Damage Done
Occupation
- Vocals: Mikael Stanne
- Guitar: Martin Henriksson
- Guitar: Niklas Sundin
- Bass: Michael Nicklasson
- Keyboards: Martin Brändström
- Drums: Anders Jivarp
Damage Done (English for damage inflicted ) is the sixth album by the Swedish melodic death metal band Dark Tranquillity. The album was released on 20 August 2002 via Century Media. Damage Done earned the band in Sweden and Germany, the first chart entry.
Genesis
Already at an early stage of songwriting turned out that go to the new songs in terms of intensity and aggressiveness back to the older albums such as The Gallery, The Mind's I. Therefore, singer Mikael Stanne waived on clear vocals. The still strong standing in the foreground on the previous album Haven electronic elements were blended into the background again. But the guitars are dominant on this album. Curiously, keyboardist Martin Brändström leading role in this decision.
The album was recorded from February to March 2002 at Studio Fredman in Gothenburg. The album was produced by Frederik Nordström and Dark Tranquillity. Nordström played only a small role in the recordings. The band recorded the songs on in his absence. Only later Nordström returned to the studio and mixed from the album. The mastering took Göran Finnberg in "The Mastering Room ".
For the song " Monochromatic Stains " a video clip in monochrome format was filmed. The video shows visual and contextual relationships for the film The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari. Directed by the Greek Achilleas Gatsopoulos who has made the short film as part of a seminar work while studying in London.
Background
For the album track is loud Mikael Stanne two reasons. Firstly it comes to final decisions, people sometimes have to make in life.
"It's very often in life about which path you want to take. If one has decided only once at one of these intersections, then you can usually not go back - damage done "!
The second reason was provided by the process of songwriting. The band wanted to make good songs and was therefore quite tense, as if the songs were written. As the songs were the tension was gone. "The damage done what, on to new adventures ," said Stanne.
The lyrics of the song " Monochromatic Stains " tells a criminal history. According Stanne the title of the song provides an indication of who is the culprit in this story. In the "Format C: for Cortex" it comes to the question of how people influence others. To the title of the song, there were long debates within band and anger. "Cathode Ray Sunshine " deals with the obsession of some people by electronic devices such as television or computer. In " White Noise / Black Silence " is about the complete detachment from the information overload of modern mass media.
" Just to go his way alone, not to be influenced and to speak for themselves. The man was supposed to be a thinking individual and not just a consumer and will-less recipient of the ideas and opinions of the outside world. "
The final instrumental " Ex Nihilo " was created shortly before the end of the recordings and contains riffs and melodies that did not fit into the other songs. In an interview Stanne explained that he felt that the song not be able to further enhance by a text, so it was left at an instrumental.
Reception
The German magazine Metal Hammer has named Damage Done "Album of the Month". Reviewer Gunnar Sauermann described the album as " a flawless, polished in many facets and fiery diamonds' and awarded with seven points, the highest score. Reviewer "Metal Greg" by the online magazine Metal.de described Damage Done "reference album for the melodic death metal anno 2002 " and awarded ten points, the highest score.
Damage Done reached # 29 in the Swedish and number 83 in the German album charts. It was the first chart positions the band's history.
Versions
The album was released on CD and LP. A limited edition in digipak contained the song " I, Deception " as a bonus track, and the video for " Monochromatic Stains ". Today, the album with the bonus track and the video clip will be sold. The Japanese version contains a bonus track, the song " The Poison Well". The LP version has a different cover artwork. Both images were created by Niklas Sundin and his company Cabin Fever Media. The cover of the regular CD shows an obscure live photo of the singer.