Two years have passed since the last landing of the proud Vikings of the Death Metal Scene in Greece, which was at the promotion tour of Clayman. Two years in charm by the almost perfect harmony between Melody and Metal. In Flames are back with Reroute to Remain, their newest release, which as the title indicates they are back...and they are back with a vengeance.
I must admit it...I just can't live without telling it to you. Almost At my first listening of this album and its 14 tracks I was a bit concerned about it. The feelings left in me were of love and hate at the exactly same time!
A part of mine wanted to hear this album again again and another part just needed no more! One thing is for sure...this is not a usual In Flames album. It has speed, it has passion, it has melody, it has power, deadly riffs still present but I really want to know what happened these 3 years between Clayman and Reroute. The band seems to be more mature than we were used too, more bonded with each other which has a great impact in composing the songs.
14 songs in this album, a big number for the masses but not for an In Flames fan and almost all songs reach 4 minutes. 51 minutes of mature music, Swedish Melodic Death at its best with the In Flames feel in every song. You know, that "I-wanna-lose-my-head-cause-of-rhythm-headbanging feeling. The first new element in this album is the, somehow, changed vocals. Almost a handful of songs are singed by Anders Friden with a distortion twist, which I must admit that it was a bit strange at the beginning but nevertheless perfectly matched with the music. Fine examples of this are the opening and ending songs, Reroute To Remain and Black & White, both of them standing in the elite of the In Flames songs in general. Another new element was the different approach on some "soft songs. And I'm talking for no lousy poser ballads...In Flames like "soft songs -i.e. Ordinary Story and Everything Counts-. Very melodic riffs, slow tempo and clean vocals was a surprise that I really wanted to experience and had results, beautiful songs as Dawn of New Day and Metaphor.
Ok I know In Flames are death metal, but tags are for food and stuff, not art. I hate giving tags in music because it just limits the potential of an album and prejudice the listener. Besides the vocal distortions and the "soft songs, Reroute To Remain has something that will attract every In Flames fan. Powerful sort riffs that causes your body to jump up and down, catchy tunes that sings all over head and choruses heavy as hell. Just listen to the two masterpieces of this album Cloud Connected and Free Fall (These songs are going to be ultra gig hits, I bet my head on that!!!). Oh man I just want to listen to those songs over and over again. I can't sense anything else around me, just felling my head going up and down. This is rhythm baby, this is metal, this is rhythm in metal, this is genuine In Flames! Heavier moment of this album goes to Drifter, which is one of the heavier songs written since Jester's Race and along with Dismiss The Cynic, Trigger (which remind me a lot of Jotun's intro) and System are the hard side of Reroute.
As you can see Reroute To Remain has almost everything In Flames have offered us all those years and as you can see they have grown stronger and more mature, the minimalist cover also indicates this. Two different sides of the album, Two different ways of playing music with one thing in common, Metal. This particular moment in the life of the band reminded me a lot of Megadeth (R.I.P) Youthanasia release, the most mature work of the American Metalheads. If we could say that Rust In Peace is Jesters Race then definitely Youthanasia is Reroute To Remain.
P.S. I am very disappointed that we could see them again this summer but I hope that they will include us (Greece) in the European Autumn tour.