Review – In Flames – Sounds Of A Playground Fading
IN FLAMES – SOUNDS OF A PLAYGROUND FADING
(Century Media)
(7/10)
GOTHENBURG LEGENDS GO FOR BROKE
TEN ALBUMS in and many would argue that change would be good for a band.
Yet, for In Flames, change has never been a unfamiliar concept. Following their creation of the Gothenburg death metal subgenre alongside At The Gates, the Swedish five-piece have never been afraid of an organic progression of their sound. From the earthy acoustic interludes of The Jester Race through the millennial, synth-seeped likes of Cloud Connected and Only For The Weak right up to A Sense Of Purpose’s almost commercial bombast they’ve had a constant, fleet-footed creative freedom that’s allowed them to make broad tonal and stylistic shifts without completely compromising their credibility.
In Flames 2011, however, find themselves a founding member down, facing a potentially jarring, forced shift in personnel and style. Giants at a fork in the road, they can either plough on with further reinvention – running the risk of tainting their legacy – or, like ATG, they can retire to the festival circuit, fading slowly into obscurity as a frayed, thumping nostalgia act.
An explosive – if at times reluctant – maelstrom of fervour, skill and self-belief, SOAPF is the resounding evidence that In Flames will follow the former, higher road right to the end. Burning with neither the outright brilliance of their early classics nor the stylistic diversity of their reactionary releases during the nu-metal era, this still manages to hone several already fine-tuned elements to perfection while thrusting onto the front foot with a pounding directness and sparse touches of original flair.
Many have remarked on this as a consolidation of all that has one before; a sprawling retrospective of the progression up to this point through the eyes of an older, tighter, more experienced group of musicians looking to remind us why they’ve been perched on extreme metal’s upper tier for over a decade. In many ways it works: the standard of musicianship is truly exceptional throughout and while much of the album plays like a more restrained, refined progression of what we heard on ASOP – best evidenced by lead single Deliver Us – there are elements – particularly on Ropes and The Puzzle – of the ragged momentum and progressive leanings of their early career.
Still, the strength of every individual In Flames record has been in that absolute individuality. While a composite collection of objectively excellent parts was never going to fail outright, it lacks the moments – the exciting guitar breaks, the sense of creative uncertainty – that have characterized the band’s daring in the past. Without that will to take risks there’s a reluctance to forgive flaws.
Still, the future is unwritten.
As a first run-out for the new line up the conservatism is understandable, it’s just a pity to see such thrusting excellence without the adventure to match. Nonetheless, with time will come confidence and with confidence… well, we’ll just have to see where they go next.
Sam Law
