Skydancer (Dark Tranquillity album)

Skydancer is the debut studio album by Swedish melodic death metal band, Dark Tranquillity. This release was the last recorded output to feature vocalist Anders Fridén, later of In Flames, who was fired and replaced by then rhythm guitarist, Mikael Stanne.[2] Incidentally, Mikael Stanne was the lead vocalist on the first In Flames studio album, Lunar Strain.

Skydancer
Studio album by Dark Tranquillity
Released	30 August 1993[1]
Recorded	May–June 1993 at Studio Soundscape, Gothenburg, Sweden[1]
Genre	Melodic death metal
Length	47:45
Label	Spinefarm
Producer	Dark Tranquility, Dragan Tanascovic, Stefan Lindgren
Dark Tranquillity chronology
Skydancer (1993) The Gallery (1995)
Dark Tranquillity chronology
Tranquillity (1992) Skydancer (1993) Promo '94 (1994)
Alternative cover
1999 Reissue

The album was re-released in 1999 by Century Media Records as Skydancer/Of Chaos and Eternal Night. It was also remastered and reissued later in 2013 in celebration of the album's twentieth anniversary.[3]

Style

Sundin described Skydancer as "unique" within the band's catalogue due to its "weirdness and eccentricity", which caused him to look back on the album as "more of an acquired taste rather than a breakthrough release."[3] When asked how far the band has come since the release of this album, Niklas Sundin stated:

Skydancer is a very weird album and there really isn't anything else like it – for good and bad. Most of the songs contain 20+ riffs that never are repeated in the same way, and the integration of clear vocals and acoustic guitars were extremely unorthodox for its time, as were the advanced use of counterpoint and recurring musical motifs. Not to mention the lyrics. It's unashamedly pretentious and a good example of the kind of over-the-top seriousness and attempt to define the world that one only can achieve with a young person's worldview. The teenage mind that knows and understands everything.[4]

Sundin recalled "a real sense of excitement throughout the songwriting process, and it felt like we really were onto something new and original that we needed to capture on tape and let people listen to as soon as possible."[3]

Recording, production, and remastering

Sundin, while noting that the band were well prepared,[3] recalled that "studio recordings back then were always stressful. Our budget only allowed for ten studio days for recording and mixing, so there wasn't any time to fine-tune things, and we often had to use first takes even if they weren't perfect. There was a good idea of we wanted to accomplish, but we lacked the studio knowledge to communicate it to the engineers, who in turn were clueless about extreme metal, so there were lots of tension and misunderstandings."[3]

Niklas Sundin observed that the album was not properly remastered at the time of the 2000 edition, and indicated that the twentieth anniversary edition would mark the first proper mastering of the album.[3] Describing the production as "the weak point" of Skydancer,[3] and qualifying that "there are limits to what one can do without access to the separate instrument tracks,"[3] he expressed his opinion that "everything sounds much better now. The album is so old that there wasn't even any proper mastering done the first time around; all songs had a different output volume and are sonically very incoherent."[3]

Critical reception

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[5]
Sputnik Music	[6]

Skydancer has received generally positive reviews, although the album's marked departure from later material has been met with some critical barbs. For instance, writing for Allmusic, Jared Anderson criticized the "generally fractured and unfocused" arrangements and "shifting tempos, rhythms, and time signatures" for "limit[ing] the album's appeal".[5] Conversely, Sputnik Music praised the album for its "awesome song writing and flawless execution", which the critic suggested is the first melodic death metal album."[6]

Reflecting upon Skydancer, a "retro review" by About.com described it as a "dark horse" in the band's catalogue, "even more so than the controversial Projector.[7] Describing the album as "primitive" and featuring an "underwhelming" performance by Anders Fridén, the reviewer nonetheless praised the "sense of adventurism".[7]

Track listing

All arrangements by Dark Tranquillity[8]

No.	Title	Lyrics	Music	Length
1.	"Nightfall by the Shore of Time"	Sundin	Henriksson, Sundin	4:46
2.	"Crimson Winds"	Stanne	Sundin, Jivarp	5:28
3.	"A Bolt of Blazing Gold"	Sundin	Henriksson, Sundin	7:14
4.	"In Tears Bereaved"	Sundin	Henriksson, Sundin	3:50
5.	"Skywards"	Stanne	Henriksson, Sundin	5:06
6.	"Through Ebony Archways"	Stanne	Henriksson, Sundin	3:47
7.	"Shadow Duet"	Sundin	Henriksson, Sundin, Jivarp	7:05
8.	"My Faeryland Forgotten"	Sundin	Henriksson, Sundin	4:38
9.	"Alone"	Sundin	Henriksson, Sundin	5:45
Total length:				47:45

Skydancer & Of Chaos and Eternal Night

No.	Title	Lyrics	Music	Length
10.	"Of Chaos and Eternal Night"	Stanne	Sundin, Johansson, Jivarp	5:12
11.	"With the Flaming Shades of Fall"	Stanne, Sundin	Sundin, Johansson, Henriksson	3:38
12.	"Away, Delight, Away"	Stanne	Henriksson, Johansson	5:22
13.	"Alone '94"	Sundin	Henriksson, Sundin	5:43
Total length:				19:55

Personnel

Dark Tranquillity

• Anders Fridén − vocals
• Niklas Sundin − lead guitar, artwork, lyrics
• Mikael Stanne − rhythm guitar, backing vocals
• Martin Henriksson − bass guitar, co-guitar outro on Track 3
• Anders Jivarp − drums

Additional personnel

• Fredrik Johansson - rhythm guitar and music on Of Chaos and Eternal Night

Guests

• Anna-Kaisa Avehall - Co-Vocals on Track 3 & 6
• Stefan Lindgren − Co-Vocals on Track 4 & 7, Engineering
• Dragan Tanascovic − Engineering
• Kenneth Johansson − Photos

References

1. "Discography: Skydancer". DarkTranquillity.com. Retrieved 22 September 2013. External link in |work= (help)
2. Cole, John (1 November 2005). "Dark Tranquillity". Metal Update. Retrieved 22 September 2013. Anders was with Dark Tranquillity from the very beginning, and I was on guitars. In '92 we recorded Skydancer, shortly after that we realized we couldn't work with him. So we fired him and I took over vocals and threw away my guitar and we got another guitar player. Sometime after Jesper formed In Flames, as kind of a side thing cause he was doing Ceremonial Oath at the time. He wanted someone to sing it so he asked me and I just started, because I needed the experience and the practice. We did the demo then the album, but I was kind of reluctant at first because I wanted my first vocals to be on DT. I was never a full member really though. External link in |work= (help)
3. Dick, Chris (9 September 2013). "Niklas Sundin (Dark Tranquillity) interviewed". Decibel Magazine. Retrieved 21 September 2013.
4. Reistroffer, Brett. "Dark Tranquillity: Constructors of Melancholy Melodies". Louderthanhell.net. Retrieved 2013-07-26.
5. Anderson, Jared. Dark Tranquillity Skydancer at AllMusic. Retrieved 21 September 2013.
6. Ward, Kyle. "Dark Tranquillity Skydancer/Of Chaos And Eternal Night". Sputnik Music. Retrieved 22 September 2013.
7. Marciano, Dan (15 October 2010). "Retro Recommendation: Dark Tranquillity - Skydancer". About.com. Retrieved 22 September 2013.
8. Skydancer/Of Chaos and Eternal Night (booklet). Dark Tranquillity. Helsinki, Finland: Spinefarm. 1996. p. 11.CS1 maint: others (link)