A new offering from Sweden's In Flames has come to us in the form of Soundtrack To Your Escape. With more than 10 years in the pit, these guys have paid their dues and have graduated to a whole new level of bad-ass.
In Flames was certainly under the extreme Metal microscope upon the release of Soundtrack To Your Escape and its predecessor, Reroute to Remain (2002). The band had the potential to crack the Metal underground wide open to the mainstream, existing on the cusp of international stardom with its progressive extrapolations upon the Swedish Metal genre they helped create. While In Flames tends to use synthesizers, samples and other effects mostly foreign to Metal, they never give up the hardness of their genre, complimenting each tune with a more interesting flavor. That, coupled with their melodic thrashy style, is proof positive that everything doesn't have to fit into the same box. The electronic enhancements on this CD certainly add a lot of character to the already first-class musicianship displayed here.
I heard a ton of different Metal sub-genres come out in this album from Progressive to Industrial to raw Thrash, even a bit of the dreaded Nu Metal sound, but this music isn't the same old shit. In Flames like to create moods with their music, adding effectual nuances to many of their songs and getting the listener involved in their atmosphere. I was most impressed by their ability to move from in-your-face blast-beats to dark, Gothic overtones without drastically changing the setting.
The fact is, Soundtrack to Your Escape exists to further polarize In Flames' fan base. Touch of Red and opening cut F®iend are their heaviest riff monsters since Colony (1999), which blatantly contrast The Quiet Place, which is jammed with cascading guitar melodies and a thick, sticky chorus which, in a just world, would make for a rock-radio smash. Anders Fridén is again using a myriad of vocal styles, including his mid-range Death rasp, as in Dead Alone, with its old-school Swedish riffs seamlessly morphing into melodic passages. His vocals emit an awkward clean croon (Like You Better Dead, My Sweet Shadow), and an electronically enhanced warble, all of which are multi-tracked for many choruses, proving that Fridén may be In Flames' most powerful weapon now that the band's trademark ornate guitar flights are used somewhat sparingly. Some may cry foul when confronted by a lush ballad like Evil In A Closet or the relatively straightforward riffing of Dial
595-Escape, but old-school whiners will be equally appeased with the treat In Search For I.
Bottom line, In Flames are growing as songwriters with every passing release and the debate over the style in which the tunes are conveyed really seems secondary when confronted with such a strong and cohesive album. Soundtrack To Your Escape will disappoint those looking to find fault with the leaders of the Swedish pack, while open-minded purveyors of Metal will revel in the album's careful balance of credibility and accessibility.