In Flames has without doubt, in my opinion produced a master piece with this new album. The sound is raw, something I noticed in the Iron Maiden album “Final Frontier”. It is not over produced, it is just right. I really hope this becomes a trend with current bands, letting the musicians abilities speak as opposed to post production covering everything up leaving you with a thick soup lacking any texture, very quickly becoming unpalatable.
The new album sees In Flames go back to the roots of their art as first displayed in “Whoracle” (which is still one of my favourites). The guitar harmonies are back, holes of silence appear filled with nuances that add flavour back to their music.
The great metal bands of old can be heard as their influences again which I truly enjoy. Yet even though the influences can be heard the overall sound is still undoubtedly their own. The best part out about the album is the price. I cringed as I asked what the price of the disk was and was pleasantly surprised to hear “R139.00” as opposed to the “R270.00” I had become accustomed to. Basically half price! Could this drop in price be due to the fact that people can now buy single tracks online and the demand for hard media is dropping? I certainly hope the downward trend in pricing continues because it became seriously out of hand at a stage in South Africa.
Well that is that, fantastic job to In Flames and all involved in the new album. I am thoroughly enjoying it and cannot wait to get it onto my portable player and give it a listen while taking a long ride. I love the strong anthem flavour prevalent in most of the tracks and take my hat off to the craftsmanship. Perhaps a change in line up is what the band needed to stabilise itself again? Though it is sad to see a member leave sometimes change allows retrospect and a realigning back to the original vision that got them to where they are.
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