Dark Tranquillity Vocalist's Favorite Swedish Death Metal Albums

Here are Dark Tranquillity vocalist Mikael Stanne’s five favorite Swedish death metal albums.

As a more than three-decade veteran of the Swedish metal scene, the 50-year-old Stanne is, of course, one of its pioneers and enduring leaders. With his dual-threats vocal talents reigning over Dark Tranquillity’s 13-album career, Stanne is a Swedish death metal icon.

So, we had to know what others Swe-death records he loves the most! But first…

About Dark Tranquillity

From: Sweden

First Album: Skydancer (1993)

New Album: Endtime Signals

After operating under the name Septic Broiler for a couple of years, Dark Tranquillity officially began in 1991. Stanne played rhythm guitar in the initial lineup, while Anders Friden handled vocals on 1993’s Skydancer before jumping ship over to In Flames. Stanne, meanwhile, was famously the session vocalist on In Flames’ 1992 debut, Lunar Strain.

Since 1995’s influential The Gallery, Stanne has fronted Dark Tranquillity, evolving his style along with the band’s sound, leaning into cathartic cleans and countering them with his intelligible, gravely snarl.

In 2020 and 2021, Dark Tranquillity parted ways with two of its original members (guitarist Niklas Sundin and drummer Anders Jivarp), making Stanne the lone remaining founder. And despite these challenging lineup changes, he’s kept the band steady as they’ve delivered some true late career standouts in 2020’s Moment and this year’s Endtime Signals (out now on Century Media).

Listen to “The Last Imagination” off Dark Tranquillity’s new album directly below and keep scrolling to see Stanne’s favorite Swedish death metal albums.