IN FLAMES - A Sense of Purpose Review

IN FLAMES - A Sense of Purpose

Koch Records

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This is bordering on a metalcore version of IN FLAMES. There is still the aggression and melodies with a heaviness continuum but the vocals vary. As do the guitars. Great production though. Just not my favorite IN FLAMES ALBUM, it's nothing like "The Jester Race", et al but there still is that vibe of melodic-ism. This band regressed more than anything else. This is despite Jesper leaving the band after, they still were withering away with their sound. The Metal Archives refers to their new style as melodic death/melodic groove. Whatever you want to call it, it’s not good for the band.

Even the synthesizers didn’t help augment the band’s sound to the songs. This seemed to be half-assed IN FLAMES. There’s just nothing on here that strikes me as noteworthy. It’s just like the same song on repeat. It really deserves a “D” rating. I know that they were trying something different here, it just doesn’t or didn’t work. It seems like they’ve been spending less and less time on composition and more time drinking alcohol. You can hear it on here, the lack of progression.

That progression that bands should take as they get more and more experienced like DEATH for example when Chuck was still around. It seems like a lot of bands that were quite popular during the 80’s and 90’s such as IN FLAMES should have made remarkable progression. But they haven’t, a lot of them are regressing. I’m not sure if they’re just bankrupt of ideas, or they’re just cashing in playing what people want to hear like Mikael from OPETH how he operates upon composition.

People it’s not getting better, there are only a few classic bands still putting out good material. Some bands are playing the same thing album by album. I’ll point out that that’s what DESTRUCTION is doing. And IN FLAMES is no better. The guitars that used to be totally melodic and memorable have turned to an ill-fate. I cannot believe that people still like this. This sort of generic kind of metal that appeases the masses. People like me gave it a try hoping that because it’s IN FLAMES it should be okay. But I was mistaken. If they gave up on metal and thought that they should derail, they did.

So okay folks, the music on here is totally not a retrospect on old IN FLAMES as we’ve explored. It’s just about an hour’s worth of wasted time. Okay Jesper still in the band was more focused on alcohol than anything else. We revisit the bankrupt-ivity of the album, they totally are done with their legacy via the 90’s IN FLAMES. You would think that they should be more focused on music than substance, but they weren’t. At least make good music for longtime fans and rid of the alcohol.

Ryan  “Death8699”  Fanucchi