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Rating:
How to recover after a collapse that started in 2002 with "Reroute To Remain" and was followed by the blandness of "Soundtrack To Your Escape"? Let's face it, "The Tokyo Showdown" beautifully closed the first chapter of In Flames' history, a period dotted with excellent albums that, for better or worse, contributed along with Dark Tranquillity to the birth and development of Melodic Death Metal.
The problem is that in the second part of the Swedish band's adventure, there's very little Death. Industrial, alternative, and Nu-metal triumph, the influence of American Metal triumphs.
This "Come Clarity" doesn't stray too far from the previously adopted solutions, but undoubtedly it's a good album. Yes, the band comes out well from that "Soundtrack" that had disappointed so much.
The sound of the album is aggressive from the very first notes. The initial hammering of "Take This Life" doesn't go unnoticed, as does Anders Fridén's vocal performance, which (apart from the clean parts, always very beautiful) assumes all the canons of a Nu-Metal singer. The first track flows well, it's heavy and melodic. The following "Leeches" opens with a very electronic riff. Here too, heaviness and melody coexist perfectly, with a great performance by Fridén and guitarists Gelotte and Strömbland, who insert fitting riffs.
Only one word would be enough to describe "Reflect The Storm": beautiful. One of the most fitting tracks of the entire work, with a fantastic chorus, dragging and melancholic melody.
The opening trio is rated highly. It can be said without hesitation that the band has recovered significantly compared to the old album. It's a pity for the short duration of the tracks ("Leeches" lasts barely three minutes), but this doesn't disturb too much.
We approach the central part of the album with three very different tracks, "Dead End", "Scream" and the title track "Come Clarity". The first is a real gem, where amidst the bone-crushing riffs, female voices and notable melodic parts are nestled. The second is frantic and perhaps more predictable, with great work by the two guitarists. The title track is a ballad like many (too many) have been written, but as such it's also a beautiful song, enriched by a nice acoustic arpeggio and an intensely vocal performance.
The album surprises, it's not the peak of originality, and it certainly can't be compared to "Jester Race" or "Colony", but at least up to this point, it doesn't disappoint. However, the riffs of "Vacuum" already have a "heard it before" feel and we're just halfway through the album. Nothing new, beautiful melodic parts, and simple choruses that immediately stick in the head. "Pacing Death's Trail" doesn't present anything new (in fact, the beginning seems like the exact copy of the previous track slowed down), the following "Crawl Through Knives" is more enjoyable, a perfect synthesis between melody and power, without too much electronics and unnecessary frills.
Several tracks are still missing, but the album really has little more to say. "Versus Terminus" is almost useless in its banality, "Our Infinite Struggle" is saved by a more articulated structure, while "Vanishing Light" is simply boring.
The concluding "Your Bedtime Story Is Scaring Everyone", besides being the longest track (and long here is really an overstatement, barely five minutes), is also the most peculiar. Let yourself be accompanied by the delicate keyboard lines, until the final outburst of power.
A good performance for a band that seemed doomed. Perhaps not very original, and certainly no longer Death Metal. The presence of many songs doesn't make it heavy, as most tracks don't reach four minutes in length, it simply doesn't help the listener distinguish individual tracks. It would have been better with fewer songs and a greater average duration.
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 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.
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.
