and they are still going strong after all these years!"