In Flames are one of those metal bands who are just instantly recognisable. Their back catalogue is littered with inconstancies and yet, no matter how much the band experiment, they still always sound like In Flames and while I was not dumbfounded by ‘A sense of purpose’ it provided a solid follow-up to the quite excellent ‘Come clarity’ begging the question of whether the band would stretch beyond their comfort zone this time to produce something truly punishing.
The title track, and first song on the record, initially suggests that the band are content to tread water. It’s by no means a bad song, it simply offers little in the way of progression suggesting that In Flames are happy with their precarious but hard fought position at the top of the heap of melodic death metal. Yet, with a few seconds to go a riff peels out that suddenly shifts things into heavier, murkier territory and suddenly your faced with ‘deliver us’ which sees Anders Friden push himself to new limits vocally, while the churning, heavy riff is an altogether heftier beast than the first track suggested the band would unleash. A clear step-forward, with myriad ideas shooting through its underbelly it’s a gutsier song than might be expected and a gloriously fluid, Iron Maiden referencing solo on the bridge helps to maintain interest as well. That Iron Maiden reference continues over into the sublime intro to the apocalyptic ‘all for me’ which opens with the gentlest guitar before plunging headlong into a pit of blazing guitars and molten percussion. It’s the heaviest work In Flames have put their name to in some time and Anders in particular is operating at the top of his game, screaming himself hoarse over the band’s bruising riffs. The credit for the shift in sound must go, in part at least, to Bjorn Gelotte who, left to his own devices by the departure of long-standing member Jesper Stromblad, dug deep to really deliver on the guitar front with blistering solos and crushing riffs being the order of the day for the bulk of this excellent album.
Next up is ‘the puzzle’, which comes storming straight out of the fading strains of ‘all for me’ like a rabid animal that’s been cooped up for too long and as the drums and guitars pile up in a frenzied mess you realise that the line-up shift has seriously unsettled the remaining members, encouraging them to play fast and loose with the In Flames sound, delivering a thoroughly refreshing attack in the process that looks both forward and back at the same time, referencing what many consider to be the band’s finest moments as well as looking ahead to wide new vistas of sound. A fine example of the latter might be the classic-metal opening of ‘fear is the weakness’ which has a real trad-metal feel amidst all the shimmering synths and kitchen sink production techniques. It’s a melodic powerhouse of a track with a memorable riff and impassioned vocal performance. Better still is the crunching weight of ‘where the dead ships dwell’ which has “single” written all over its shining frame thanks to a hook that is marginally more addictive than crack although the band’s detractors are almost certainly going to slate it as being quite shamelessly commercial. Whatever – it’s a cracking tune and one guaranteed to light up dance floors in the nation’s rock clubs thanks to a storming beat and ace solo. ‘The attic’ resets things, however, by being its predecessor’s diametric opposite, all Metallica-referencing classic guitar and whispered, disturbing vocals. It’s a weird Tricky-meets-metal moment that is as unexpected as it is welcome and it clearly shows that In Flames have a multitude of tricks hidden inside their harlequin-patterned sleeves. ‘Darker times’ sees things back on a metal track with a solid-Tungsten riff that doesn’t stop until everything’s dead, which is all you could ask from a top-tier death metal album, and yet it still keeps its eye squarely on a massive pop-hook even amidst the storm clouds of one of the album’s heaviest moments, while ‘ropes’ is a melodic track that doesn’t quite have the impact of songs found elsewhere although the solo is enough to put a smile on the face of most metal fans. Thankfully ‘enter tragedy’ then arrives like the soundtrack to some ungodly horror movie, ripping through flesh and bone in the process and it seems that the band are hell-bent on seriously denting their detractor’s pride with a metallic assault set simply to ‘kill’.
With the record heading into the end-zone, ‘Jester’s door’ is a dark-hearted, unnerving trip taking in Ulver-esque electronic and spoken-word-weirdness before the classic-metal strains of ‘a new dawn’ once again raises those Maiden comparisons with harmonised guitars giving way to Anders’ guttural howl. Final track ‘liberation’ could be exactly that for the band with an odd, incongruous intro giving way to a massive chorus that you can imagine being far more suited to a stadium than to the sort of medium-sized venue In Flames are more traditionally found in. It’s a fitting end to an oddly schizophrenic album and although it’s not all unequivocally successful, there’s enough here to warrant the album taking its place somewhere next to ‘Come Clarity’ in the band’s canon.
Overall then ‘sounds of a playground fading’ combines the best if old and new In Flames and strips away the more flabby excesses of ‘a sense of purpose’ to create an ultra-modern sounding metal attack awash with inventive ideas and not afraid to highlight the band’s love of a simple, stunning melody. Whether the band’s many carping detractors will be silenced is a moot point, and anyway who cares what anonymous flamers have to say anyway – this is a state-of-the-art metal album for people who appreciate brutal riffs and soaring melodies and it will certainly sate fans of the band who enjoyed the storming ‘come clarity’ album. A strong, exciting, memorable album produced by a band who have nothing to prove but seem to want to do so anyway. Well worth checking out.
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