Celebrating an album widely regarded to be one of your best is always a tricky prospect and this is especially the case when, as a band, you have evolved considerably in the intervening years. The easiest route, of course, would be to pack the re-release with period materials – b sides, or a live concert perhaps – and certainly previous re-releases of Clayman have done this to a degree; the 2005 deluxe edition adding a pair of covers and the 2010 re-release adding a trio of live tracks (all of which are strangely absent from this anniversary offering). However, In Flames being the wilful entity that they are, have taken the rather more controversial option of adding a new composition (the instrumental Themes And Variations In D-Minor) as well as re-recording a handful of the album’s most well-known tracks with Chris Lord-Alge. It is these bonus tracks, then, alongside remastered audio and brand-new packaging, that are the main selling point of this twentieth anniversary package.
Certainly, the disc looks the part. The original packaging, a striking, yet somehow rather amateur looking depiction of the titular character has been replaced by a 3D sculpt by Suren Galadjian. The original, gaudy palette of blue and orange has been replaced with a muted colour scheme that sits more comfortably in line with recent album releases and the overall feel is very contemporary. The audio has had a similar upgrade, with Ted Jensen (Pantera, Deftones, Gojira) drafted in to remaster the sound at Sterling Studio. The result is a sharper, slightly louder (although not, it appears, overly so) representation of the original eleven tracks.
There’s little to say about Clayman itself that has not already been said. The band’s fifth album, it did much to cement their reputation at the time; building on the promise of Colony and providing a blueprint for what would follow. A near perfect mix of the muscular and the melodic, Clayman’s sense of dynamic is laid bare on the opening Bullet Ride and then sent blazing into orbit on Pinball Map and Only For The Weak, both live standards, with the soaring melodies of the latter not so much a subtle hint as a bloody great road sign pointing towards the vast choruses of more recent In Flames material. It’s hard to say if I prefer the remaster to the original – it’s certainly sharper with a greater emphasis on the vocals – but it’s not revelatory enough to justify fans racing out to buy the album all over again. Nevertheless, for those looking to replace a worn copy, it certainly has a more contemporary sheen to it and the songs have stood the test of time, sounding as fresh today as they did back in the year 2000. If anything, it serves as a pointed reminder of just how melodically-inclined the band were during this period, and whilst Anders may have filed the rougher edges of his vocals away with each subsequent release, all the signs were already there for the route the band were likely to take.
Which brings us to the re-recordings. Typically, the internet practically buzzed with opprobrium when the new recordings dropped and, if the band had replaced the originals with these new recordings, then you could understand the gnashing of teeth; but these are bonus tracks – nothing more, nothing less – primarily produced because the band wanted to celebrate the release for themselves and in their own way. Sat at the end of the album (and with the comforting barrier of an instrumental in the way), fans who really feel like they can’t listen to them, can simply turn the disc off and, aside from an initial listen to satisfy curiosity, that’s probably what most people will choose to do.
First up, however, is the instrumental piece, Themes And Variations In D Minor. A rather beautiful string piece composed by Johannes Bergion, it provides a cinematic coda to the original record that is as unexpected as it is welcome. Recorded and mastered by Roberto Laghi, it’s a fitting extra and adds something to the package. In Flames should, perhaps, have stopped there.
Opting to re-record four tracks from the original track listing, that the band should choose to re-record Only For The Weak is hardly surprising, given that it has barely left their setlist over the years. In all honesty, it’s not a good version of the track and, although the band appear to have maintained the same tempo as the original, it feels slower and lacking in energy. The vocals, delivered more cleanly, are not so much the problem (although the backing vocals are particularly bland), with Anders singing much as he does on stage. However, the production unbelievably feels flat compared to the sparkling remaster of an original recorded twenty years ago, for which the blame must lie squarely with Chris Lord-Alge. The production problems persist across the other three tracks with Bullet Ride suffering the indignity of sounding like the belt is slipping from an aging turntable – there’s simply no other way to describe the awkward, syrupy sound of the intro – and it’s actually surprising that no one questioned the mix, because it’s hard to believe the band sounded this way intentionally. Arguably the best of the four tracks, Pinball Map sounds more or less like it belongs on one of the band’s recent albums, bridging the gap between old and new and showing just how closely the band’s current sound falls in line with their early ambitions. The performance is fine, but once again the production just feels flat and uninspired, as if Chris was phoning in his performance without much knowledge of (or interest in) the originals. The final piece is the album’s title track, which bizarrely swaps the original’s brutal intro for swathes of synth that sound brittle in Chris’ unsympathetic mix. Once again, the band sound as if they put quite a lot of energy into the performance, and Anders’ vocals are delivered with a power and precision, only to be hamstrung by the compressed and boxy production.
In the final analysis, the sense of rage is misplaced. At worst, these bonus tracks are an irrelevance tacked onto a classic album as an exercise in what might have been. At best they are a curiosity that fans can choose to dig into if they so wish. For those who don’t have a copy of the masterful original, then it’s more than worth forking out for a copy because it’s a classic album and Ted Jensen’s remaster is sharp and forceful. Everyone else can simply keep a hold of their original and thank their lucky stars that a certain Mr Lord-Alge was not within a million miles of the studio when the album was laid down.
Album – 9 / 10
Bonus tracks – 3/10
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