DARK TRANQUILLITY are back at it again, releasing their 11^th full-length album to date. Even after over 25 years of writing and touring, these guys are still monsters of Death Metal. This album is no different. The Swedish band is delivering one massive album to the world. Having been a fan of the band for a good while now, this album feels refreshing. Even though the last one wasn't bad per say, this one blows it away with enticing melodies and gripping riffs.

The album opens up with "Encircled", which has the guitar riffs and keyboard melody to immediately get you in the DARK TRANQUILLITY mood; they don't mess around, they bring you into their world right away. This is followed by the title track "Atoma", which inflamed the social network a few weeks ago. It was for both good and bad reasons. The song in itself is magnificent, but the video that was made for it was 'ok' at best, and that led to some bad reactions. The mix of clean and deep guttural vocals really brings the song to a whole other level and makes you forget about the video.

Next up is one of my favourites from the album, "Forward Momentum". The deep meaning of this song is not lost in the dark melody. The video made for this is as apocalyptic as the song's sound. The world is about to collide with another celestial body and Mikael is trying to escape with his kid and parents. Everything about this song is perfect, the emotion and the timing of each high point in the music just makes you shiver as the end is approaching. This had to be the video I added to my review, so check it out here.

Moving on to "Faithless by Default"; where the band truly found a great hook. The melody and words used in the chorus will have everyone singing out loud - I know I did. The keyboard is definitely a huge part of the melody again, with a deep harmonious sound that will get stuck in your head.

Most of the album is typical DARK TRANQUILLITY; hard, passionate, melodic emotions. However, then you get to "Clearing Skies", which threw me off by its simplicity and deepness at the same time. You'll have to close your eyes and open your ears wide to bask in all the emotions of this song. I'm literally at a loss for words to describe the feelings I have towards this masterpiece.

This 12 song album will please any DARK TRANQUILLITY fan out there and more. I see them getting a lot of attention with this new album in the near future. They definitely deserve it too, even if the overall length is only 49 minutes, it feels like we aren't missing any material to call it a perfect album.