01. Ascension
02. Light Up Your Sky
03. Dying Light
04. Crimson Portrait
05. Children Of The Sun
06. Final Fiction
07. Silver Shades
08. Hollow Intent
09. Everdark
10. The Wolf Within
11. In Thorns

Mikael Stanne fans who weren’t wowed by Endtime Signals have subsequently had the opportunity to enjoy his voice in other settings, courtesy of Cemetery Skyline and The Halo Effect. Disappointed fans who specifically are looking for something to scratch the classic Dark Tranquillity itch, however, may find more pleasure in directing their attention towards the new album by Destinity.

My review of 2021’s In Continuum, and the discussion that emerged beneath it, have covered the evolution, or arguably devolution, of the French band’s style over the decades; while they’ve long had a melodeath core to their music, the form in which it took has arguably become increasingly derivative of other more established bands in the genre with each passing release. By the time of In Continuum, which followed a hiatus in the 2010s, they had become, as one commenter put it, a Dark Tranquillity doppelgänger; however, they were a very good doppelgänger, and so the question arises of how possible it is to enjoy well-made music that is highly derivative of other bands. It’s a question that different people will have different answers to; those such as myself who don’t find the similarity to detract from the experience of listening to Destinity will have found In Continuum to be a very enjoyable album, and the case is much the same with Ascension.

It’s not fair to attribute everything on Ascension to Dark Tranquillity; there’s fast, aggressive riffs reminiscent of At The Gates (such as the verses of “Final Fiction” and “The Wolf Within”), and also some Mors Principium Est-esque guitar leads. Nevertheless, it’s pretty hard to listen to the likes of “Dying Light”, “Hollow Intent” or “Everdark” and not naturally draw comparisons with Dark Tranquillity in particular, as the mesh of punchy riffs, memorable guitar lead lines, and modern-sounding synths (performed by Florent Barboni, who has relinquished his drum duties in the band following the appointment of Florent Marzais) calls back strongly to albums such as Damage Done and Fiction.

That said, each of us has genres in which anything generic-sounding is immediately unappealing and others in which we can still derive significant pleasure from good yet uninnovative albums, and melodeath falls firmly into the latter category for me. Much like In Continuum and Resolve In Crimson before it, Ascension is full of fun, memorable and engaging songs, pretty much from the off. The brief introductory title track leads swiftly into “Light Up Your Sky”, which immediately hits the spot with the double bass drum beat and dancing dual guitar leads of its opening seconds, and doesn’t let up across its energetic verses and anthemic chorus.

I’d say overall the album perhaps falls slightly shy of In Continuum due to the presence of a couple of slightly lesser tracks; my mind particularly goes to “Crimson Portrait”, whose bridge somewhat elevates an otherwise slightly pedestrian song, and “Silver Shades” and “Hollow Intent”, which are likeable but a bit Gothenburg-by-numbers. On the flip side, among the record’s standout tracks are the fast and fierce “Dying Light”, the good attempt at recreating a Fiction-era quasi-ballad that is “Children Of The Sun” (featuring Deathless Legacy’s Selva as a guest vocalist), and groovy “Everdark”. The record also ends at its strongest, as “In Thorns” for me is the clear highlight, replete with great melodic hooks that lean slightly more towards early-era In Flames.

The lack of originality here will be too big an obstacle for some to overcome, and that’s entirely understandable, but those who can look past it will find a tight and accomplished Gothenburg-style melodeath album filled with hooky tracks; for those let down by recent efforts by Dark Tranquillity and other big names in the genre, Ascension may well be the tonic you’ve been seeking.