Lunar Strain / Subterranean
Mikael Stanne - vocals
Glenn Ljungstrom - guitars
Jesper Stromblad - guitars
Johan Lansson - bass
Bjorn Gelotte - drums and guitars
Lunar Strain
1. Behind Space
2. Lunar Strain
3. Starforsaken
4. Dreamscape
5. Everlost (part I)
6. Everlost (part II)
7. Hargalaten
8. In Flames
9. Upon an Oaken Throne
10. Clad in Shadows
Subterranean
11. Stand Ablaze
12. Everdying
13. Subterranean
14. Timeless
15. Biosphere
16. Dead Eternity
17. the Inborn Lifeless
INTRO
This cd is a re-release of their now ultra rare first two albums, "Lunar Strain" and "Subterranean." Unfortunately, I don't know who sang on "Subterranean", but I know it's not Mikael Stanne of Dark Tranquillity.
Lunar Strain
"Lunar Strain" is a a pretty good album, definitely an excellent debut. The recording for the most part is pretty weak, with the exception of Stanne's roaring, passionate vocals and the acoustic guitar. This is really a blend of Iron Maiden, death metal, thrash metal and lots of Swedish folksong. The solos and melodies are really good but the songs are kind of simplistic and get boring after a while.
Production rating 7/10
Songwriting 8/10
Subterranean
"Subterranean" is different from "Lunar Strain" in that it contains better songwriting and melodies, and much better recording. The drums are sharp and relatively well played and the vocals have a sick clarity to them. The solos are really good and sound really good as well. The acoustic passages still stand out as being folky and melodic, but not as awkward and cut-and-paste sounding as they did on their previous effort.
Production rating 8 or 9/10
Songwriting 9/10
The Jester Race
Anders Frieden - vocals
Glenn Ljungstrom - leadguitars
Jesper Stromblad - lead & acoustic guitars and keyboards
Johan Lansson - bass & backing vocals
Bjorn Gelotte - drums and lead guitars
In Flames picked up Anders Frieden (ex- Dark Tranquillity and Ceremonial Oath vocalist) after being helped by Michael Stanne, Dark Tranquillity's current vocalist. This albums theme is progressing technology and how someday, it will become independant of us humans. Anders Frieden admits he got the idea from Terminator 2. In the booklet it says "lyrical concepts and song titles by Niklas Sundin (Dark Tranquillity's guitarist) and Anders Frieden."
They have layered harmonies and melodies and a weird, sort of happy sound to their leads. There's a lot of death metal influence. The rhythm parts are really heavy. "Lord Hypnos" and "the Jester Race" are the best song on there. These guys combine At the Gates' heaviness with Dark Tranquillity's harmonies. Dark Tranquillity and In Flames are very close and often help one another out.
Production rating 10/10
Songwriting 9/10
Black Ash Inheritance
Anders Frieden - vocals and percussion
Glenn Ljungstrom - rhythm guitars
Jesper Stromblad - lead & acoustic guitars and keyboards
Johan Larsson - bass
Bjorn Gelotte - Drums, percussion, lead and acoustic guitar
1. Goliaths Disarm Their Davids
2. Gyroscope
(guitar tab)
3. Acoustic Medley
(guitar tab)
4. Behind Space - Live
For ten or eleven bucks, this cd was kind of questionable. (Only four songs!) The production is really great, and the songs are pretty damn good. I like "Goliaths Disarm Their Davids" and "Behind Space." They are just damn good In Flames songs. I like "Behind Space" because it's live and it has some really cool melodic riffs and this great dissonant evil riff. The "Acoustic Medley" is pretty damn good too. I've always enjoyed In Flames' acoustic guitars.
Production rating 10/10
Songwriting 10/10
Whoracle
Anders Frieden - vocals and percussion
Glenn Ljungstrom - rhythm guitars
Jesper Stromblad - lead & acoustic guitars and keyboards
Johan Larsson - bass
Bjorn Gelotte - Drums, percussion, lead and acoustic guitar
1. Jotun
(guitar tab)
2. Food for the gods
(guitar tab)
3. Gyroscope
(guitar tab)
4. Dialogue with the stars
(guitar tab)
5. The hive
6. Jester script transfigured
7. Morphing into primal
(guitar tab)
8. Worlds within the margin
9. Episode 666
10. Everything counts
(bass tab)
11. Whoracle
The newest In Flames album is great. It's heavy, aggressive and melodic at the same time.
"Jotun", "Episode 666", and "Everything Counts" are my favorite songs on here. "Dialogue With the Stars" and "Whoracle" are instrumentals. All the songs on here are really good.
It's cool that they retain the Nordic folksong influence. Friden's vocals sound pretty good. He double tracked some of the vocals and his backing vocals on "Everything Counts" combined with his usual death-black vocals sounds great. The lead guitars are fucking awesome. The sound quality of this album is superb. I highly recommend this cd.
Production rating 10/10
Songwriting 9/10
C-O-L-O-N-Y
Anders Frieden - vocals
Daniel Svensson - drums
Jesper Stromblad - guitar
Peter Iwers- bass
Bjorn Gelotte - guitar
1. Embody the Invisible
2. Ordinary
3. Scorn
4. Colony
5. Zombie, Inc.
6. Pallar Anders Visa
7. Coerced Coexistence
8. Resin
9. Behind Space '99
10. Insipid 2000
11. the New Word
If you love In Flames, or are trying to figure out which In Flames cd is going to get the most bang for the buck, set your sights on Colony!!! This is In Flames' best work ever! It is the fruit of years and years of labor, and in my opinion has the best melodies, vocals, and overall recording of any album they have ever made. To me, it is their crowning achievement. It is more or less like any other In Flames ablum, but every nuance of their art has been perfected; the guitar harmonies, both the clean and distorted vocals and the song structure. The songs are usually catchy, and there are some really guitar shredding solos. Anders has NEVER sounded better!! He does some real clean singing, instead of just mumbling like on albums past. A very impressive work indeed.
Production rating 11/10
Songwriting 10 or 11/10
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