REVIEWS:
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(reviewed by Pat D.)
I'm kinda torn about this band. On one hand, they have created one of the most interesting modernized versions of Iron Maiden's melodic metal, with some absolutely phenomenal tracks. But the other songs that show up on all their albums seem to me like nothing but filler. Before I get into actual crtitque let me just make a recommendation. If you have heard of this so called Scandanavian Metal genre (which apparently is all the rage in the underground metal community), and brushed it off figuring it would be too "foreign" or odd, you are missing out on some truly good, accessible melodic metal. If it helps, I delayed sampling that genre for the same reasons despite every metalhead on the net insisting it was the second coming of the 80s power metal heyday. I honestly think if you like Maiden, or even Metallica to a lesser extent, the only problems you will have with In Flames will have to do with the lyrics. Its not even like they are of some blatantly stupid subject as some early Maiden tracks could be; they just don't make any sense. If i had to take a guess, none of these guys are particularly fluent in English, because their attempts to write meaningful lyrics in that language come off as disjointed and particularly meaningless. But anyways, since you can't tell what Anders is saying most of the time without a lyric sheet in front of you, its not that much of a detriment.
As for the actual music on Clayman, there is some really great songwriting here. Any one of the songs listed in this paragraph are near classics. "Square Nothing" has a beautiful melodic progression at the beginning and near the end. "Swim" has a killer melodic guitar line nearly reminiscent of Joe Satirani's "Summer Song". "Pinball Map" is a near first album Slipknot song done better and more melodically than that band could ever dream of. Note to all you numetal freaks who claim that a song cant sound like Slipknot and have melody, that track proves you wrong. "Bullet Ride" and "Clayman" also kick more ass in the riffage and melodic interplay than any band since Iron Maiden in their peak. Finally, "Only for the Weak" has really good rhythmic guitar and keyboard stylings.
This is where I regret having to continue the review. While all of those tracks above should be considered a priority for your Audiogalaxy, Kazaa, or Morpheus downloads (f you are too cheap to buy the album), the rest of Clayman is not very good. There are a couple of good tracks like "..As the Future Repeats Today" and "Satellites and Astronauts" which has some good chunky guitar lines, but they fail to really kick my ass like the high points listed above. And none of the other tracks that I have not mentioned seem to do anything at all. While this album is not a must buy because of its inability to completely entertain through the 11 tracks, its good enough on the strengths of the six or so excellent tracks to justify a purchase. More importantly, it gives us old school metal fans something modernized to listen to and enjoy. In closing, I really wish I could have given Clayman a higher rating, but this 2000 release really doesnt deserve more than a 7 in my book because of its lack of consistency. BTW, for those who care, the production and mixing on this album is superb. Much better sound quality wise than their previous albums.
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(reviewed by Pat D.)
Yeah, ok, I admit it. I downloaded this entire album from IRC. Call me a cheap stealing motherfucker if you want, but dammit, I really don't have the money right now to be blowing on CDs. I suppose the three people who care that I haven't reviewed anything in months probably guessed as much anyways.
My greediness aside, this album has stirred up quite a bit of controversy in online metal groups. You know, the people who call Metallica "sellouts" and then cannot explain how or why they have become sellouts. Well guess what folks; this laughable trend has now extended itself to the previous popular underground metal scene, as In Flames have been labeled as numetal sellouts with the release of Reroute To Remain. Now, I won't argue that this album is not up to their past standards such as the damn good Clayman, but there is not much this band has in common with Linkin Park, despite what the guy who reviewed Reroute on AMG might think. Yes, some of the choruses are attempts at melodic, such as the catchy "Dawn of a New Day" (probably the ONLY song on here that has a shot in hell of making 92.3 KSUCK in NYC) or the COUNTRY tinged "Metaphor" (which does not have a shot in hell). Yes, some choruses here sound poppish, like "Egonomic". But are you seriously trying to tell me that Linkin Park fans will like the REST of the song which is a melodic speed Scandinavian fest? I dont think so, people!
Ok, enough about what "genre" this album falls into. While i will defend this band from sellout status till some 300lb sellout cryer comes to my house and beats my skull in, the truth is, this album isnt great. While I ALWAYS applaud a band for giving up shouts and cookie monster screams for melody, some of Anders' attempts at melodic choruses in this album come off as odd or laughable. Like the awful chorus to "Cloud Connected" which is like an atonal scream and melody mixed together. Terrible. Even the pretty good title track's odd vocal phrasings turned me off the first time i heard it. Finally, "Transparent" has an awful pseudo-Jonathan Davis-style atonal cackle for the chorus. Ugh.
There are a few really good tracks on Reroute though. As I mentioned. the title track is pretty catchy once you get used to it. "Egonomic" has one hell of a power chorus. "System" has a catchy chorus. The two most poppish songs I mentioned before "Dawn of a New Day" and "Metaphor" are pretty good, once you dismiss your reservations about the latter's status a "Country/Scandinavian metal hybrid" song. Finally, "Drifter" has a really good chugging rhythm guitar section in the middle to go with a decent (if cryptic) chorus. Oh yeah, dont be expecting the lyrics to have improved any since Clayman; I guess Anders has not attended any English Grammar classes since then. Instead we get such moronic attempts at meaningful lyrics as "Design new latitudes/Find ways to channel bliss/Us defined, it's too fragile to neglect". I mean come ON! Opeth are not anywheres near that bad, and English is not their native tongue either! Thankfully, unless you are one of those lyrical freaks, you almost never can make out what is being said.
In conclusion, an awful lot of this album ends up being labeled as "2nd rate Scandinavian metal crap". And really, there is no song on Reroute that remotely approaches such past, glorious In Flames tracks like "Embody the Invisible", "Pinball Map", "Wayfaerer", or "Insipid 2000". Not to mention that the best songs are merely catchy, not timeless. So, to close out my first review in like 6 months, and maybe my last review for another 6 months, I would recommend buying Clayman before this one, and even the slightly less consistent Colony. Or hell, you can try the new Opeth album which just came out.
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