In Flames
The Tokyo Showdown - Live In Japan 2000

THE REVIEW

The career of the Swedish band In Flames can broadly be divided into three periods: the beginnings, characterized by a very innovative melodic black metal (in fact they were its initiators), an intermediate period during which the sound softened a bit, incorporating heavy metal influences, and the current era, the worst.

Like many other bands, In Flames have sold out to new trends, producing 3 albums that are at best anonymous and banal; "Reroute to Remain", "Soundtrack to Your Escape" and the latest "Come Clarity" are three basically useless albums, filled with metalcore/nu-metal influences that have caused waves of outrage among metal fans around the world.

Fortunately, this live album acts as a conclusion of the second period of the career of the Nordic band, and for this reason it includes all their best pieces; the result is, essentially, a greatest hits with the added value of the live energy of the five Vikings. Recorded in Tokyo in 2000, during the world tour for the beautiful "Clayman", the album presents a perfect sequence of tracks in the purest (or rather, then pure) In Flames style: screamo vocals with occasional clean parts, ultra-distorted riffs but always softened by melodic cuts, tight rhythm, more or less fast. The numerous solos signed by leader Jesper Stromblad are exhilarating.

The setlist, as mentioned, encompasses the highly fertile period between the masterpiece "The Jester Race" and the very good "Clayman", passing through the excellent "Whoracle" and "Colony". The show opens with "Bullet Ride", characterized by an acoustic verse, well interpreted by the singer in clean, and, as a contrast, a very intense chorus. You immediately feel the participation of the many Japanese fans, who throughout the live will underscore the band's feats with roars. Impeccable performance indeed: the singing always maintains the characteristic metal timbre with great expressiveness, the precision of the guitarists is absolutely surgical, on par with the rhythm section. The sound, despite being a live event, is absolutely satisfactory: perhaps less sharp and aggressive than in studio albums, but in compensation, excellently balanced and decidedly "powerful"; in my opinion, the sound echo in the arena is very beautiful! The only slightly negative note is perhaps the drums, which lose a bit of incisiveness.

The setlist is a delight for any fan: "Embody The Invisible", fast and aggressive, "Jotun", "Moonshield", beautiful, slow and hypnotic, "Clayman", on the other hand relentless from start to finish thanks to the continuous double bass, "Gyroscope", a masterpiece from Whoracle with great cadenced riffs, "Pinball Map", "Episode 666", both very aggressive. These are, in my opinion, the most significant pieces of the live, which nonetheless proves to be engaging and exciting throughout all 15 tracks.

Japan is a land of metalheads so it seems, given the amount of live recordings made in that distant land (Children Of Bodom, Sonata Arctica to name just a few recent ones...) and the warmth of the audience, even if a bit mitigated by the "zen" oriental composure, is constant throughout the concert, but one song sparks extraordinary enthusiasm: "Only for the Weak".
Track number 4 of Clayman, it's a mid-tempo supported by a catchy guitar and keyboard riff, but a technical analysis cannot explain the power of this song. Two crash hits and the relentless huge riff starts, supported by the singer's shouts, "jump jump jump". If you never had the chance to witness one, look for a live video of this song: impressive. Thousands of people jumping in the air in time with the chorus, shaking their heads in an obsessive head bang during the verses, only to explode in a roar at the key change following the solo. The piece is rendered in an extraordinary way and stands as the pinnacle of this excellent live album.

True metal, technical and no frills, powerful and ingenious, emotional and charged. Don't let the disappointing recent turn push you away; for almost a decade, In Flames represented an important and innovative reality in the flourishing realm of Swedish and Nordic metal in general.
The Tokyo Showdown is the summary, a perfect recap, of their "Golden Age".