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| 1999 Nuclear Blast Records |
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Colony
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Embody the Invisible
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Ordinary Story
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Scorn
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Colony
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Zombie Inc.
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Pallar Anders Visa
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Coerced Coexistence
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Resin
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Behind Space 99
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Insipid 2000
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The New World
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Line-Up
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Anders Frieden - Vocals
Peter Iwers - Bass
Jesper Strömblad - Guitar/Keyboards
Bjorn Gelotte - Lead Guitar
Daniel Svensson - Drums
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Is it me, or have all of Sweden's heavywights released albums all in
the same month? While some have disappointed (Dark Tranquillity), I'm plesantly
surprised by the return to form that In Flames have taken here. I say this
for while I felt that Whoracle was a good album, it was a huge letdown
for me after the brilliance of The Jester Race. Some of this may be that
the band had less opportunity to work on the Whoracle songs, but I think
that it was more the fact that Whoracle caught the band in transition,
with longtime In Flamesians Glenn Ljundstrom and Johan Larsson leaving
the band after that album's recording. Niklas Engelin from Gardenian stepped
in, but left to be replaced by drummer Bjorn Gelotte, who was responsible
for a lot of the new material. This change was for the best, as the band's
intensity has been upped a notch by new skinsman Daniel Svensson (ex-Sacrilege).
The movement towards the pop realm is still taking place, but I have to
hand it to In Flames for keeping the faith in the vocal department, because
to my ears, that's the main factor keeping this band from the mainstream
limelight (well, and maybe that lightning double bass work). Changing the
vocals could have made things "easier" for the band, but thankfully for
us fans, they don't seem to have any intention of this is in the near future.
There's no real point in trying to describe what Colony sounds like, for
In Flames is one of those rare bands that you compare other bands to, not
vice-versa. To attempt it anyway, I guess the core sound is an updated
Iron Maiden/Judas Priest sense of axework, tuned down to B of course, Frieden
spitting out his venomous vox with a sense of power and clarity. Which
is a good thing, as his lyrics are once again as intelligent and thought
provoking as we've come to expect. Expanding on his conceptual ideas given
earlier, it's more like reading a book than a metal lyric sheet. Anders
explains his ideas in the interview better than I ever could, so I won't
butcher the points he's trying to get across. Another picture perfect Studio
Fredman production doesn't hurt this opus either, all instruments strong
and mixed well to clarify the attack. I have to say this much though, my
immediate favorite song on the album is their 1999 rendition of Behind
Space, an awesome song done justice by this confident new line-up. No doubt
this is partially due to previous knowledge of the song, but it is a little
scary to think that the older stuff may sound more powerful than what is
more recent. The whole album grew on me exponentially though, and I have
no doubts that this disc will be spun long after the cows have gone to
pasture, an occurance which is becoming rarer and rarer as my album collection
grows. So, while there are some interesting points in the album (a little
organ line pops up at one spot), In Flames are back to business, totally
ready to conquer the world this time around, and I for one wish them the
best of luck.
7 out of 10 |
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