In Flames
Subterranean

THE REVIEW

Before signing with Nuclear Blast, In Flames recorded this EP with Henke Forss from Dawn on vocals and various drummers including Daniel Erlandsson who was then with Eucharist: although it's clear the lineup was still unstable, there is a noticeable increased synergy among the musicians and, above all, more mature songwriting, resulting in better songs than what we heard on Lunar Strain.

The opening track is "Stand Ablaze," which with its piano intro and wonderful riffs introduces us to the purest Nordic atmosphere, but the peak of pathos comes towards the end with masterful solos and harmonized riffs leading to a stunning finale: a masterpiece, but not the only one on the EP. Consider the following track, "Ever Dying," which also features fantastic riffs, a spine-chilling acoustic interlude, and a breathtaking solo that directs the listener to the acoustic guitar outro, executed masterfully as always. The title track "Subterranean" is also something magnificent from both a compositional and emotional standpoint and is among the longest songs ever written by In Flames: five and a half minutes of pure audio bliss.
The following "Timeless" is an acoustic instrumental piece lasting almost two minutes, and it's one of those tracks that should be listened to in the dark, though the entire CD suits crepuscular atmospheres perfectly. We then arrive at "Biosphere," a track that opens with a magnificent melody before moving into a series of aggressively intense riffs, accented by Forss's vocals. This is the most intricate and complex track to grasp, but after sufficient listens, one will come to understand and appreciate it. The EP closes with demo versions of two tracks that will appear on the subsequent The Jester Race: one is "Dead Eternity," a stunning piece later immortalized by the powerful voice of Anders Fridén, who at the time was still with Dark Tranquillity, and the other is the beautiful "The Inborn Lifeless," which is merely the primitive version of "Dead God In Me." A must-have, but only for those who listen to music with their heart.