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Rating:
Two years after "Soundtrack To Your Escape", the Swedish quintet returns, representing the modern "melodic death metal" scene better than anyone else, perhaps the only standard-bearers who have distinguished themselves among the myriad of groups imitating each other without standing out with something distinctive. Surely this new work brings all the energy the group has gotten us used to, but it tends to guarantee more catchiness and ease of listening, deliberately aimed at a more mainstream audience. However, one cannot say that the band doesn't know how to entertain even those less passionate about the genre. In fact, this album highlights how approaching the commercial side doesn't seem to be a problem for the band, approaching with more melody in the vocals, some more elaborate electronic components, and a more measured presence of the screaming that made them famous, even to listeners accustomed to a lighter sound, perhaps at the level of Slipknot's Wait and Bleed.
The first track, Take This Life, opens the album beautifully and immediately stands out as a very fine piece, possibly among the best of the entire album. Fast like few others, it introduces the new fusion of melody and screaming which Anders splendidly delivers, without giving too much weight to either component. A great piece. Next is Leeches, a calmer, more relaxing track, which instead introduces electronics that accompany the thrash/death rhythms and truly wicked distortions (the quintet has carried this since its origins) almost perfectly.
Reflect The Storm is a somewhat dull piece, lacking the atmosphere that envelops many other tracks; it quickly shows how the attempt to commercialize without seeming too mainstream can lead to poor results. This is followed by a heavy track, accompanied by a female voice, it's Dead End; perhaps thanks to the candid voice of the singer, in pure Lacuna Coil style, the song is more catchy, and indeed it flows very smoothly despite its significant granitic heaviness.
Scream, with a thrash metal beginning reminiscent of the glorious early years of 'Tallica, brings the listener to a higher level, where mosh and headbanging are mandatory. The song, thanks to the crushing distortions and Anders' madness, is indeed one of the best of the album and knows how to involve like few others. Come Clarity, the title track with a more sugary flavor, accompanied by the acoustic guitar, which we've heard very little from the Swedes, is a beautiful piece, even though the attempt at melodiousness accompanied by more alternative metal phases is not so appreciated as to make the song easily memorable. Vacuum, as fast as it is devastating, is perhaps the song that best connects the impeccable fierceness of the verses with the more melodic and calm choruses, with necessary clean parts. Unfortunately, the song is too typical of In Flames, and this takes away some points from the song, which is excellently composed nonetheless, with sounds almost merging Fear Factory, Slipknot, and the recent Blind Guardian.
Pacing Death's Trail is a classic In Flames piece, with little to say apart from a leading riff that keeps the song's rhythm high despite its incisive repetitiveness. The next track, Crawl Through Knives, with a beginning resembling a death-metal version of Papa Roach, is another pure "In Flames" guaranteed piece with beautiful riffs (though not presenting any particular innovation). Venus Terminus, another piece that doesn't leave a bitter taste for genre fans, with its pounding rhythm, ends up being a bit annoying, perhaps due to the repetitiveness of the riffs and drum patterns that have been heard multiple times not just in this album. Our Infinite Struggle, a song that reflects the fusion of old Flames style with the new simpler one, alternates slow but powerful rhythms with faster and dragging passages, also featuring an arpeggiated chorus that doesn't hurt at all. However, the vocals tend to bring the song's overall level down, with Anders' screaming seeming to buckle under the constant and overwhelming heaviness of the piece. Vanishing Light is the classic In Flames outburst that leaves the work to the guitars. Your Bedtime Story Is Scaring Everyone, the final and truly interesting piece, is slow with a progressive atmosphere that keeps the listener hooked for 3 minutes before exploding with distortions and singing that almost feels like a soundtrack.
In the end, this album continues to confirm the band's not always consistent performance, which nonetheless represents the only real certainty in the mainstream death metal scene of recent years and also guarantees the avant-garde Swedish metal school one of the top spots in the rankings of the fiercest genres.
The album is definitely recommended for those who have loved In Flames since Colony through Reroute to Remain and Soundtrack To Your Escape, but also for those who want to explore the contemporary death metal scene, incorporating in fact Come Clarity that fusion of death metal and melody that most represents In Flames of the new millennium.
Tracklist Lyrics Samples and Videos
02 Leeches (02:55)
Leeches
Like leeches
"In ignorance we trust"
If you say this way
I will take that way
Fuel for the fire on which I thrive
Spit me out
I'm glad I don't belong
Save me the speech
You'll be forgotten and gone
It burns
It rips
It hurts
Leeches
They preach to us
Where's the wisdom from blocked minds
Spit me out
I'm glad I don't belong
Save me the speech
You'll be forgotten and gone
It burns
It rips
It hurts
They make you bleed your turn
The chance of a lifetime
How does it feel to be alive
[Solo]
A tear for the poet
That can't be heard
Praise the artist that steals
Spit me out
I'm glad I don't belong
Save me the speech
You'll be forgotten and gone
It burns
It rips
It hurts
They make you bleed
Your turn (It rips, it hurts)
The chance of a lifetime
How does it feel to be alive?
03 Reflect the Storm (04:16)
Shot for shot
Let the bullet penetrate me
Embrace me
Tell me stories of golden gods
The precision in your voice
Pierce the walls that I've built
Your eyes reach deep in ME
Take a chance
They don't come much bigger than this
Dark Star spend another day with me
A dead surface that doesn't reflect
The storm underneath
Take a chance
Bring me the calm
... And it leaves NOTHING
Expose the dark side,
Awakened and emotional,
Expose the dark side,
Impossible to tame
Away from the light of the sun
Away I find what is really me
Throw yourself into the eye of chaos
Infiltrate me
Sneak out before I awake
Take out the trash and burn it
Try to find a beautiful place to lay
These fragile bones of mine.
Away from the eye of the storm
Away I find what is really me
Away from the light of the sun
Away I find what is really me
05 Scream (03:12)
We are ordinary people
We all live different lives
In the end were pretty much the same
We're just living in different lies
We just live in different lies
We just live in different lies
They scream
You scream
I scream
We scream
But no one listens
Abuse to feel superior
Is it working for you?
They scream
You scream
I scream
We scream
Abuse to feel superior
Is it working for you?
We are ordinary people
In a world built on stress
When we build walls around us
We end up in a mess
We end up in a mess
We just end up in a mess
They scream
You scream
I scream
We scream
But no one listens
Abuse to feel superior
Is it working for you?
They scream
You scream
I scream
We scream
Abuse to feel superior
Is it working for you?
We just live in different lies
We just live in different lies
They scream
You scream
I scream
We scream
But no one listens
Abuse to feel superior
Is it working for you?
They scream
You scream
I scream
We scream
Abuse to feel superior
Is it working for you?
06 Come Clarity (04:15)
-Solo-
Rushing through thirty
Getting older every day
by two drawing pictures
Of innocent times
Can you add colour
Inside these lines
I want you to lead me
Take me somewhere
Don't want to live
In a dream one more day
I want you to lead me
Take me somewhere
Don't want to live
In a dream one more day
Sure, if we change my perspective
I'm certain I will change today
I'm certain it will change our ways
When things fall into place
I want you to lead me
Take me somewhere
Don't want to live
In a dream one more day
I want you to lead me
Take me somewhere
Don't want to live
In a dream one more day
-Solo-
I want you to lead me
Take me somewhere
Don't want to live
In a dream one more day
I want you to lead me
Take me somewhere
Don't want to live
In a dream one more day
I want you to lead me
Take me somewhere
Don't want to live
In a dream one more day
I want you to lead me
Take me somewhere
Don't want to live
In a dream one more day
Take me somewhere
Don't want to live
In a dream one more day
Take me somewhere
Don't want to live
In a dream one more day
07 Vacuum (03:39)
The yesterday we loved
Speak of tomorrow
The burden of man is that
Time never takes a pause
We live from Monday to Sunday
But we forget what it means
Then a ghost comes to visit and
We tell stories from tabloids
Call all your friends
Watch fake photos
From a made up vacation
Speaking in tongues
About ancient artefacts
We steal from beggars
And ask for understanding
We lie, rape, steal and murder
To make tonight's headlines
Trust the system
Make your contribution
Smile, applaud, love, hail
The weaker you get
The stronger they become
Listen in silence
Hear her voice
How far are we
Ready to take this?
Listen in silence
Hear her voice
Before it all crumbles
Lie, rape, steal and murder
Smile, applaud, love, hail
Gather in front of the TV
Exploding sympathy
The weatherman, our trust
Our punctual company
We steal from beggars
And ask for understanding
We lie, rape, steal and murder
To make tonight's headlines
Trust the system
Make your contribution
Smile, applaud, love, hail
The weaker you get the
Stronger they become
Listen in silence
Hear her voice
How far are we
Ready to take this?
Listen in silence
Hear her voice
Before it all crumbles
-Solo-
Lie, rape, steal and murder
Smile, applaud, love, hail
Listen in silence
Hear her voice
How far are we
Ready to take this?
Listen in silence
Hear her voice
Before it all crumbles
09 Crawl Through Knives (04:02)
The black hole
Forever mine
I need the fear
Push me out
Ohh be brave
Show me signs
Should I feel shame for
The questions that I have?
If you could be
The things I need
(I'd crawl through knives
An inch per tear)
These knees
They bleed, for you
(Let the colour persuade
The hate that you fear)
Feed the lie
Force the reason
Leave me in doubt
Need some motivation
It's in my hands
The sky, so bright
It's burning
It's for me to decide
If flames will reach
Heaven tonight
It's in my hands
Nailed to the floor
Paralysed
Emotions drifting
Searching the new
If you could be
The things I need
(I'd crawl through knives
An inch per tear)
These knees
They bleed, for you
(Let the colour persuade
The hate that you fear)
It's in my hands
The sky, so bright
It's burning
It's for me to decide
If flames will reach
Heaven tonight
It's in my hands
The sky, so bright
It's burning
It's for me to decide
If flames will reach
Heaven tonight
-Solo-
It's in my hands
The sky, so bright
It's burning
It's for me to decide
If flames will reach
Heaven tonight
It's in my hands
The sky, so bright
It's burning
It's for me to decide
If flames will reach
Heaven tonight
10 Versus Terminus (03:18)
When all is said and done
We know what's right, what's wrong
But does it matter then when all is said and done?
When all is dead and gone
We know who lost, who won
But does it matter then when all is dead and gone?
See everything go, end of all things
The life that we know
Shift your point of view, you've been warned
This one-way ticket is for you
When all the lights go out,
We'll know what life's about
But does it matter then when all the lights go out?
When all the laughter dies,
We'll see nothingness and realize
But does it matter then when all the laughter dies?
See everything go, end of all things
The life that we know
Shift your point of view, you've been warned
This one-way ticket is for you
When all is said and done
We know what's right, what's wrong
But does it matter then when all is said and done?
When all the laughter dies,
We'll see nothingness and realize
But does it matter then when all the laughter dies?
See everything go, end of all things
The life that we know
Shift your point of view, you've been warned
This one-way ticket is for you
11 Our Infinite Struggle (03:46)
In a disaster story
A central conflict of primal rage
Usual sort of desperation
Characters remain the same
Never cut you out,
I cut you in
Feeding on life leftovers
I am writing to you
You should realize
It hurts in me too
Walk on broken glass
Is the pain safe at the end?
All the elements in life's complexity
Make our struggle infinite
Never cut you out,
I cut you in
Feeding on life leftovers
I am writing to you
You should realize
It hurts in me too
All the elements in life's complexity
Make our struggle infinite
Never cut you out,
I cut you in
Feeding on life leftovers
I am writing to you
You should realize
It hurts in me too
To cut you in
Feeding on life leftovers
I am writing to you
You should realize
It hurts as I cut you in
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Other reviews
By Masahiro
"The sound of the album is aggressive from the very first notes."
"A good performance for a band that seemed doomed. Perhaps not very original, and certainly no longer Death Metal."
By Ale79
The album opens with the punch in the face of 'Take This Life,' which is certainly one of the most successful episodes of the work.
Instead of a fury, we get 5 minutes of great intensity, 5 minutes of goosebumps, I have no words, to define this completely out-of-the-box song.
