IN FLAMES
Well everyone, here it is. The album you waited for patiently, for two years.....wondering.....ever wondering just what the Gothenburg elitists would do next. Where possibly could they foray into? Its no secret that a good majority of fans were expecting a complete sellout as so many complained about Clayman. The straight and narrow on Reroute To Remain is that its truly a surprise of sorts but I'm just a little confused.A sellout this surely is not. Quite the opposite really. IN FLAMES actually sound as raw on this album as they did way back in the days of The Jester Race. To me, that was a shocker. This is a heavy album indeed and rather unfinished sounding. Exactly what happened during the mastering and mixing phase of this album's creation is puzzling. One would think that after the last two highly refined efforts that the trend would continue. Instead, we get this slightly shoddy production job that places too much emphasis on drums and cymbal crashes and leaves the twin guitars a bit coarse. Again however, this is as weighty sounding as anything they've ever done. Now that brings us to what really matters in all this - the songwriting.
IN FLAMES recorded a whopping 14 songs for Reroute To Remain. Given that they spent almost the last two years touring the globe one has to guess the bulk of this album was written on tour buses. Perhaps that is why the majority of Reroute To Remain sounds so unrefined, grainy, rushed and generally lacking the sort of spit and polish we've come to enjoy from IN FLAMES. This is no better illustrated than in the distinct lack of twin melodies and harmonies that have been the staple of the IN FLAMES style. You just won't hear them all that often on this disc and furthermore, those charming leads we all got so spoiled by are now sparingly used. Why? One answer might be linked to the clear intention of the band to seize upon the emerging popularity of singing choruses. SOILWORK seem to have mastered it on their past two albums and now IN FLAMES seem intent on following sharply on their heels. The result here is that while it often sounds decent, vocalist Anders is simply not capable of carrying a legitimate note. The voice effects used for this recording are without question used to mask his incompetence. Anders is a shrieker and if IN FLAMES want decent clean vocals they are encouraged to seek someone who carries with them ample credibility for that task. Though the choruses are not a complete failure (many are pretty good), this might be an Achilles' heel that plagues the band from here on out due to Anders' limitations.
Other aspects not fully developed on this album include the synthesizers and keyboards. The band sound as if they could not decide to what degree they should be utilized. Often times they're buried too deep underneath the grinding guitars and absolutely annoying wash of cymbal crashes. Too bad because their presence is felt when they're put to effective use.
Alright, I have essentially done what every other reviewer is doing these days to Reroute To Remain: giving the expected diatribe. I will not follow the trend of trashing IN FLAMES because my honest opinion of this album is that while it doesn't meet expectations (perhaps for those who knew they would not like it, it does) its still a rather good album full of catchy hooks. I could write a speech about this album, the band, their direction, how the sun might be setting on their careers but what purpose does this serve? There are those who will hate this because they expect to and there are those who will listen to it and ingest it for what it is, a disappointing album by way of comparison but one that holds it's respectability. Of 14 tracks on this album, there certainly must be something here that fans can take with them and feel moderately satisfied. One exception being the shocking track, "Metaphor", which starts out with a snazzy soft-stringed melody but suddenly turns into what can only be described as an attempt at Country music! I shit you not and I thought I would drive off the road when I heard the cheesy southern-style fiddles kicking in. What the fuck were they thinking?
As the album closes, I am left with a strange nausea. I admit to liking much of it, but cannot shake that weird sensation that the band just didn't dedicate the time and effort into this like they have done with their other albums. If they'd only spent more time on refinements, on mixing and mastering and, above all, on songwriting this might have been a whole different story. Reroute To Remain is fairly good but IN FLAMES are starting to sound elderly.
