Well, time for In Flames album revisit #2! Come Clarity has been known as the band's transitional album between their earlier melodeath roots and their later alt-metal era. There are also some claims that this is the closest the band has gone to metalcore territory ala Trivium. Although I haven't listened to In Flames for several years, aside from their new album Foregone, I remember thinking Come Clarity was a solid album. Now let's see my opinion still stands....

Indeed, Come Clarity is a transitional album for In Flames. However, it still has a lot of the melodeath side of their sound, albeit in a more modern approach with metalcore elements. The alt-metal of their subsequent albums is more prominently used in a few tracks, both the mainstream and experimental ones.

Unleashing this modernized melodeath sound right out of the gate, "Take This Life" is the perfect kick-A way to start. Next up, "Leeches" has odd keyboard effects present, but I like the contrast between the heavy verses and melodic chorus. "Reflect the Storm" has that blend of melancholy and mainstream, particularly in the chorus that shows vocalist Anders Friden expanding his vocal abilities. Adding more to the experimentation is "Dead End" which features Lisa Miskovsky. When I first heard the start of that first verse, I almost thought it was a Paramore song. She sounds quite confident here, and the end result is a lovely duet. Although In Flames has done a few tracks with guest female singing before, that one might turn off some longtime fans. "Scream" brings back their earlier roots without much experimentation, though it's not that impressive.

The title track calms things down as an alt-metal power ballad. The fact that it's chosen as the album's title track foreshadows their later path. I actually loved that one during my time in The Gateway, but now I realize it's not as great as I thought it was. Another indicator of me not being suited for that clan. The braver and heavier "Vacuum" picks up the pace greatly. I can almost say the same about "Pacing Death's Trail". Next track "Crawl Through Knives" was originally meant to be this album's title track. I kinda wish it was though because it's the perfect diverse display of the band's transitional sound. I would recommend that track for anyone trying modern melodeath for the first time.

"Versus Terminus" is another example of trying too hard to sound like the band's earlier selves. "Our Infinite Struggle" makes up for that as a memorable highlight, heavy all the way while only cooling down for the great midsection. Sadly, we have "Vanishing Light" which is the worst track in their melodeath side, not doing anything interesting. "Your Bedtime Story Is Scaring Everyone" is one of the band's most experimental songs yet, sounding so haunting yet leaving me confused and wondering why it even exists.

All in all, Come Clarity is simultaneously In Flames' last melodeath album until Foregone and the first to show the mainstream diversity of their subsequent releases that would turn away longtime fans and bring in new ones. Having heard both of that band's eras before, I'm already used to what's been going on in this album and wouldn't totally put it down even at its weakest moments. I can understand the evolution. So although it can never beat the glory of their old-school melodeath offerings, Come Clarity is still pretty good for at least half of the album, and it's hard to deny its status as a major turning point for the band. It's clear as day....

Favorites: "Take This Life", "Reflect the Storm", "Dead End", "Vacuum", "Crawl Through Knives", "Our Infinite Struggle"

Most of our regulars would probably be aware that I've never been a fan of In Flames' most celebrated 1996-2000 period with albums like "The Jester Race", "Whoracle", "Colony" & "Clayman" doing very little for me. The Swedes' 2006 eighth full-length is a bit different to those records though & offers me just enough appeal to see it reaching a more acceptable rating. This isn't your standard melodic death metal release though. In fact, it's a little hard to argue that it's a death metal release at all, although they never fully pull away from their roots either.

With "Come Clarity" we see In Flames embracing the melodic metalcore sound that was making waves in the underground metal scene at the time & combining it with their signature melodeath riffage & alternative metal song-structures to create a more accessible record that aims to win a new fanbase over with more of a stadium sound. When they manage to nail that combination, it works really, really well, as evidenced by the classic alternative metal anthem that is the title track or the very solid melodic death metal burner "Vacuum". The vocal performance of Anders Fridén is worth mentioning as it never feels like a death growl, instead sitting closer to a psychotic metalcore scream during the more extreme sections while making a decent fist of the clean chorus melodies too. It's worth noting that there are just as many failures as there are wins here though but, thankfully, those wins are comprehensive enough to overcome the losses & leave me with a more positive feeling than I can recall having with In Flames' more unanimously praised albums. As with a lot of releases like this one though, a song's potential to capture the listener all comes down to the quality of the chorus melody & your experience will ultimately depend on whether you can connect with those enough to get onboard with "Come Clarity" or not. I've been surprised to find that I can these days so perhaps there's hope for me yet.

For fans of Soilwork, Darkest Hour & Trivium.

The sophomore album from the Belgium death doom outlet, Ethereal Darkness, comes with a smattering of high praise from those who have heard it. I found this a little surprising, considering I believed that the bands debut record, Smoke and Shadows, was a fairly pedestrian and overall uninteresting piece of death doom metal. So after almost seven years, Ethereal Darkness have put in some effort to make Echoes sound much more thoughtful. The music within is not cookie cutter and even attempts to branch out from its roots; I particularly liked the shaded black metal influence that appeared on songs like "The Cycle" or "On the Edge of the Cliff". The number of tracks has been considerably reduced from the debut, but have been replaced with extended runtimes. And on some level, these longer songs can work. The closer, and longest song on the album, "Realization", has a sense of wonder as it recounts all of the influences and styles that Ethereal Darkness took to get to this point. However, those points of reference aren't always the best. Those tracks that have that hint of black metal foundation are really the only high points on Echoes. The rest still sounds like run-of-the-mill death doom that I've heard and forgotten about many times. This is all coming off the back of the most recent Fires in the Distance album, Circadian Promise, that exceeded my expectations and then some. I mean, it is an improvement from the debut, but after seven years of smoldering and bubbling, the eruption should have been a lot more noteworthy.

Best Songs: The Cycle, On the Edge of the Cliff, IV

For Fans Of: Fires in the Distance, Sun of the Dying, Jord

Aron Shute may just be my new favourite black metal vocalist. His performances at times on The Transformation Room are deranged and demented which just so happens to be how I like my black metal orations to be decanted. He is also bassist and one of three vocalists in Koma, a sludge/doom band who are on my to do list also now. I stumbled across Crystal Coffin whilst researching inclusions for my The North clan playlist suggestions and I soon went all in on listening to the whole album. Whilst the conventional black metal tropes are more than evident, what appeals to me about CC’s sound is that there are also prog, ambient and electronic musings going on throughout the album. The band manage to incorporate these different elements without afflicting the listener with a sense of alienation from these perhaps unexpected inclusions.

Taking up the unusual or unexpected is not just limited to the music though, The Transformation Room takes the Holodomor that occurred in the Ukraine in the 1930’s (a man-made famine around the Soviet Union at the time that it is debated whether it was intentional or not, and was responsible for millions of deaths) as its theme, whilst exploring the relevance to personal suffering, pain and higher plains of existence. Despite its macabre subject matter, the album sounds like a thorough examination of this entire concept. It flows the earthiness and grounded nature of a reality of hell on earth into the transcendental possibilities of what lies beyond through those more eclectic musical choices well.

I am not a fan usually of instrumentals or passages in the middle of records but ‘The Inverted Burial of Taras’ is one of those ambient moments that provides some real respite before the band charges headlong into album highlight ‘I Emerge’ where Aron’s vocals really get to show their nefarious side. This an almost doom metal track. Where it not for the rasping vocals in fact, there would be little to stop you thinking this was a guest track. Lenkyn Ostapovich’s guitar and keyboards both get to really shine on this track and with drummer Rob Poirier also being in Koma, it should not perhaps be such a surprise of the doomier direction of this track. This horrendous event from 20th century eastern Europe is effectively portrayed in this melodic, harrowing and compelling concept album. If you like your black metal with a bit of variety, then this is most certainly worth a go.

Unexpected and completely unannounced, Myrath have landed in my world and made an almighty impact by way of this month’s Infinite feature release. On paper, there was a lot to alarm me with the tags of symphonic metal and progressive metal throwing up two of some of my least favoured sub-genres. However, the reality of the actual listening experience has proven far more empowering than I ever could have expected. Wilderness of Mirrors is catchy, hooky and as result incredibly memorable. The spontaneity that presented upon my first listen was just the catalyst to a consistently rewarding album that repeated listens through seem to only improve on that initial positive reception.

The symphonic elements are thankfully not huge orchestral movements, and nor are they washy keys that flood everything either. The Middle Eastern influences on show here are incorporated skilfully into varying tempos and rhythms. Accented vocals are not always done well (Orphaned Land come to mind here) but in the main the vocals here only add to the authenticity of the music. There is some clunkiness to them sometimes, like on the track ‘Until the End’ featuring Amaranthe’s Elize Ryd where there is the annoying extension of words to make them fit the music, or on the opening to ‘Les Enfants Du Soliel’ when the choral vocals get sung over by the band’s vocalist. Whilst they are isolated moments, they do linger on the mind for a while after.

Production wise, Wilderness of Mirrors is immaculately produced. It is to be expected though. Within a few minutes of album opener ‘The Funeral’ it becomes clear that anything less production values wise would be a travesty. This is an album that is wanting to soar from the off, taking little time to awaken that massive wingspan. I would have more stars for it if perhaps the record did not dip in quality towards the end. After my personal favourite track, ‘The Clown’ things do get a little samey for me. Even though the musicianship remains strong and exuberantly showy, there is a sense of the ideas tank starting to run on empty over the final four tracks. This has still been a revelation for my usually more extreme ear however and I must have played this album for around two weeks on a daily basis.