Come Clarity: +DVD

That said, another Clayman this is not. The production and songwriting owe more to "Reroute to Remain" than any of the previous masterpieces, and in a way this fills a space in between those two albums. The songs are more densely layered and twisty than Clayman, but not as off-kilter or experimental as Reroute, and I think as a whole In Flames pull it off, although I can't help feeling like I've heard it before. The vocals still aren't as strong as either Reroute or Clayman, and if the album has a weakness it's Anders Frieden's clean singing. The guy can still shriek with the best of them, but his nasal whine sections are really off-putting, especially when the rest of the band are firing on all cylinders. Lucky then that there aren't nearly as many of them as on the last two records. To tell the truth though, it has been toned down since Soundtrack, and he's roaring in tune now more than the previous album, which is a welcome relief....

The songs are really good though, which is the main thing. "RTR" took quite a lot of listening to before it clicked (for me at least), and this is a similar beast. The catchy choruses are there in abundance, as are the face-melting riffs and solos so sorely lacking from "STYE".

So to summarize, a very solid album of corking tunes, and certainly a return to form of the highest order. One star docked for slightly weak vocals. Also worth a mention is the package you get. Really nice digipack with poster/lyrics, and a bonus DVD of the band playing the album "live" in the studio, along with some extras. Very impressive value for money. If you liked Clayman AND RTR like me, this album is exactly what you want it to be, if you think they lost the plot after Clayman, give this a shot, it might change your mind. Quality album. Welcome back, In Flames.

Whilst obviously it dosnt compare to the likes of colony or whoracle, the band has evolved with the times. I would say this is easily the best thing since clayman, the tracks are fresh and well constructed. The clean vocals/techno elements have been toned down a little since stye though the majority of the choruses are still anthemic clean vocals.

In Flames have really nailed the choruses here with tracks like Take this life and Crawl through Knives sticking in your head all day. One of the great strengths of this album is diversity and changes in mood; from classic IF colony esque guitars to ballads to a female guest singer on dead end. this means its almost impossible to get bored of this album.

The lyrics have vastly improved since stye, with some deep and throught provoking songs abouty society and human existance (going back to pre clayman days), songs like vaccume and our infinite struggle describe far more than the personal stuggles on stye (though those havn't dissapered e.g. come clarity).

Whilst they may now be a different band to the one that recorded colony, there still damn good. In Flames have shown themsleves to be head and shoulders above the rest writing, intelligent, varied and catcy songs. this is a great album that not just metal fans but music fans should own.

Highlights: Take this life, Reflect the Storm, Crawl through knives