|
|
Well,it has finally arrived. Trepidation filled my being as I gave this disc a
listen. Despite all of the talk of this being In Flames dip into the
mainstream,I really wasn't sure what to expect. Were we going to hear a
nu-metal record.? Was I going to hear hip-hop beats and scratches? Was Anders
Frieden going to rap over funk samples? Was the record going to be yet another
hour-long mallcore rant on how terrible parents are? Were they going to be on
TRL? Was Carson Daly down with them? AHHHHHH! The suspense was eating me alive.
That was until the opener and title track blasted my fears away with the kind of
deft riffery that you'll never hear on MTV. Yes,In Flames have edged ever
so slightly into a more accessible sound,but they aren't rockin the
suburbs yet. The only thing I hear that might turn die-hards off would be the
choruses and the clean vocals that often appear out of thin air. Anyone who
thinks that this type of exploration would poison In Flames music should
skip to tracks like Drifter and Trigger which are
propelled into the stratosphere by it. The clean croons come out of nowhere,yet
find a way to belong,and the more you spin this disc,the more they grow on you
until they usurp your expectations of everything In Flames can and should be.
The thing I love about this record is despite the new manuevers that are
displayed here,the exquisite manipulation of the harmonized guitar riff that In
Flames is known for remains intact. In fact, aside from the final song,which is
bit of a dumbed-down sell-out of a tune(One suspects that it was
tacked on at the end as an afterthought),the songs(Even the quieter ones) all
groove with an immense,frost-bitten majesty. As I listened to Reroute To
Remain,I found myself getting lost in the band’s dreamworld time and time
again,only to be awakened by the alarm clock that is the last track. Just as
they did with their four previous studio monoliths,In Flames keep finding ways
to make their unique alloy work. Theirs is an elastic,malleable metal that
always seems to weave its way into every type of composition without being
cumbersome. I could go on and on about the bravery that is to be found here, but
yet,like a good mystery, I don't want to give anything away. All I can say
is that we haven’t lost In Flames,at least not right now. They may have
changed somewhat, and arguably even matured,but they haven’t forgotten or
disowned their roots. In Flames have shown me that they are still innovators,and
if they become the next big thing at this point,I think the entire
music scene at large would benefit from it.