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Rating: It has been two years since the controversial "Soundtrack To Your Escape," and the five Swedes return to the scene with this album that early fans will not appreciate much. I say this with certainty because those who are used to hearing only breakneck speeds, Anders' scream vocals, and no electronic sounds will be disappointed. After all, nothing else can be expected given the last two works. Personally, I would divide In Flames' career into two parts, where "Colony" marks the end of the first part and "Clayman" the beginning of the second, where the band decides to explore more electronic realms to break away and evolve from the Swedish death/thrash that characterized them at the beginning (especially Jester). The current album respects the sequence of musical events heard in the most recent works, and it turns out to be the most complete, rich, and imaginative.
Anders uses clean vocals more and more often, alternating them with screamed parts with truly incredible and unchanged grit and strength over the years. The others confirm the combo's skill and the quest for evolution from the Scandinavian metal scene, now full of bands that hit hard but haven't played anything new for years. 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, with its speed and Anders "bellowing" throughout the song, with the few calm moments seasoned with some clean vocals. The driving rush of the opener gives way to the more electronic and slower (but still charged) "Leeches." It is followed by "Reflect The Storm," a negligible episode, somewhat flat and lacking punch. "Dead End" starts fast but presents us with a female voice (which reminds me of tracks by some metal bands with a "pink" voice), but I won't let myself be betrayed by these unusual female breaks; indeed, the song hits well, is easy to listen to, and gets easily stuck in your head. Here we come to the three songs that impressed me the most, namely "Scream," "Come Clarity," and "Vacuum." Starting with the compact "Scream," very well played and sung by the crazy Anders who offers one of the best performances of the album: headbanging is a must. The title track opens with filtered vocals accompanied by an acoustic guitar, then moves to more metal realms but never runs too fast: the attempt at unsweetened yet pleasant melodicity is commendable.
Right after, we are overwhelmed by the rousing speed of "Vacuum," certainly one of the best songs ever written by In Flames from "Clayman" to today and perhaps the best on the album: it manages to combine execution speed and the rawness of the verses with the calmer, clean-vocal breaks of the choruses. The journey continues with "Pacing Death's Trail," which, although not adding anything to the work, is a powerful song in full In Flames style; "Crawl Through Knives" is another "flames style" 100% full of choirs and great riffs, with a promising start but the final result doesn't stick and doesn't entirely convince; the beautiful "Venus Terminus" once again lets us feel our souls, with few frills, high speeds, and lots of good metal. "Our Infinite Struggle" stays on high levels and goes from steady rhythms to slower and more powerful passages, to the arpeggiated and almost reflective central part, it would not have looked out of place on "Colony." "Vanishing Light" contains a remarkable guitar work and a notable charge and prepares us for the fury of the closing song. 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 from the band's musical history, a must-listen.
In conclusion, the album is not indispensable, yet it does not disappoint listeners who have made peace with the fact that In Flames will NEVER again make "Jester part 2." This is In Flames, still playing loudly and far outclassing the bunch of young blonde Swedes trying to make their way by imitating the Swedish style of the early '90s, thinking that just going fast is enough to be good, but they are wrong, they still have a long way to go and In Flames once again shift the coordinates of "made in Sweden" metal.
Tracklist Lyrics 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 Brizz89
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.
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.
