IN FLAMES — Colony (review)

IN FLAMES — Colony album cover Album · 1999 · Melodic Death Metal Buy this album from MMA partners
4/5 ·
UMUR
"Colony" is the 4th full-length studio album by Swedish death metal act In Flames. The album was released through Nuclear Blast Records in May 1999. It´s the successor to "Whoracle" from 1997 and it features a couple of lineup changes since the predecessor. Björn Gelotte solely focuses on playing guitar on the album (he also played drums on the predecessor) and Daniel Svensson has been recruited as the band´s new drummer. Bassist Johan Larsson has been replaced by Peter Iwers. Guitarist Glenn Ljungström has also jumped ship and the guitars are therefore now handled by the above mentioned Björn Gelotte and by Jesper Strömblad. Vocals are handled by Anders Fridén.

Fans of In Flames usually mention the first five albums as mark 1 In Flames, where the band could be identified as a melodic death metal act, and from album number six ("Reroute to Remain (2002)") and onwards as a more alternative oriented metal act, but listening to "Colony" it´s obvious the journey towards alternative territories started much earlier. Stylistically the material on the 11 track, 41:35 minutes long album is still rooted in melodic death metal, and the listener is exposed to plenty of soaring lead guitar melodies and harmonies, as well as powerful riffs and rhythms. The vocal part of the music is one part semi-growling/screaming vocals and one part harsh semi-melodic shouting. The latter vocal style is usually used in the chorus of the tracks and is the bridge to their alternative metal future.

"Colony" features several strong compositions and I´ll mention "Ordinary Story", "Zombie Inc.", and "Coerced Coexistence", as some of the highlights, but "Colony" is overall a very consistent release when it comes to the quality of the material but also when it comes to style and sound. The album reeks high class songwriting and paired with high level musicianship and a powerful and detailed sound production, "Colony" is a high quality release by In Flames. A 4 star (80%) rating is deserved.
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