A Song by Song Review by Thurston "Ayumu" Glover
Nothing says metal like Comic Sans!
Prologue
So I've been listening to In Flames recently. I was thinking, "Hey... Maybe I should write a review of this album for the school paper", so here we are now. I hope you enjoy this.
Moonshield - 9/10
Moonshield is the first song on this album. This song starts off with a soft acoustic guitar riff that leads into a very catchy acoustic guitar melody. At almost exactly 50 seconds into the song, they come in with distorted electric guitars. The guitars play a melodic riff that just sends shivers down one's spine. After a few repetitions, the vocals come in and they play a variation upon this melodic riff. As the chorus comes in, they play the acoustic guitar melody on electric guitar. As a transition into the next verse, they build upon the original melody which finally leads into the second verse. They play the original verse riff four times until Jesper Stromblad goes into a short and melodic guitar solo. After the guitar solo, there is a short bridge followed by a transition that is reminiscent of the original distorted guitar part. This is followed by another acoustic guitar riff. The bridge part then proceeds to play once again after the acoustic guitar part, and then the original distorted guitar riff is played. This is followed by another chorus. Shortly thereafter, the song ends.
I gave this song a 9/10 for a simple reason. This is my favourite song off of this album and possibly by this band. It is simply breathtaking. This song is the epitome of good melodic death metal. The only reason I did not give this a 10/10 is that the solo was not necessarily impressive. Yes, I like melodic guitar solos, and I am a fan of Jesper Stromblad's guitar playing, but it just was not memorable.
The Jester's Dance - 6/10
This song isn't exactly memorable or amazing. This piece is more of a transitory piece. It starts and ends with an acoustic melody, with the original acoustic melody followed by distorted guitar riffs that aren't memorable.
I gave this song a 6/10 simply because it is not that memorable. There isn't anything amazing. However, this song still gets a slightly higher rating because most metal bands would not come up with something like this.
Artifacts of the Black Rain - 7.5 /10
Artifacts of the Black Rain is your typical old school In Flames song. It starts off with an amazing guitar riff that is repeated throughout the song followed by a melody. There are a couple of verses, and then a transitory section with a harmonized guitar melody in harmonic minor. After this bridge of sorts, there is a repetition of the melody played in the intro.
I gave this some a 7/10 because it is a typical In Flames song from the Jester Race - Clayman era. It is melodic and it has good riffs, but it is slightly generic.
Graveland - 7/10
This song is decent overall. It has nice melodies and it is pretty memorable. This song is nothing special.
I gave this song a 7/10 because, like I said, it is nothing special. It is still a good song, however.
Lord Hypnos - 9/10
Ah, Lord Hypnos. This is simply an amazing song. From the beginning of the opening riff to the repetition of the opening riff at this very end, this is a great song. The melodies are absolutely amazing and the vocals are on point. The lyrics are epic and very enjoyable. Oh! The amount of thought put into the lyrics on old In Flames songs. Alas, they have fallen away. Not to say that new In Flames are bad. I do like them. I digress. Lord Hypnos is an amazing song with great transitions and I personally love this song. It is most likely my second favourite song by them.
I give this song a 9/10 for its amazing melodies and how catchy/memorable it is. That is, if death metal of any type can be catchy.
Dead Eternity - 8/10
This song is great. The main riff is tremolo picked and it just sounds amazing. Tremolo picking is basically picking as fast as you possibly can - in time of course - on a string. As I was listening to this song, I was wishing that it had a guitar solo, but then I remembered that this is In Flames - they don't have guitar solos very often. This song would be even more amazing with a guitar solo.
I gave this song an 8/10 because it is a great song, but it doesn't have a guitar solo. If you haven't learned by now I am a "solophiliac". Guitar solos are literally life, and I wish In Flames had realized that they would have sounded even more amazing with guitar solos. Now, that's really saying something.
The Jester Race - 7/10
This is a good song. It doesn't have anything special, but it is a good song. I would say this song is more filler, rather than killer*.
I gave this song a 7/10 because it's just not memorable. It's a decent song, but it really just isn't memorable.
December Flower - 9/10
This is a great song. It finally delivered the solo I had been looking for. The solo is just great. I love the tone, note choice, and technicality. The riffs are amazing and mostly tremolo picked. As is the case with most melodic death metal songs, the riffs tend to be pedal tones and/or pedal phrases. If you combined the melodies of Moonshield or Lord Hypnos and had a solo of this type, it would get a 10/10.
I gave this song a 9/10 because it is one of my favourite songs by In Flames. This song is easily in my top five by this band.
Wayfaerer - 8.5/10
This song is very reminiscent of Rush and Dream Theater, and I love those two bands. The melodies and the keyboards just have them written all over this song. That is really all I have to say about this song.
This song gets an 8.5 because of the melodies.
Dead God in Me - 8/10
This song has good riffs and is a good song overall. The melodies are very good as well. It is more of a filler, but even filler songs by In Flames are good.
This song gets an 8/10 for being a good song, but it is truly nothing special.
Summary
This is an amazing album. It has great songs with great riffs and great melodies. The vocals are absolutely astounding and I could not be more pleased. The only thing I would have personally done different is added more guitar solos. This is quite possibly my favourite In Flames album because it has three of my favourite songs by them. If you like metal and you haven't given this album a listen, I suggest that you do.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gPbObVABzz4
*Reference to the Sum 41 album All Killer, No Filler
