In Flames has to be counted as one of the most influential metal bands of today with so many bands naming them as inspiration. It seems to work because they are now one of the titans of Swedish metal along with Soilwork and The Haunted. I remembering listening to the previous album, A Sense of Purpose and although the songs were great, I felt that they had taken a little too a commercial turn with the album. On this album the sound is pretty much the same although it is not as polished as the previous album.
On song that surprise me is The Attic, a Hendrix-influenced blues guitar leads the way through the track, really cool and unexpected! The whole song is mellow and it works as an excellent half time pause song between the two raging halves that make up the rest of the album. There is a freshness and vitality that was kind of missing on previous efforts. Enter Tragedy, Deliver Us and A New Dawn are highlights along with the previous mentioned The Attic.
The first album without any original members turned out quite ok (Jesper Strömblad left due to personal reasons in advance of this album) Check it out for some quality Swedish metal. Buy this and The Haunted’s Unseen and Soilworks latest album and you should be set for awhile.
