Oh my GOLLERZZZ!!! The new In Flames . . .

[Nate The Great]

Is much better than I expected.

I'm such an optimist, I actually preordered it. I've only heard it a couple times, but it crushes Soundtrack to your Escape. I'd say it's a good 7.5/10, and that's about as high as I'm willing to give any of these current Swedish melo-death-turned-modern-metal bands. It's better than the latest Arch Enemy, slightly better than the latest Soilwork, and probably better than the latest The Haunted. Not saying much, but it is an improvement for In Flames.

Anybody allergic to anything modern should stay away. They still have tons of catchy choruses and stuff, but they balance it out nicely with guitar harmonies and solos and stuff. The songs are just much more interesting than they've been for a while. They're also much more energetic feeling. It's like In Flames wrote an album strictly meant to be played live. I can really see all the 14 year-olds bouncing up and down to this stuff.

I'm assuming most people have already heard this like two months ago, because of illegal downloading activities, but I just thought I'd throw my useless opinion out there (see my Svartsyn threads).

 

[Ellestin]

Might d/l this to play on the highway.

 

[Nate The Great]

Might d/l this to play on the highway.

That's probably the perfect place to listen to it.

And since they cut way back on those TERRIBLE clean vocals, the chances of road rage are way down.

 

[Ellestin]

I'm confused by your avatar change

 

[MadeInNewJersey]

me too, Nate had the best avatar around

 

[Nate The Great]

Ahhh . . .fine. I'll switch back.

But you should know, the new avatar is a hint at what my GLORIUS recommendation is going to be.

 

[Ellestin]

Hurray for the avatar!!!

I'm in line fror tomorrow's reco roster and still no idea what I'm gonna pick

 

[swizzlenuts]

I found it to be a half step back to clayman. Seemed to mix new with old, but put way more new than old.

 

[Nate The Great]

I'm definitely not recommending everybody go out and buy this, but I do think it's way better than their last piece of crap.

 

[Reign in Acai]

Nate if you have any time, mind posting a sample? If not, don't worry about it.

 

[Nate The Great]

Two samples coming.

 

[Nate The Great]

Take This Life

Reflect the Storm

One with female vocals:
Dead End

 

[lizard]

I love In Flames and Metallica threads these days. Merely mention them and prepare for the

 

[Reign in Acai]

Didn't like "Take this life"

Reflect the Storm was pretty good. Neither song sounded remotely near something you would hear off of clayman though.

 

[Nate The Great]

Yes. I don't hear much Clayman on there.

 

[cthulufhtagn]

boooooring. christ, talk about your "formula" bands....

 

[Dark One]

Ok, listened to this again and have the following quick thoughts by song:

1. - Take This Life, Good. Modern sounding but catchy and heavy, with a chorus that sucks you in and for once doesn't make Anders' clean vocals sound like total crap (studio magic obviously). But I really like it.

2. - Leeches, Pathetic. Seriously, garbage is more appealing that this turd.

3. - Reflect the Storm, Above Average. Believe it or not, I like Anders' clean vocal parts much better than the growls on this one, but it works and has a nice, escapist feel to it.

4. - Dead End, Average. The female vocals are nice, but doesn't really lift this track up from the doldrums of boredom. I enjoy the guitar melody solo, but other than that it's very forgettable.

5. - Scream, Pathetic. See the "Leeches" comment - Good Lord, it just sounds like it was made up on the spot and recorded in 2 hours or something. No imagination, just noise and filler.

6. - Come Clarity, good. Now this I like. If it wasn't for Anders' horrible clean vocals during the verses, I'd enjoy it tremendously, but those rotten, whiny, toneless verses ruin what could've been a fantastic song. Love the chorus, love the guitars, like the desparate sounding atmosphere.

7. - Vacuum, Above Average. Catchier, more evolved version of the "modern" In Flames sound (which of course doesn't mean much, but a nice little diversion nevertheless). Nice melodious guitar solo.

8. - Pacing Death's Trail, Good. One of the better tracks on the album, this definitely has the old school In Flames sound circa the "Colony" era. Wish more of the tracks showcased this style. Crunchy, melodious and formulaic In Flames the way I like it.

9. - Crawl Through Knives, Above average. Similar in "old school" style to 'Pacing Death's Trail' with another nice, melodious chorus but again drowned out by some pathetic clean vocals from Anders on the bridges before the choruses. When will he ever learn?? Nice otherwise.

10. - Versus Terminus, Average. Heavy hitter, semi-melodious chorus, not much else. No substance, but not horrible either. Pass.

11. - Our Infinite Struggle, Below average. Monotonous, generic sounding melodic death metal followed by a soft "oh look how versataile and evolved we are" solo. Devoid of creativity.

12. - Vanishing Light, Average. Nice energy, but again, just no substance and straightforward. One melody riff repeated ad-nauseum. Might make a nice live song, but nothing I'd want to listen to over and over again.

13. - Your Bedtime Story is Scaring Everyone, Total Crap. I have no idea what the point is of this piano laden, static filled instrumental, but regardless, it does absolutely nothing for me and is an asinine way for such a formulaic band to end their album. Even diehard fanboys must be left scratching their heads, with everyone else just shrugging and moving on.

Final Verdict: 5.5 out of 10 for a few shining moments and some small glimpses into the history of what once was one of my favorite bands. The lack of creativity begs for a cliché ridden summation, so here it is: Oh how the mighty have fallen.

Jason

 

[Demonspell]

Take This Life is one of the better songs? Of course I'm not the least surprised, but that alone (along with the fact Anders still thinks his clean vocals somehow work) rules out any possibility of a comeback, or even listenability, for me.

 

[MadeInNewJersey]

yeah, I have to be honest, I don't even want to listen to it now

 

[Reign in Acai]

I hate Lars...







I mean Anders