Skydancer (Dark Tranquillity album)

Sundin described Skydancer as "unique" within the band's catalogue due to its "weirdness and eccentricity", which caused him to look back on the album as "more of an acquired taste rather than a breakthrough release."[3] When asked how far the band has come since the release of this album, Niklas Sundin stated:

Skydancer is a very weird album and there really isn't anything else like it – for good and bad. Most of the songs contain 20+ riffs that never are repeated in the same way, and the integration of clear vocals and acoustic guitars were extremely unorthodox for its time, as were the advanced use of counterpoint and recurring musical motifs. Not to mention the lyrics. It's unashamedly pretentious and a good example of the kind of over-the-top seriousness and attempt to define the world that one only can achieve with a young person's worldview. The teenage mind that knows and understands everything.[4]

Sundin recalled "a real sense of excitement throughout the songwriting process, and it felt like we really were onto something new and original that we needed to capture on tape and let people listen to as soon as possible."[3]

Sundin, while noting that the band were well prepared,[3] recalled that "studio recordings back then were always stressful. Our budget only allowed for ten studio days for recording and mixing, so there wasn't any time to fine-tune things, and we often had to use first takes even if they weren't perfect. There was a good idea of we wanted to accomplish, but we lacked the studio knowledge to communicate it to the engineers, who in turn were clueless about extreme metal, so there were lots of tension and misunderstandings."[3]

Niklas Sundin observed that the album was not properly remastered at the time of the 2000 edition, and indicated that the twentieth anniversary edition would mark the first proper mastering of the album.[3] Describing the production as "the weak point" of Skydancer,[3] and qualifying that "there are limits to what one can do without access to the separate instrument tracks,"[3] he expressed his opinion that "everything sounds much better now. The album is so old that there wasn't even any proper mastering done the first time around; all songs had a different output volume and are sonically very incoherent."[3]

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[5]
Sputnik Music	[6]

Skydancer has received generally positive reviews, although the album's marked departure from later material has been met with some critical barbs. For instance, writing for Allmusic, Jared Anderson criticized the "generally fractured and unfocused" arrangements and "shifting tempos, rhythms, and time signatures" for "limit[ing] the album's appeal".[5] Conversely, Sputnik Music praised the album for its "awesome song writing and flawless execution", which the critic suggested is the first melodic death metal album."[6]

Reflecting upon Skydancer, a "retro review" by About.com described it as a "dark horse" in the band's catalogue, "even more so than the controversial Projector.[7] Describing the album as "primitive" and featuring an "underwhelming" performance by Anders Fridén, the reviewer nonetheless praised the "sense of adventurism".[7]

All arrangements by Dark Tranquillity[8]