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With just a couple of spin, I really think it deserves far more than a 65.

It's more soft, true, but it has really good melodies, and the mixture between soft vocals and harsh doesn't fall to the typical clean chorus/harsh verse.

I have to give them more spins but for me at least a 80/100 would be fine.

Of course, light years from The Gallery or Damage Done, but for the Gallery we are talking of about 20 years ago so its reasonable to expect something different but with high quality.

I wish I could say the same from Children of Bodom..

Totally agree with Tale on this one. After a dozen spins so far this is minimum 8 -8.5/10 album, at least for me. Not as great as DT's best albums but certainly not that much weaker than Character or Fiction. I don't even have to mention that it's above We Are The Void.
Couple of songs have a Projector vibe to them and that's cool and couple of faster ones remind me of Damage Done, so what's not to like. And I certainly don't mind some small amount of experimentation. As far as I'm concerned, as a long time DT fan, great melodic death release. I Love it.

Long time listener here and I had no problems what so ever with
the slight change of direction on the Construct. It's not as slow or
soft as you seem to express in your review. In fact it's not very far
from Haven and Projector in those areas. On the Construct, the
band concentrates on creating dark, moody and atmospheric
songs. They have done this in the past but have focused on
theses aspects more than ever on their latest release. Like you
mentionned Stanne is fantatstic, in fact I find his tone and the
sharpness & precision in his growls more impressive than in past
releases. The Construct takes elements from all their albums
starting from projector to We are The Void and the outcome is
excellent. In my opinion, there is only one weak track on the
album: "Apathetic". On the album, you can find tracks for about
any DT fan out there. The Silence in Between, For Broken Words
and The Science of Noise is classic DT. Uniformity, What Only You
Know and State of Trust takes the Projetor approach.


Overall I strongly disagree with your critic of this album. People
have complained that DT didn't change much on their previous
album and that they sounded too "samey". Now that they have,
people complain about their shift in which they rely heavily on
building great atmospheres and moods for their songs. Much like
with projector and it's less than desirable first reactions to it when
it first came out in 1999, i'm fairly positive most DT fans will come
to regard it in a good light with time .

Highlights: Uniformity, Silence In Between, Endtime Hearts, State of Trust, What Only You Know

My score would be around 88

Totally +1

I have long deliberately avoided posting reviews of my favorite band on MR, but was going to give it a shot for Construct. While going through the album non-stop ever since it came out (and I had it on pre-order), I missed my chance. All for the better, I guess, since I am not sure whether I would be objective ...
What makes me a fan? Anyone who responded here, and says they were listening to DT for a long time, can claim the same thing. Well, I own all of the albums, all of the premium additions with all bonus tracks, many with all bandmembers' signatures. I have never missed DT tour on the North American soil, spoke with DT members every chance I got, discussing things musical and beyond. A few years ago the best gift for my B-day I could get was my bro-in-law snapping a shot of me with Niklas Sundin and then framing it for me. And that was after we finally made our way to the stage at one of the shows, when Niklas spotted my in the crowd, he actually waved in between the songs, because he remembered me from every other trip DT has taken through the States. My relative was ecstatic.
In one of our conversations after the show, Niklas was A - pretty surprised that some older dude from the States is into DT so much, but B - he also told me that they don't really like if many fans immediately like their albums. To me, DT songs were always onions - the more you peeled them the more they uncovered themselves. I almost have a ritual when it gets to the DT next album. I pop it in with trepidation - what if I don't like it - and then play it on repeat, non-stop for 5-6 listens, just to take it in as a whole. I never skip songs. AFter I think I understand what the mood was like for DT this time around, I whip out a booklet and listen to the album with lyrics in tow for another 5-6 listens (admission, I have done it many a times while driving). I immerse myself in their music, and qualify the album only after this lengthy procedure.
DT happens to be one of my favorite bands because through all of their eras, through all of their evolution, they managed to touched me deeply with any and all of their albums. Sure, I have my favorites, and I won't divulge them, but the truth is every one of them has a spot in my heart.
We Are the Void was the first album that didn't connect with me 100% even after multiple spins, putting it off, revisiting, under variety of circumstances. I was nervous about Construct. And if some other fans think it has We Are the Void overtones in spots, they are probably right. While I sensed tension and unease with We Are the Void in DT songwriting, and maybe that is why the album did not quite work for me, Construct takes me to a new place. This is an album of brood, of moodiness, but not by angry younger kids, but by grownup experienced adult men. This album soothes, relaxes me, it brings a tear to me eye, it makes me think of entire haplessness of some of the things I do, and it eventually brings relief. I leave discussing individual tracks off of this length post, and I am not going to claim that Construct is sheer genius, but I sensed the relief in DT themselves after this album saw the light of the world the way it came out. I sense more transformation in the band to come. Perhaps some fans of the other eras could be lost, some new fans may be gained. This album did nothing to shake my love for the band, however, and probably it is time again to revisit We Are the Void. And, BTW, sitting there trying to decipher Stanne's cryptic lyrics is a pleasure in and of itself. Sure the guy is an amazing growler (the best probably), a soulful tearjerking Depeche Mode style crooner (who is getting with clean vocals every time around), but he is a deep profound poet whose lyrics I can read even without music playing.

Yes, I'm like this with my favourite bands - always happened with new Rush albums. After one listen to the new DT I'd probably give it a score in the 60s, but it deserves closer attention and time, which hopefully I'll be able to give it...

I remember one of my friends saying their albums always suck for the first five listens and I thought those were true words.

Damage Done is now my submission for the most overrated melodeath album of all time.

Strongly agree with Alex's observation that Stanne is a tremendous vocalist, and interesting lyricist. DT sure won that trade with In Flames.

Awful review

Personally i don't think it's that great but it's not bad either. It does take a few listens to "get it". At the first spin i thought it was average and i would have given it a score in the 60ish range. Hwever after a dozen more listen i found that it's actually pretty decent and i'probably give it 75 (but nothing more)

Certainly a decent listen but we are far from Damage Done , Haven , Projector , The Gallery and even Character here. My biggest complain would be that they went too far on the atmospheric front (even though i love Projector) at the expense of aggression and riffs. But for sure those who normally like atmospheric oriented albums will probably dig this more than i did.

I liked this album to an extent but I did feel it was just too atmospheric sounding for me. And Mikael is a great vocalist on the album which I clearly stated in the review. He really is one of the finest vocalist around in all of metal. I've listened to DT from Skydancer all the way to Construct. Overall DT is one of the best damn metal bands period. I just couldn't get into the progressive atmospheric mood this time around......so I guess arrest me over it.

Gotta agree with the sentiments here. Certainly not their best work, but certainly good enough for a better score then this. Give it 2 weeks in the player, then come back and re-read the review. My guess is, it would change. DT albums seem to really need to be "digested."

This album is awesome.

Seems to me that most who take issue with it are those that became fans of the band in the early 2000s. They look at albums like Damage Done and Character as the band's defining sound, which makes this new one severely clash with that.

But DT have always evolved their sound, usually after about two or three albums. This one has much more in common with Projector than anything they've done since. People wanting that fast and heavy stuff are shit outta luck here.

But Projector is one of my favorite DT albums, so it works for me. Much better than a 65/100.

opinions are like assholes, everybody has one, I've liked what I've heard of Construct (through tracks released to DT's website) but I can see why it could get an unfavourable review as well

Thats exactly what happens to me with Blind Guardian, I guess we all have a favourite band and we follow the same paths in order to listen to it..

I havent been able to go into At the Edge of time, even trying it so many times, and to me its the worst album of the band, eventhough it has son great reviews everywhere..

I hope the next one turns out to be great for me..

I've liked what I've heard of this album too.

We Are The Void was also good and much more interesting than Fiction.

I agree with the "onion" comment - DT requires a bit of immersion to get the finer nuances of the song.

Easily worth more than a 65 IMO.... better than We Are The Void, a little slow in places but definitely not their worst. I'd give it at least 75...

Well maybe that explains why I've always found DT incredibly overrated.

So I've been listening to this album over the weekend.

So far high lights tracks are the punchy "Apathetic" and "Endtime Hearts," incidentally both tracks composed solely by guitarist Niklas Sundin.

Rest of the album seems ok, similar in vein to We Are The Void but lacking some of the more epic, wintery vibe of songs like "Arkhangelsk" (again a Sundin song).

It's a bit like Haven or Fiction - not bad but more of the same.


BUT the big problem:

As I was listening to this album, I had these thoughts:

- Was this album really necessary?

- Do Dark Tranquillity having anything more to offer?

- Do I need anymore newer DT albums in my collection (I have all from Minds I to Construct)?




And for some reason, last few DT albums remind me a lot of Final Fantasy VII soundtrack, especially the moody bits - this a good thing by the way.