Founded in the early ’90s by guitarist Jesper Strömblad, In Flames, along with Carcass and fellow Swedes At the Gates, pioneered a breed of death metal that featured melodic guitar leads and harmonized riffs in addition to the customary vocal growls. In Flames released a couple of the genre’s finest albums, notably 1995’s The Jester Race (Nuclear Blast), but with Reroute to Remain (Nuclear Blast) in 2002, the band introduced slick electronic elements and singer Anders Fridén made a significant change to his delivery, replacing his constant snarl for a high-pitched scream that was often layered with clean vocals. The band gained as many fans as it lost with the stylistic shift, but, regardless of opinions, In Flames’ technical proficiency and continued development were inarguable. Whether that evolution is welcome in comparison to their grittier records is the question.
A Sense of Purpose again highlights the band’s sense of melody and tectonic riffage, but it doesn’t stand out from the crowd of metal bands that In Flames themselves spawned. At this overshot stage of the band’s progression, the soaring choruses feel contrived with layered keyboards and vocal hooks. On “Disconnected,” the raging guitars and technical drumming give way to a terrible chorus that proclaims, “I feel like shit / But at least I feel something,” a la Godsmack circa 1999. It’s a sad move for a metal band, which, by nature, should carry an undefeatable toughness. The pattern continues through the album—raging guitars give way to half-time breakdowns with radio-pandering hooks and emo-boy yelps, like on “Delight and Angers,” where Fridén screams, “Make me feel unbreakable / Now you’ve set me free.”
There are some standout tracks like “Drenched in Fear” and “Sober and Irrelevant,” which shed theatrics for straight-up whirlwind shredding, but the album’s overall ratio is unfortunate and the “The Chosen Pessimist” marks an all-time low for In Flames. The eight-minute power ballad comes off like a death metal version of The Postal Service with a predictable keyboard and guitar riff driving the finale. Totally not metal.
-Nate Daly
In Flames: www.inflames.com
Koch: www.kochrecords.com