Spain's Hall Of Metal has issued an interview with DARK TRANQUILLITY guitarist Niklas Sundin. The following is an excerpt:

Q: What's behind this new album (We Are The Void)? The lyrics are usually written by Mikael, but I suppose you can still explain to us what they are about.

A: "Honestly - not really, ha ha! I have the "ritual" of not wanting to delve too deep into the lyrics before the real CD is out and I can sit and listen to it while reading the booklet and really absorbing everything. When working in the studio, you get to hear some words here and there, and when helping out with the vocal tracking, one tends to focus more on the rhythms and sounds of the voice instead of the actual words. The biggest different from our previous lyrics is that they're actually based around the most generic metal topic of them all - death! We've always been avoiding the subject since it can get very predictable, but I think that Mikael has the skills to make something unique out of it."

Q: Fiction and Character were similar works. However, the new work shows a shift away from the Damage Done sound. You sound darker and even more melodic. Did you need a change of style?

A: In my view, definitely. The last few albums were all very solid, but it probably was time to do something a bit different, both for us and the audience. It's no secret that I personally prefer the more edgy and adventurous stuff, so I'm very satisfied with how the new album turned out."

Q: You didn't want to create a Fiction 2, right? I suppose so because you created something different but with your characteristic sound.

A: "Yes, exactly. The D.T. sound will always be there to some degree. It happens that we work on a new song in the rehearsal room and think that it sounds completely different from what we're usually doing, but when all of us have contributed with our parts and Mikael adds the vocals; it ends up sounding like us anyway, which is a great thing. Even if we have a lot of different "styles" when it comes to riffs and arrangements, there still is the D.T. character shining through."

Read the full interview at this location.

Dark Tranquillity will release their new album, We Are The Void, via Century Media Records on the following dates:

Sweden: February 24th

Germany / Austria / Switzerland / Benelux / Italy / Australia: February 26th

UK / France / Greece / Denmark / Norway / Rest of Europe: March 1st

Spain / Portugal: March 2nd

Finland / Hungary: March 3rd

North America : March 9th

Now you can listen to this landmark melodic death metal album on the band’s official MySpace page until Friday, February 26th.

We Are The Void will be available as CD, Digital Download and strictly limited edition with a special die-cut digipak packaging which will include 2 bonus songs - 'Stars Of Nothingness' and 'To Where Fires Cannot Feed' - plus a bonus DVD that contains the following material:

1. Studio Report – The Making of The Void (produced by Andres Bjoerler/ THE HAUNTED)

2. Making Of 'Shadow In Our Blood' video

3. 'ThereIn' (Live In Milan)

4. 'Final Resistance' (Live In Milan)

5. Where Death Is Most Alive DVD trailer

Furthermore you can also check out a video about the Where Death Is Most Alive DVD premiere in the band’s hometown Gothenburg which took place at the Bio Roy Theater and the listening session with the international metal press the day after the premiere. You can find the video below.

More on Dark Tranquillity, including their live itinerary, at: darktranquillity.com, myspace.com/dtofficial.