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In Flames: A sense of purpose

22/04/08 || Euthanatos

I really wanted to flame this album like there was no tomorrow. See, I loved In Flames up until “Clayman”. And while not hating the albums after that one as much as most people do, I was still highly disappointed and pissed off at those lackluster releases. The thing is, something has happened which I never thought possible. In Flames gained my respect with this album. That’s right. I can finally respect this band, because they’re trying to evolve and make a different album, but they’re not trying to sound fashionable and they are a lot more creative this time around.

Just listen to the opening riff to “The Mirror’s Truth” (which happens to start the album as a whole). It sounds like something out of an indie rock band. But it actually turns out to be a very decent track, appealing in its own bizarre little way. Then comes “Disconnected”, something so close, but SO CLOSE to what In Flames used to be, I couldn’t help smiling. “Sleepless Again”, really slow, mellow beginning, suddenly drops into your quintessential In Flames song, but has different atmospheres throughout its course, which keeps it interesting. “Alias” might be my favorite song, and it’s also probably the gayest, so that says something about me for sure. I love the keyboards and the more mainstream vibe to it. Yes, I just said that. “I’m The Highway” takes thing right back to metal, with a pair of NWOBHM guitars, which sound really cool. The overall progression of the song could be better. “Delight and Anger” starts just like most songs on this album, with just an awkward guitar riff, and maybe these guys could have made things a little different here. It gets really repetitive. “The Chosen Pessimist” is another worthwhile moment, an almost entirely instrumental track with a post-rock/ambient like vibe, which is something I really dig, so props here. I could’ve done without the emo vocals towards the end, but okay, no one is perfect.

From this point on, I guess you’ve already noticed there are a lot of compelling bits and pieces in this album. I don’t know if it’s just me getting old, but this album truly sounds different for me. No, it’s not brilliant In Flames from the past, but it drags you into the depths, yearning for you to listen to it and search for more and more details. It’s the kind of album you’d want to hear when you’re sick of everything else in your collection. It has a lot of different sounds and song structures (although there are a lot of similar beginnings). I think In Flames have finally found what they were looking for.

I’m going out on a limb here and awarding these guys with a grade higher than the original 5 I was going to give them, not because of the overall album, but for providing, finally, something different from the shitfest of recent years.

The cover: I don’t know what all the fuss is about. This is one cool looking cover. Sure, it looks emo or whatever young people find fashionable these days, but who cares, it looks good, isn’t that the whole point?

6 dreadlocks out of 10.

Information
Released: 2008
Label: Nuclear Blast
Website: www.inflames.com
Band
Anders Fridén: vocals
Jesper Strömblad: guitars
Björn Gelotte: guitars
Peter Iwers: bass
Daniel Svensson: drums

Tracklist
01. The Mirror’s Truth
02. Disconnected
03. Sleepless Again
04. Alias
05. I’m the Highway
06. Delight and Angers
07. Move Through Me
08. The Chosen Pessimist
09. Sober and Irrelevant
10. Condemned
11. Drenched in Fear
12. March to the Shore

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