DARK TRANQUILLITY Completes Recording New Album: 'This Feels So Fantastic'

Swedish metallers DARK TRANQUILLITY have completed recording their new album.

Earlier today (Friday, January 26),DARK TRANQUILLITY frontman Mikael Stanne shared a photo of him laying down vocals at Rogue Music, the studio owned and operated by DARK TRANQUILLITY keyboardist Martin Brändström in the heart of Gothenburg, Sweden. He wrote in an accompanying message: "Last line recorded! Damn, this feels so fantastic!

"It's been a long and incredibly rewarding writing and recording process that is now nearing its end. The songs have taken on a life of their own since the first barebones demos a year or so ago and we have truly poured our hearts and minds into this one. Now we ship it off to master @jensbogren for final mix and master.

"This year is looking very exciting indeed and we believe you will get a kick out of what we have put together for you. Cheers! @darktranquillityofficial #darktranquillity #nextalbum".

Last August, Stanne told JJ's One Girl Band that he hadn't yet come up with a possible lyrical concept for DARK TRANQUILLITY's next LP. He said: "We're working on the music right now, and I have some ideas. So far the lyrics I've written — it's not a theme. It deals with all the frustration, but I don't know if I can tie it all together or if it's gonna be very separate. Let's see. Normally that's something that kind of either I decide on that theme before the album and then the rest comes naturally. But so far I haven't really decided on one. But we still have some time, and it's gonna work out."

He continued: "It's fun to be in this process where we are right now, where we have all the songs but they need to be kind of finalized and shaped into exactly what we want 'em to be and figure out the emotional kind of impact it needs to have and how it needs to feel for us and how we want it to feel when you're listening to it. So that's where we are right now. And part of that, for me, is to kind of find that right kind of way in, so to speak, lyrically, find a way to kind of enhance what the song makes me feel."

DARK TRANQUILLITY's latest LP, "Moment", which was released in November 2020, was recorded at Nacksving Studios and Rogue Music by Martin Brändström and then mixed/mastered by Jens Bogren at Fascination Street Studios.

In July 2023, guitarist Christopher Amott announced his departure from DARK TRANQUILLITY. He said in a statement that there was "no bad blood at all" between him and the other members of DARK TRANQUILLITY and explained that it was "time" for him to concentrate on some new music that he was "very proud of".

The 46-year-old Amott, who was a founding member of ARCH ENEMY, alongside his brother Michael Amott, officially joined DARK TRANQUILLITY in 2020 after previously being a member of the band's touring lineup since 2017.

A few hours later, DARK TRANQUILLITY issued the following statement regarding Amott's departure: "We are sad to announce that Chris Amott is leaving the band to pursue his own musical path. It has been an honor and a pleasure to play with him and we are parting amicably. To fill in for him in the near future we will have the awesome shredder Joey Concepcion joining us for the rest of the summer.

"Our mission stays the same - to explore this melancholy that neighbours to rage. A path forged by all members of DARK TRANQUILLITY - past and present. There may be some new faces on stage but in our extended family, much is the same. Niklas Sundin is still setting our visual tonality and Martin Henriksson is still our manager."

Three years ago, DARK TRANQUILLITY parted ways with drummer Anders Jivarp and bassist Anders Iwers.

Jivarp was an original member of DARK TRANQUILLITY, having played on all of the band's releases to date. Iwers joined DARK TRANQUILLITY in 2016 and played on the group's last two albums, 2016's "Atoma" and 2020's "Moment".

Jivarp and Iwers were replaced on DARK TRANQUILLITY's recent tours by Strandberg Nilsson (IN MOURNING, WOLVES WITHIN) and Christian Jansson (GRAND CADAVER, PAGANDOM),respectively.