So, Sounds Of A Playground Fading. In Flames's 12th album. I've decided to go with a different format for this one, going through each song one at a time. Then, once I've got my thoughts in order I'll give my overall opinion.
Sounds Of A Playground Fading
Starts with a nice acoustic guitar riff, before the song hits you in the face. It's a very In Flames-y riff, the equal of something off Colony for heaviness, and it makes a great opening. Anders's vocal line is strong, and tears the song quickly into the chorus, which is 'sung', as much as Anders sings anything. After the second chorus comes a pretty short guitar solo which is practically buried in the riffage of the rhythm guitar. There's also a pretty cool breakdown type thing at the end of it. Sounds Of A Playground Fading is a song that goes really quickly for its four minute length.
Deliver Us
We've all already heard Deliver Us but regardless, I'm going to talk about it. I like it. The song really chugs along, perhaps with not IF's best riff, but an impressively different song for a band who've released more albums than I have fingers. The first line (Remind me, I'm golden/the fortress above the sun) nonsensical as it is, has embedded itself in my head and refuses to let go, and I find myself humming it as I go about my daily life which is more impression than many albums have made on me.
All For Me
This one also has a kind of quieter introduction before the main guitars kick in. The vocals start great, but I'm really not sure about this one. The tuned screamed vocals that Anders is fond of just doesn't do anything for me. There's a great little interlude in the middle with the original introduction riff comes back in with some cleaner vocals and a short guitar solo that works really well. However, I really don't like the chorus, and that's never positive in an In Flames song, as they really are built around choruses.
The Puzzle
A surprisingly heavy song, probably best described as new In Flames doing old In Flames. This one's all screaming, with some cool guitar interweaving later on, and a chorus that kicks ass. It reminds me very much of Come Clarity-era In Flames - in my opinion where they achieved a good balance of metal and melody. Anders screams his way through the whole thing, but some backing vocals behind his line really help to shape the choruses. I'm very much a fan of this song, it's one of the best on the album.
Fear is the Weakness
Once again, starts with a very quiet guitar part before the main riff kicks in. This one is quite high and synthy, which some of you might not like, but I absolutely love the guitar line in this song, especially the part before and after the first verse. This song is stunningly good. As I write i really can't emphasize how packed with solos, fills, great choruses and verses. It's a perfectly balanced, absolute rip-roarer that really should have been the first single.
Where the Dead Ships Dwell
Packed with riff-y guitar, Soundtrack to Your Escape-esque synth work and a soaring chorus that comes off well despite being partly sung. There's a great pair of solos off the back end of one of the choruses that coalesce into one in a way that's just brilliant. The chorus is catchy and singable, which will upset many people. However, this song is brilliantly constructed and comes off pretty well regardless.
The Attic
A weird one. Starts with some great, simple intertwined guitar work. The vocals come in, somewhere between sung and spoken, while the brilliant guitars continue. The song doesn't really build up any more than that except with some synth sounds later on that work well. It's a really effective song, and proves a great change of pace that doesn't compromise the album's effectiveness.
Darker Times
Yet more great single material, this is old school In Flames until the chorus, which is typically short and, as per usual, leads into a great guitar solo. The verses are brilliantly loud and heavy, with the choruses, as previously said, sung, and pretty singable, but short. Darker Times is also packed with guitar solos and also a rare but brilliant drum fill section.
Ropes
Kicks in with a great guitar riff. The drums cut out for the start of the vocals, which are entirely sung until the chorus (ironically). Anders's singing has really improved over the albums where he's been doing it and this song really demonstrates it. I like it and I think it works well but many old In Flames fans will cry heresy at this one as well. The trade mark IF verse-chorus-solo is employed here again - I would cry that it was stale but for the fact that the sheer musicianship of the band keeps it fresh.
Enter Tragedy
This song sounds like a Slipknot song at the beginning with it's discordant, rhythmic guitar work, which drops into a great In Flames riff and thunders into a pretty heavy verse where Anders really gives it everything he's got. The choruses are still screamed but with some melody in them which distinguish them well from the verses. A pretty inventive solo rounds the piece out into a full song.
Jester's Door
Starts with some random noises and coughing before a riff on some kind of instrument (I think it's a synth but I really can't be sure), before a strange and dark spoken word piece that drops into a great little techno riff on synths and some Soundtrack To Your Escape type distorted drums. Like The Attic, it's a great dynamic break and it works for me.
A New Dawn
This song is made to sound much heavier by the placement of the Jester's Door before it. It's a great, tearing, screamer of a song, with a driving chorus that really thunders along. I love the drumming in the chorus - it's a driving rhythm you really don't hear often enough in metal songs. One of the choruses features a guitar solo with no drums, backed by strings. It would have been very easy to make it sound chintzy and over the top, but it really works. As the chorus returns with a bang, the strings remain. This makes the chorus sound so much heavier, as it really throws into contrast how heavy the thing really was to start with. Once again, a real kicker of a song.
Liberation
Another sung song (a little bit redundant, I know), this one starts light with just guitar and vocals. Despite being sung, again, this one really proves how much better and more versatile a singer he's really become. It's the longest song on the album, and like almost every other one contains a guitar solo that really helps to mix it up. The outro is pretty long, dropping down to the same repeated guitar phrase, simple drums and some synths. Probably the lightest song on the album, this one still works, quite a bit more than some of the heavier ones.
TO CONCLUDE
To say that this is a death metal album would be a lie. Many melodeath albums can be passed as Death Metal. This is not one of them. It's melodic heavy metal. I don't know if the 'death' part still applies. As a person who's writing a blog on melodic death metal, this is not a good thing. But what many people fail to realize is that it is not necessarily BAD thing either. SOAPF is a great album, finely balanced and constructed, with each member displaying brilliant musicianship. It's packed with songs that will definitely, in time, merge with the rest of my In Flames collection.
Lets not avoid the elephant in the room. People will hate on this album. People already have. This quote from Anders (on www.carlbegai.com) himself really sums up my response:
I'm very impressed at how well the band has coped with the loss of Jesper as a guitarist - his sound was really fundamental to the band. But they've been together for decades now - In Flames is independent of any one member.
To conclude, it may not be Colony, but it's certainly metal, it's certainly In Flames and it's certainly awesome.
Sounds Of A Playground Fading
Starts with a nice acoustic guitar riff, before the song hits you in the face. It's a very In Flames-y riff, the equal of something off Colony for heaviness, and it makes a great opening. Anders's vocal line is strong, and tears the song quickly into the chorus, which is 'sung', as much as Anders sings anything. After the second chorus comes a pretty short guitar solo which is practically buried in the riffage of the rhythm guitar. There's also a pretty cool breakdown type thing at the end of it. Sounds Of A Playground Fading is a song that goes really quickly for its four minute length.
Deliver Us
We've all already heard Deliver Us but regardless, I'm going to talk about it. I like it. The song really chugs along, perhaps with not IF's best riff, but an impressively different song for a band who've released more albums than I have fingers. The first line (Remind me, I'm golden/the fortress above the sun) nonsensical as it is, has embedded itself in my head and refuses to let go, and I find myself humming it as I go about my daily life which is more impression than many albums have made on me.
All For Me
This one also has a kind of quieter introduction before the main guitars kick in. The vocals start great, but I'm really not sure about this one. The tuned screamed vocals that Anders is fond of just doesn't do anything for me. There's a great little interlude in the middle with the original introduction riff comes back in with some cleaner vocals and a short guitar solo that works really well. However, I really don't like the chorus, and that's never positive in an In Flames song, as they really are built around choruses.
The Puzzle
A surprisingly heavy song, probably best described as new In Flames doing old In Flames. This one's all screaming, with some cool guitar interweaving later on, and a chorus that kicks ass. It reminds me very much of Come Clarity-era In Flames - in my opinion where they achieved a good balance of metal and melody. Anders screams his way through the whole thing, but some backing vocals behind his line really help to shape the choruses. I'm very much a fan of this song, it's one of the best on the album.
Fear is the Weakness
Once again, starts with a very quiet guitar part before the main riff kicks in. This one is quite high and synthy, which some of you might not like, but I absolutely love the guitar line in this song, especially the part before and after the first verse. This song is stunningly good. As I write i really can't emphasize how packed with solos, fills, great choruses and verses. It's a perfectly balanced, absolute rip-roarer that really should have been the first single.
Where the Dead Ships Dwell
Packed with riff-y guitar, Soundtrack to Your Escape-esque synth work and a soaring chorus that comes off well despite being partly sung. There's a great pair of solos off the back end of one of the choruses that coalesce into one in a way that's just brilliant. The chorus is catchy and singable, which will upset many people. However, this song is brilliantly constructed and comes off pretty well regardless.
The Attic
A weird one. Starts with some great, simple intertwined guitar work. The vocals come in, somewhere between sung and spoken, while the brilliant guitars continue. The song doesn't really build up any more than that except with some synth sounds later on that work well. It's a really effective song, and proves a great change of pace that doesn't compromise the album's effectiveness.
Darker Times
Yet more great single material, this is old school In Flames until the chorus, which is typically short and, as per usual, leads into a great guitar solo. The verses are brilliantly loud and heavy, with the choruses, as previously said, sung, and pretty singable, but short. Darker Times is also packed with guitar solos and also a rare but brilliant drum fill section.
Ropes
Kicks in with a great guitar riff. The drums cut out for the start of the vocals, which are entirely sung until the chorus (ironically). Anders's singing has really improved over the albums where he's been doing it and this song really demonstrates it. I like it and I think it works well but many old In Flames fans will cry heresy at this one as well. The trade mark IF verse-chorus-solo is employed here again - I would cry that it was stale but for the fact that the sheer musicianship of the band keeps it fresh.
Enter Tragedy
This song sounds like a Slipknot song at the beginning with it's discordant, rhythmic guitar work, which drops into a great In Flames riff and thunders into a pretty heavy verse where Anders really gives it everything he's got. The choruses are still screamed but with some melody in them which distinguish them well from the verses. A pretty inventive solo rounds the piece out into a full song.
Jester's Door
Starts with some random noises and coughing before a riff on some kind of instrument (I think it's a synth but I really can't be sure), before a strange and dark spoken word piece that drops into a great little techno riff on synths and some Soundtrack To Your Escape type distorted drums. Like The Attic, it's a great dynamic break and it works for me.
A New Dawn
This song is made to sound much heavier by the placement of the Jester's Door before it. It's a great, tearing, screamer of a song, with a driving chorus that really thunders along. I love the drumming in the chorus - it's a driving rhythm you really don't hear often enough in metal songs. One of the choruses features a guitar solo with no drums, backed by strings. It would have been very easy to make it sound chintzy and over the top, but it really works. As the chorus returns with a bang, the strings remain. This makes the chorus sound so much heavier, as it really throws into contrast how heavy the thing really was to start with. Once again, a real kicker of a song.
Liberation
Another sung song (a little bit redundant, I know), this one starts light with just guitar and vocals. Despite being sung, again, this one really proves how much better and more versatile a singer he's really become. It's the longest song on the album, and like almost every other one contains a guitar solo that really helps to mix it up. The outro is pretty long, dropping down to the same repeated guitar phrase, simple drums and some synths. Probably the lightest song on the album, this one still works, quite a bit more than some of the heavier ones.
TO CONCLUDE
To say that this is a death metal album would be a lie. Many melodeath albums can be passed as Death Metal. This is not one of them. It's melodic heavy metal. I don't know if the 'death' part still applies. As a person who's writing a blog on melodic death metal, this is not a good thing. But what many people fail to realize is that it is not necessarily BAD thing either. SOAPF is a great album, finely balanced and constructed, with each member displaying brilliant musicianship. It's packed with songs that will definitely, in time, merge with the rest of my In Flames collection.
Lets not avoid the elephant in the room. People will hate on this album. People already have. This quote from Anders (on www.carlbegai.com) himself really sums up my response:
“Talking about Whoracle, I was checking the internet the other day because a friend of mine told me somebody had done an acoustic cover of ‘Deliver Us’, the first single from the new album. I was checking out some of the links around it – some of which were phony, obviously – and one claimed to be a link to ‘Deliver Us’ when in fact it was ‘Episode 666’ from Whoracle (laughs). I was reading the comments beneath it and people were bashing it, saying ‘This sucks! In Flames was better in the old days!’ I was laughing my fucking ass off.”The people who can't view this album at least a little bit objectively are just kidding themselves. Don't whinge when bands decide they want to do something different. As previously predicted, this album will appeal to people who liked Come Clarity, Soundtrack To Your Escape or A Sense Of Purpose, and anyone open-minded enough to recognize a good album on it's own merits in stead of comparing it to some unreachable standard and moaning that 'it's not as good as Whoracle', because Whoracle was just a good album. It wasn't Jesus's tears encapsulated and made into music.
I'm very impressed at how well the band has coped with the loss of Jesper as a guitarist - his sound was really fundamental to the band. But they've been together for decades now - In Flames is independent of any one member.
To conclude, it may not be Colony, but it's certainly metal, it's certainly In Flames and it's certainly awesome.
