One of my favorite memories of putting on BW&BK; 6-Pack Weekend #3 was having Dark Tranquillity play an extended set (above and beyond just the standard touring set list). Right up my alley, here’s a dual DVD collection, as well as a separate twin CD set (sporting 20 melodic Swedish death metal classics, recorded in Milan, Italy). Since the Live Damage DVD (’04 release of ’02 concert), the Swedes have sporadically issued in-concert output, most notably the audio of the aforementioned Krakow visuals (on Exposures) and onstage audio/video from the ’07 summer festivals as part of the expanded edition of Fiction. However, at the time of their first foray into home video, Dark Tranquillity were in the midst of appealing to the nu-metal/emo-metalcore crowd in America (see: Projector, Haven and, to an extent, Damage Done), but since then, they’ve (seen the error of the ways of countrymen Soilwork/In Flames?) righted the ship. Of the ten songs on this initial disc, only ‘The Treason Wall’ and ‘The Wonders At Your Feet’ appeared on the earlier DVD (although it must be said, ‘The New Build’, ‘Focus Shift’ and The Lesser Faith’ can be found on Fiction mach II). Still, that leaves half of disc A as new material and it’s not all songs written after the aforementioned, as ‘Edenspring’ is an oldie, dating back to The Gallery album, in ’95! Disc #2 doesn’t fair as well, on the “unreleased” scale, just three cuts (‘Dreamlore Degenerate’, ‘My Negation’ and ‘The Mundane And The Magic’) not part of either previous effort, but you’d have to be a big fan to have already purchased the multiple formats needed to secure them all.

Ever wonder why bands record in certain cities? Take a look/listen to the opening ‘Treason Wall’, the fans soccer chanting and singing along as soon as the intro is completed. At the start, Mikael Stanne’s gravely voice is foremost in the mix, backed by keyboards, the guitars only cutting through during the breaks and/or choruses. His raps to the crowd are included, dispensing a history lesson, as well as recognizing and inciting the crowd reaction. The Italian mob is in good voice, even late into the evening, on ‘Therein’. Disc #2 begins with a female voice, that of newest Theatre Of Tragedy chanteuse, Nell Sigland (ex-The Crest) on ‘Insanity’s Crescendo’, who returns for a second duet with Stanne on ‘The Mundane And The Magic’. Observations? Odd there’s nothing off Skydancer since great pains were obviously undertaken to minimize repeating tracks available elsewhere, yet still provide a career spanning retrospective. That said, still strange not hearing ‘Monochromatic Stains’.

Most of the visuals are left for the double DVD, the CD featuring a few color “photos” lifted from the live show, as well as black & white pencil drawings, including the actual artwork on each disc. The DVD booklet features identical artwork, in the slightly larger format its box allows. After the Milan concert is done, the second DVD begins with a 47-minute trip through the band’s history. Several old members, from various incarnations, are interviewed and while former singer (and current In Flames frontman) Anders Friden could not (would not?) speak on camera, they did get At The Gates contemporary Thomas Lindberg to speak about the old days and the bands playing together. During the chin wag, we get snippets of old camcorder footage, as far back as ’91, showing the evolution of Dark Tranquillity from a barked vocal death outfit, to Paradise Lost inspired melancholy heaviness (particularly the footage from ’97) to the more musical entity it is today.

The later DVD also includes a 21-song live compilation, personal home rehearsal tapes, early shows (‘Nightfall By The Shores Of Time’ from ’92 is precious, with Friden in shorts, a zealous fog machine and some punter’s head obliterating the camera’s view). Generally, a few songs from each bootleg quality performance are strung together, again demonstrating major career decisions, from fine-tuning of musical ability, to Stanne’s swapping guitar for microphone. By ‘Feast Of Burden’ (’01), the band looks pretty much as they do today, although guitarist Martin Henriksson is still not in braids. The sound on ‘Damage Done’ and ‘On Thought’, both from Japan, is rather muted and the final two, an outdoor festival, look almost like promotional videos, with the rapid cuts, slo-mo and other effects.