Warthur Black-Ash Inheritance is a good but not great EP which contains a brace of songs in In Flames' usual style of melodic death metal. Those who know In Flames - or the "Gothenberg" approach in general - will find few surprises here, and if you already know their sound you probably already know whether you'll enjoy this one or not. Most recent CD editions of The Jester Race include the material from here as bonus tracks so there is little compelling reason to buy it separately if you already have that album. Fans will most likely want to track it down, but if you're new to the band there are easier places to start exploring their music.

Warthur This melodic death metal album from In Flames is widely respected, but personally I can't get into it. I can tell it's a competently recorded and performed piece, and the combination of death metal aesthetic and Iron Maiden riffing is certainly interesting, but taken as a whole the thing just ends up leaving me cold. I guess for me this is an album that falls between the cracks - too abrasive and harsh to work as my melodic metal fix, but not brutal enough to really satisfy my death metal urge. Still, I'm sure those who are particularly into this sort of mixture will find a lot to like about this.

Diogenes In Flames post-Clayman. Yuck. Probably one of the most criticized metal bands ever for their drastic change in sound, the once-proud Swedish melodic death titans find themselves in the middle of their confusing transition with 2006’s Come Clarity, an album I had long avoided because of obvious reasons. Alas, as fate would have it, it recently landed in my lap for free (read: got it from the library), and what better way to listen to a band that many people hate than without paying for it? So, with much hesitancy, I begin my review!

If you haven’t been scared off by the negativity surrounding In Flames since 2002, you will be pleased to find that this album is at least somewhat listenable. No, it isn’t The Jester Race or Colony (and if people are still expecting them to return to that style, then I don’t know what to say), but Come Clarity also doesn’t feature anything as offensively bad as In Flames had been putting out for the previous few years. I know, that’s pretty sparse praise. It’s just that this album deserves something beyond “Modern In Flames? Sellout bastards!” I mean, it’s worth at least a couple of listens…that’s something, right?

The music on Come Clarity is best summed up by In Flames injecting a good amount of metalcore into their alternative metal sound, with diminished riffs, shorter songs, and what have you. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing, as guitarist Jesper Stromblad sounds a lot more at home playing riffs that actually have some substance, and is much more effective when he isn’t hidden by various keyboards and samples. There’s no doubt that a group with this much talent should be able to pull this off without a problem, and sure enough, the instrumental portion of Come Clarity is very tight. Daniel Svensson is solid on the drums as always, backed by a pretty good production that brings the drums and the guitars to the front. The overall energy is also brought back up on this album, as it sounds like In Flames actually gives a crap about what they’re playing again, instead of simply going through the motions while being stuck in pop-land. This means harder riffing and the signature melodic leads that the band became known for; although neither are really out in full force, it’s a good compromise considering that the song structures are too watered down to feature anything virtuosic. Like, “Pacing Death’s Trail” actually kinda sorta sounds like In Flames, with the sexy lead in the chorus and whatnot. Joy!

What brings Come Clarity back down to the level of most modern metalcore is (surprise!) another lousy batch of vocals from Anders Friden. The guy could never sing, and yet someone in the band had the terrific idea of having him sing more. Now, there are a lot of layered vocals and distortion added to keep things tolerable on this end, and some of the choruses (“Vacuum,” “Take This Life”) are actually quite catchy despite Friden’s obvious shortcomings as a singer (title track notwithstanding-it’s tough to cover up a full song’s worth of bad singing). The real problem lies within the absolutely deplorable lyrics:

“I cut myself to sleep

I close my eyes for a second

And curse my fragile soul

I scream to hide that I'm lonely

The echo calls my name”

AAAH! Kill it! Kill it with fire!

Needless to say, this along with the Jonathan Davis-esque whining is easily the worst part about Come Clarity, and what I will readily agree with this album’s naysayers on. What happened to this band’s BALLS, for crying out loud?! Oh, and “Dead End”. When the chick you bring in to guest sing on your metalcore album is better than your full-time vocalist, that’s a problem. Skip this track.

So, if you’re looking for the elusive “new In Flames that doesn’t totally suck,” then consider your search over! Listen to Come Clarity and enjoy the next couple of hours until you inevitably get bored. It’s certainly not an album to buy, although it looks like a masterpiece sandwiched in the middle of one of the most infamous declines in metal history. Conclusion: meh, with slightly positive overtones.

Diogenes When you talk about In Flames, people are pretty divided. Any band that makes such a sudden and drastic change in sound (to one extremely popular at the time…just sayin’) will undoubtedly have a line drawn in its discography as a point where the band stopped banging heads and started causing seizures. For our old friends In Flames, that album is Clayman: the last hurrah of their famous Gothenburg style of melodic death metal, and the final set of good tunes the band put out.

Clayman represents a few points for In Flames other than the obvious “last good one”. Namely, it is the album where the band reached its peak in both songwriting and overall energy. While previous records such as Colony and The Jester Race may get more overall fanfare just because, I will take it to my grave that this is the most fun In Flames album to listen to. The reason for this is twofold: the guitar harmonies of Jesper Stromblad and Bjorn Gelotte are nothing short of spectacular, and they’re backed by a powerful production that makes them all the more memorable. “Swim” is the most upfront example of this, boasting an insanely catchy chorus riff, but the band proves apt with slower songs as well, with “Only For the Weak” being equally as inspiring even while sacrificing some speed. And the thing about the songs on here is, they get you PUMPED. I’m serious. “…As the Future Repeats Today,” “Clayman,” and “Swim” are three of my favorite tracks from any genre, solely because they’re executed with a combination of energy and confidence that makes me want to go out there and just start punching random people on the streets for no reason. Really!

Now, this is all dandy (until my inevitable arrest), as Clayman succeeds where many previous In Flames albums just don’t do it for me, but it still falls victim to the same thing that those others do: ANDERS FRIDEN. He’s just not a very good vocalist, but I’m not even talking about his screaming; it’s actually quite competent, if not a little heavy on the accent. No, what grinds my gears is the AWFUL, AWFUL attempts at clean vocals on this album. It’s not even singing, really, or at least what’s featured on the last couple of In Flames albums. It’s this… weird sort of mumbling that he does in several verses. As silly as it may sound, the Jonathan Davis comparisons are not overexaggerated in this case, because that’s exactly what Friden sounds like. That may work for Korn, but this is IN FLAMES, man! It’s apparent right away with “Bullet Ride”: the fist-pumping intro riff repeats a couple of times, getting you ready for a total ass-kicking, and then there it is, mumbling over a clean guitar lick. I don’t know if it’s supposed to be a build-up sort of thing or what, but it takes away a solid chunk from the listening experience, especially because it’s so abundant. This is the main reason why this album isn’t getting at least 4 stars.

As my unfortunately pessimistic self seems to have rambled on about one negative just as long as the many positives, you may think Clayman is a tad schizophrenic. Not so! This is still a great album, if not a bit marred by stupid vocal techniques. It’s definitely worth a few spins, as it’s very accessible even for those who aren’t huge fans of the band, like myself. In Flames We Trust(ed)!

Stooge Colony is the In Flames album that took them into their popular sound of melodic metal. Granted, they had made plenty of great melodic death metal releases prior to this album. This time around, death metal elements are beginning to be reduced in favour of overall catchiness and greater accessibility. Though they released questionable albums while tackling a similar style and stepping even further from their death metal roots, this definitely isn’t one of them.

This lineup is what many dub as their classic lineup, with Bjorn Gelotte shifting to guitar full-time to accompany Jesper Stromblad, and a stable rhythm section of drummer Daniel Svensson and bassist Peter Iwers.

Critics of this more modern In Flames point to Anders Friden’s vocal style shifting towards a sound similar to Jonathan Davis of the often-hated Korn. You definitely get hints of that in tracks like “Ordinary Story” and “Coerced Coexistence”, but the band at this stage could only be confused for one of Korn’s nu-metal contemporaries by those with a limited exposure to the music style.

The band’s style is built on sort of a modernized Iron Maiden approach with several of the compositions centered on memorable guitar harmonies, sometimes kept consistent throughout entire tracks. This is very much a guitarist’s metal album, with the instrument pretty much taking all of the album’s highlights and making for the prominent sound of the album’s instrumental pieces “Pallar Anders Visa” and bonus track “Mad Made God”.

The highlights on Colony are numerous, including popular favorites like “Ordinary Story”, “Colony”, and re-recording “Behind Space ‘99”, but lesser-discussed songs “Embody The Invisible”, “Zombie Inc.”, and “Insipid 2000” are equally deserving of attention.

If melody mixed with aggression is your thing, then you should definitely own this album.