Well, people do try to claim nu-metal is metal...
Hates a strong word. I do not think much of his vocal or lyrical abilities, although they probably suffer, because my natural comparison is to Mikael for vocals, Niklas or Mikael for lyrics. Everyone's going to suffer a bit when compared to the best - still, imo Anders lies somewhere about the average mark, where In Flames at their best lie way above.
Anders can get a crowd stirred up, I saw that myself when I went to see them - although that day I was more impressed with Soilwork in terms of what they were playing. I just think In Flames could probably find a better vocalist.
As for the comment of In Flames not really fitting into metal these days... They're heading elsewhere, but they've still got roots sprawling back as it were. Bands like Katatonia, Anathema, Paradise Lost, Ulver etc.etc. who started out metal but travelled elsewhere are often still claimed as metal, listened to by metalheads and liked by them.
I think one of the marks of a truly great band is that they can make changes in their music and still sound good from one album to a next, imprinting their style on it. I personally wouldn't say In Flames have done that, although thats always going to be a matter of debate and taste. Even going nu-metal, I'd of expected more from them - as it is, I have difficulty listening to songs from it to the point where I can't listen to one all the way through.
