As an aside I came across a list on Rate Your Music which quoted me on Episode 666
I didn't remember writing this quote, but I checked the profile and indeed it was me. I apparently had some time on April 24th 2003 as I reviewed all In Flames' albums from Lunar to Clayman (although admittedly some of these can't really count as reviews as they are barely a couple of paragraphs). I also wrote a Siren Charms review in 2020 ripping it apart, so that's nice. Anyway, let's see if I agree with my own sentiments from nearly 21 years ago...
Lunar Strain
Stainne does a pretty good job, I especially liked his vocals in "Behind Space". It's a good start, and it's definately an album I could listen to. Worth a buy if you are into In Flames(and I'm not talking about into _Reroute to Remain_, if you are in that era and then you go to this album you won't like it, I can almost guarentee). If you aren't really into them, don't bother getting it, as it doesn't feature the best production.
Well, I'm not so big on the original Behind Space these days, but I concur with the overall conclusion. Keep in mind at the time Reroute was IF's most recent album, and I didn't bother to review that so I assume I wasn't a fan of it at that point.
Subterranean
I personally liked this release a lot. Although it only has five tracks, they are all superb songs.
I do still like Sub, but I'm not sure I'd call all of the tracks superb.
Stainne no longer on vocals, they got some other guy in ... I've forgotten his name, but, I thought the vocals on this were good.
Okay young me, firstly if you're going to namedrop Stanne then spell his name right. Secondly, don't be fucking lazy. Even in 2003 it wouldn't have taken that long to confirm Henke Forss was the vocalist. Google was a thing back then too. As for the vocals being good... my view has changed somewhat on that. They aren't awful but nor do I particularly like them.
The lyrics look bizarre, In Flames writing about love? Ah well, they pull it off well.
If you enjoy vampire lite-erotica, sure, otherwise not really mate. I don't think I partook in such literature back then but I did read a book by Poppy Z Brite when I was younger, so who knows.
Absolutely wonderful guitar work(check out the start/end to "Biosphere")and some cool, recognisable songs such as "Ever Dying" and "Subterranean" ... Stand Ablaze is a brilliant track too, one of my favorites. I think they still play this in live concerts sometimes, actually. The short instrumental "Timeless" is a creepy little tune which nicely sets up Biosphere actually. All around, great release. I was very impressed. Some songs may sound the same in melody, such as Subterranean and Ever Dying but it doesn't matter, the songs still rock. Not bad lyrics either, although a little basic.
Alright, so why do you (or I, whatever) call Ever Dying and Subterranean "recognisable" only to them say they have the same melody a few sentences later. Make more sense bro. As for playing Stand Ablaze in live concertts sometimes, no mate. Not since 1999 and not again for another 20+ years. Don't get people's hopes up with comments that haven't been fact-checked.
The Jester Race
In Flames' breakthrough album. _The Jester Race_ is simply amazing.
Good lad.
"The Jesters Dance" is the first out of two instrumentals, and a Godly one at that.
Lol, not sure I'd go as far as calling TJD "Godly", but yeah, it's nice enough.
Finally, "Dead God in Me" closes off the album averagely, in my opinion. It isn't a track you tend to remember.
Agreed.
Black Ash Inheritence
The live version of "Behind Space" is interesting, because you get an insight as to how Anders Friden differs from Mikkel Stainne.
Okay, now I'm getting annoyed. Not only do I spell Stanne as "Stainne" again, proving it wasn't a typo the first time, but I managed to spell his first name wrong too. Embarrassing.
Whoracle
Personally, I loved this album as much as I loved _The Jester Race_, the melodies, to me, seem to have gotten even better, and some of the songs on here are classics.
Eh, not sure I'd say the melodies have gotten even better. Whoracle is arguably a bit less melodic than TJR, although there are indeed many classic tracks on this album.
"Food for the Gods" Is slightly softer, and more emotional. Anders seems to spit out the vocals a little more personally in this one, adding some emotion.
I have no idea where I'm coming from on this one. FFTG is not really softer than Jotun nor would I say Anders or the song as a whole is "emotional". Maybe I was having a premonition of Siren Charms or something.
"Dialogue With The Stars" is a really good instrumental. Personally my favorite instrumental on the album, the usual way above par guitar work is at times mesmerising.
Bro, other than the "Whoracle" outro it's the only instrumental on the album, so a bit redundant to say it's your favourite.
"Jester Script Transfigured" at first did nothing for me, but, upon second listen, it's actually become one of my favorites. The vocals get more relaxed and lose the growl until the chorus, which is stunning when first yelled out, as the chorus repeats during the song it isn't quite as noticeable, in my opinion. The lyrics in this actually make little sense to me, I'm sure Anders had a meaning(Nikolas Sundin of Dark Tranquillity helped him translate his Swedish into English for this album and possibly _The Jester Race_ too)but I'm unable to pick up much. Something about a biological creation, perhaps? Who knows. The melody of the song more than makes up for that anyway.
Once again young me is spreading misinformation. Sundin wrote the lyrics for TJR and Whoracle and helped translate some of the stuff on Colony, chief. Get your facts right if you're going to put it in the review. I think from memory Sundin may have translated Episode 666 more literally from Anders' lyrics, but nothing else. In terms of the lyrics being vague and difficult to comprehend, yeah, that much is true.
"Episode 666" is arguably the most popular In Flames song ever. This song is catchy, brutal, and has flawlessly combined heavy and death metal together in an ecstatic harmony that makes "Episode 666" simply awesome.
Nice description there, young me. Good job. This was the line some rando quoted from me on his list. With that said, even in 2003 "arguably the most popular In Flames song ever" is perhaps debateable, as OFTW was likely ahead of it on that front, and Cloud Connected and Trigger both existed by this point too. Although granted both had only been out for about a year and OFTW for two years, so... I dunno, I could have been right at the time.
"Whoracle" is the instrumental that softly and calmly finishes the album off. It isn't as good as "Dialogue with the stars" but isn't a bad way to end _Whoracle_ ... although some think "Episode 666" would have been better suited to end the album.
Pretty sure I didn't poll anyone about this before writing the review, so by "some" I presumably meant "I".
These guys could almost make their lyrics complete crap(like Cannibal Corpse) and still make the songs sound terrific.
Hah, good to see I was shitting on Cannibal Corpse back then too.
Colony
_Colony_ was mainly an album In Flames' fans either loved or despised. It was certainly a change for the Swedes.
This sounds like the start of a Reroute review, not Colony. Wut? Admittedly Colony did get some criticism back then and evidently I was aware of it, but reading this back is quite amusing considering what we've heard since.
"Embody The Invisible" is possibly the best starting track I have ever heard on an album. Unbelievable! A fast-paced, catchy and brutal song that gets right in your face and blows you away. Awesome, what a way to start off.
Yeah, I still feel like Embody is a perfect opener.
"Coerced Coexistance" brings us right back to the hard metal. Starting off brutally and continuing that throughout the whole song, whilst managing to be extremely melodic and catchy. Another great solo in here. Good drumming too.
I mean, generally I still agree but "starting off brutally" ? My threshold for brutality at the time must have been quite low.
"Clad in Shadows '99" is an average track, really. I think it was only on the Japanese versions of _Colony_... I didn't really get into the _Lunar Strain_ version, so getting into this one was unlikely. It's got an okay melody and the vocals are done well, but, the other songs on the album are better.
Dafuq are you talking about you idiot? CIS '99 is awesome - although I do agree that the LS version isn't particularly great.
"Man Made God" finished the Japanese version of _Colony_. This is a great instrumental! Four minutes or so of jaw-dropping guitar work. This is the guitarists of In Flames at their magnificent and stunning best. Anyone who hasn't heard this can go download it at
www.inflames.com ... and I highly recommend it. This is the way to finish an album.
Effusive praise here, although you can no longer download the song from the In Flames website. I'd forgotten they had it on there back in the day.
If I was an In Flames fan, _Colony_ would be in my collection automatically. Any metal fan should check this out. People not into the melodic death style should probably get _Reroute to Remain_ or _Clayman_ before giving this a look, though.
Being a little elitist there pal.
Clayman
"Only For The Weak" is my favorite song on this album, and my favorite song ever. Seriously, this is the greatest metal track I've ever heard. From the beginning riffs, to the varied emotional vocals, to the awesome solo ... this has it all. I can't see how anyone can dislike this song. This was the song that brought me into the world of In Flames and metal, it has remained my favourite and may stay there for quite some time. It's almost worth buying the album just to hear this song...it also has a video.
This is cute. The greatest metal track I've ever heard... okay. In my defence I hadn't heard anywhere near as much as nowadays, but still, chill out bro. OFTW is indeed awesome but I wouldn't quite go that far. As for it being my favourite song ever... hmm, you know, maybe. I've listened to it so much nowadays that it doesn't pack the same punch as back then, of course, but it did open the gateway to IF and extreme metal for me, so, it has distinction in my storied history.
"Square Nothing" is the first song that really experiments. It starts off VERY slowly, with the vocals barely above a whisper, about half way into the song the chorus comes in and from there the song accelerates into the usual In Flames hard rock sound.
I'm sorry, what? The In Flames "hard rock" sound? Get the fuck out of here with that nonsense. I seem to once again be having premonitions of SC. Or I'm just lazy and stupid with my genre definitions.
"Satellites and Astronauts" experiments In Flames sound to the extreme, but it is just beautiful. An odd word to use when describing an in Flames song, I know, but I love this. It's so soft, but still has the In Flames sound and has a perfectly placed solo too. The lyrics are generally mumbled just above a whisper, screaming at some parts too, they are written with raw emotion, yet skillfully, too. I don't care what anyone says, this song is decent.
Jeez, this is a bit defensive. Although to go from "beautiful" and "I love this" to "I don't care what anyone says, this song is decent" is a bit of a step down within the same paragraph.
"Suburban Me" offers more hypnotic guitar frenzies, along with some enigmatic drumming and brilliant vocals. Nice solo, too.
Hypnotic guitar frenzies and enigmatic drumming. I had my thesaurus out for this one.
This isn't really death metal ... if you're looking for In Flames' Death metal, check out _The Jester Race_ and _Whoracle_, if you're looking for progressive metal, _Colony_ and _Clayman_ are better.
For goodness sake, stop getting genre definitions wrong. TJR and Whoracle are not death metal, and Colony/Clayman are certainly not "progressive metal", JHC.
So ultimately as a reviewer in 2003 I had good intentions but was also a bit of a bell. Life moves on, and so do we.
