When we say “modern Swedish metal band”, we mean a lot of different bands, but not In Flames. Nobody expects anything from this band because the period from 2006 to 2015 is a dull tune-up, rarely diluted with something interesting. And only album Battles (2016) showed that these guys still know how to create something really interesting. And now we see their new album.
My Rating: 69/100 Best song: Deep Inside
No, I will not discuss all cause and effect - all this has long been done. I'll just start discussing the album. I'll start with composer. There is little variety here. Methods for solving artistic tasks can be called interesting, but their use is too simple, trivial. It seems that initially it was not planned to release an album, but there was a desire to somehow remind the whole world that the group still exists. Here you can hear something melodious, but on a very low guitar tuning (Drop A#). Also about half of the album is occupied by modern patterns.
Vocalist's work is superb. I usually confine myself to a few words when discussing such great specialists. This case is no exception. Here is not just a good job with all the accompanying shades. The only awkward moment is a weak variety. Here extreme techniques on a verse and clean on chorus.
Instrumental parts are monotonous. Work is great, but it's also difficult to hear the diversity. An intense melodic part in tracks 3 and 7, as well as an acoustic guitar in tracks 5 and 12 - that's all you need to know about diversity. In this album, guitar riffs can be divided into two types: more similar to metal (1, 3, 8, 10, 11 tracks) and more similar to metalcore (2, 5, 6, 7, 9 tracks). However, this separation is not very obvious. Maybe because of a very low guitar tuning, maybe due to the fact that initially there was one or two drafts. Anyway, this detail turned out to be pleasant. Rhythm section - here the diversity is even less. The bass, as usual, is hard to hear in the mix. Bass was marked only in track 10, where you can hear a strong attack. However, with drums, things are better. Very intense patterns pass through the entire album from beginning to end, giving listeners a wild pleasure.
Such a great talent is not afraid of change - he himself creates them. However, it's high time to recognize that they will never repeat their best work - album The Jester Race (1996). Now they are just following the already known path, following the current trends. Yes, after the album Come Clarity (2006) this release looks relatively fresh. But I see no reason for positive review.
