In Flames
Clayman

THE REVIEW

When we talk about In Flames, three albums come to mind for all the lovers of the genre: the debut album (with sounds often bordering on melodic black metal and at times with nods to Swedish folk songs), the legendary "The Jester Race," and yet another gem of their discography, "Whoracle."

Many, perhaps too many, consider "Clayman" an album not up to the band's past. I, however, say that the transition between "Colony" and "Clayman" is almost painless, in the sense that it is the exact continuation both musically and vocally, dedicated to melody and the use of clean parts.
It is true that with this album our guys come closer to the ears of the masses and move further away from their beginnings, but despite this, the grit and speed have remained almost unchanged. As have the melodic parts, with improved production, more complete than before, and credit goes to Anders who (as he already attempted at times in the past) proposes clean vocal parts from this album on, contrasted by scream parts sung with great skill, delivering an excellent interpretation.

As for the songs, I cannot fail to mention the best ones. The opener Bullet Ride with its beautiful fast pace, which gives way to Friden's clean voice, then maintains a more measured rhythm that is easily memorable. Two other pearls of rare beauty are the following two tracks "Pinball Map" and the legendary (essential live) "Only For The Weak". The first starts fast with a splendid riffing, the tempo is captivating and keeps us excited throughout the song, with a splendid central break. The mid-tempo of "Only For The Weak" (probably the best track of the batch) is built on a very catchy main riff and adorned with hints of keyboards in the chorus. A chorus that calls the listener to stand up, jump, and sing aloud. A truly valid song and surely among the top choices in the entire discography, as appreciated by the fans.

Another splendid track is "Square Nothing", initially masked as a ballad, it then unleashes with great delight for the listener who has only a hint that it could unleash, but when it seriously does, it's almost as if Friden and his mates release a force that has been held back for a while, but which then cannot be contained and explodes. All the remaining tracks have great absolute value, but I particularly emphasize the title track and still "Brush The Dust Away", "Suburban Me" and the closing "Another Day In Quicksand" all characterized by stunning riffs and energetic choruses.
The rhythm section in all the songs is well highlighted, and the drive of the fast parts never decreases unless a melodic break or a guitar solo intervenes.

In conclusion, a more "modern" album than the previous ones, which gathers acclaim from a broader and less partisan audience, but it is not a commercial album (as many claim), it is simply an album very loaded with both death/thrash parts and melodic parts, but also catchy, and honestly, let me say, I find nothing wrong with it being catchy, and catchiness in my opinion does not make it "rightfully" a commercial album.